NOAA Awards More Than $9 Million To Eastern Kentucky Pride, Inc.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded a $9,067,724 grant to Eastern Kentucky PRIDE, Inc. to continue efforts to clean eastern Kentucky’s rivers while building awareness and pride in the region. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The grant will fund the Eastern Kentucky PRIDE Environmental Enhancement Initiative. Eastern Kentucky PRIDE, which stands for Personal Responsibility In a Desirable Environment, covers a 38-county area in south eastern Kentucky and is the first comprehensive, region-wide, local/state/federal cooperative effort designed to address the serious challenge of cleaning up the region's rivers and streams of sewage and garbage. The program also focuses on ending illegal trash dumps and promoting environmental awareness and education while renewing pride in southern and eastern Kentucky.

“Since its creation in 1997, more than 130,000 volunteers have come together to make the PRIDE program a huge success. Together we are cleaning up our environment, laying the foundation for new economic development opportunities and creating a better life for all the residents of our region. NOAA has been a critical partner in our ongoing effort to rid Kentucky's land and waterways of litter and sewage. This funding builds on all that we have achieved and allows our cleanup efforts to continue in full,” said Representative Hal Rogers (R-KY).

“This program connects environmental stewardship with regional pride building a sense of responsibility in the region’s citizens. This is an example of NOAA supported initiatives at work on a local level to directly improve the lives of Kentucky residents,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “NOAA and the Bush Administration are working to improve the understanding of our environment and to strengthen local and regional initiatives like the Eastern Kentucky PRIDE project.”

The PRIDE initiative was launched in 1997 to restore the natural beauty of the region by encouraging citizens to take responsibility for protecting their environment and by providing the resources they need to accomplish this goal. Since 1997, more than $66 million in federal funding for the PRIDE initiative through grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been awarded. For more information visit: http://www.kypride.org.

Each year, NOAA awards approximately $900 million in grants to members of the academic, scientific and business communities to assist the agency in fulfilling its mission to study the Earth’s natural systems in order to predict environmental change, manage ocean resources, protect life and property, and provide decision makers with reliable scientific information. NOAA goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 34 years.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. To learn more about NOAA, please visit http://www.noaa.gov.