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Nature Conservancy's Candace Stoughton Recognized for Outstanding Conservation Work in Etowah River Waterhsed

Atlanta, GA—February 23, 2004—Candace Stoughton, project director of The Nature Conservancy’s Etowah River Project for the Georgia Chapter, was recently presented with the Watershed Protection Award by the Conservancy’s aquatic science staff of the Alabama Chapter. The award was based on Ms. Stoughton’s efforts to achieve lasting conservation results in the Etowah River watershed.

“Candace (Stoughton) has been an amazing asset to our conservation efforts in the Etowah River watershed,” said Tavia McCuean, vice president and director of the Conservancy’s Georgia Chapter. “She has been with the Etowah River project since we first set up the office in Canton, Ga., in 2000, and she has done an outstanding job working with the community to protect the biological diversity of this area.”

With a bachelor’s degree in ecology from New Mexico State University and a master’s in geography from the University of Georgia, Ms. Stoughton has worked to promote sustainable development practices among the Etowah River watershed community in an effort to reduce the negative impacts of sprawling urban growth on water quality and aquatic wildlife. Ms. Stoughton is leading the effort to determine how well conservation efforts are actually protecting the biological diversity and health of the watershed. The results will determine the types of conservation efforts the Conservancy and its partners will implement in the future.

“Candace Stoughton has done an outstanding job to protect this important river system,” said Paul Freeman, freshwater ecologist with the Conservancy’s Alabama Chapter. “We presented the awards to individuals whose programs had a significant aquatic component and directly or indirectly benefited the plants, animals or natural communities of Alabama.” 

The Etowah River watershed is located in central north Georgia, about an hour north of Atlanta. The Nature Conservancy is working in the upper portion of the Etowah basin above Lake Allatoona where the aquatic biological diversity is mostly intact. The Etowah River ultimately joins the Oostanaula River in Rome, Ga., to form the Coosa River which then flows west into Alabama. With over 76 species of fish, including 17 rare or declining species, scientists have estimated that the Etowah River has more imperiled aquatic species than any other river system of its size in the southeastern United States.

“Using the Conservancy’s trademark science-based, non-confrontational approach to conservation, it has been gratifying to work with the local community to promote the protection of this beautiful river system,” said Ms. Stoughton. “Working on such a large landscape-scale, it would be nearly impossible to achieve lasting results without the support and partnership of the local communities and other conservation entities.”

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 101 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. In Georgia, working with local communities and partners, more than 220, 000 acres have been protected. Visit us on the Web at nature.org/georgia.

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