You’ve read the headlines. Twenty-nine workers killed in a West Virginian Massey Energy Company coal mine. More than 5,000 barrels of oil leaking a day in the Gulf of Mexico. Wildfires burn 100,000 acres of California forests. It’s enough to make you want to uncork a bottle of wine and down a glass or two just to keep calm.
Redwood Creek Wines understands this. They treasure the US environment and have granted $140,000 annually to various nonprofits in order to preserve our land and waterways. Now in its third year, they’ve selected 10 finalists with the help of a few judges, including Tonic columnist Ethan Zohn. The grand prize winner will take home $50,000 and the remaining nine will get $10,000 each.
Every week, we’ll introduce you to one of those finalists, and if you like what you read, head on over to the Redwood Creek Wines’ Greater Outdoors Project and vote for them. You have until August 31 to make a difference.
Coosa River Basin Initiative
It spans three states (Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee) and three rivers (the Coosa, the Etowah and the Oostanaula rivers). The Coosa River Basin is home to 76 different types of fish and hundreds of kayakers who paddle through 160 miles of streams each year. To protect the tributaries, the Coosa River Basin Initiative was established in 1992 in the town of Rome, Ga. It’s done a number of good works, including putting a ban on the dumping of Atlanta’s sewage into its waters.
If selected to win the Greater Outdoors Project grand prize of 50,000 big ones, the Coosa River Basin Initiative promises to use the money to open up the Etowah River to outdoor enthusiasts. They plan on doing this carefully — as to not upset the wildlife — but enough, so that more spectators can witness the basin’s beauty and become aware of why it is so important to protect it.
Photos courtesy of Redwood Creek Wines.