World Wildlife Fund



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		MARCH 12, 1999 10:59 AM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: World Wildlife Fund Lee Poston, 202-778-9536

		WWF Conference to Focus on Threats to Southeastern Rivers: Experts Gather in Chattanooga to Discuss Conservation Blueprint for One of World's Richest Ecosystems

		CHATTANOOGA, TN - March 12 - World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and its regional partners will embark on an ambitious program to conserve one of the world's most outstanding wildlife ecosystems -- the rivers and streams of the American Southeast -- during the "State of the Rivers" Conference in Chattanooga, March 14-17, 1999. The rivers and streams of the Southeast are some of the most species-rich river habitats on Earth, with many species existing nowhere else. More than half the freshwater fish and 90 percent of the mussels in the US occur in this region, along with the river otter, rare salamanders and snapping turtles which can exceed 300 pounds and live over 100 years. However, these rivers are also some of the world's most threatened. Nearly 50 percent of all extinctions in the US since European settlement have occurred during this century in the Mobile River Basin. Rapid, population growth, pollution, dams, canals, exotic species and water diversion are causing increasing threats to the region's wildlife. As part of its Living Planet Campaign, WWF has gathered some of the region's leading biologists, ecologists, environmentalists and government representatives to begin laying out a conservation blueprint for the 21st Century. Among the highlights of the conference: "State of the Rivers" studies on the current science and policy for river conservation in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama; Discussions by scientists on how the Tennessee/Cumberland and Mobile River drainage basins have changed over time; Presentations by local environmental groups on their plans to conserve the region's rivers; A keynote address by one of the region's leading scientists on the biological uniqueness of southern rivers; Field trips to local pollution control projects, Raccoon Mountain Wilderness Cave or the Sequatchie River for canoeing; A joint session with the Southeast Aquatic Research Institute Mussel Conference on the "Status of Freshwater Mollusks -- North America's Most Imperiled Fauna." The "State of the Rivers Conference" will take place at the Historic Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel and will include a reception and tour at the Tennessee Aquarium, the world's largest freshwater aquarium. There is no charge for members of the media. For more information, call Lee Poston, WWF Communications Manager, at 202-778-9536. ###