{"id":14812,"date":"2019-09-26T10:00:42","date_gmt":"2019-09-26T15:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/?p=14812"},"modified":"2019-09-25T23:17:17","modified_gmt":"2019-09-26T04:17:17","slug":"ayers-foundation-makes-gift-to-tennessee-wildlife-federation-to-fight-asian-carp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/2019\/09\/26\/ayers-foundation-makes-gift-to-tennessee-wildlife-federation-to-fight-asian-carp\/","title":{"rendered":"Ayers Foundation makes gift to Tennessee Wildlife Federation to fight Asian Carp"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-466370\" title=\"Ayers Foundation\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Ayers-Foundation.jpg\" alt=\"Ayers Foundation\" width=\"154\" height=\"190\"><strong>Nashville, TN<\/strong> &#8211; The Ayers Foundation, created in 1999 to sustain and significantly improve the quality of life in Tennessee, has made a notable gift to Tennessee Wildlife Federation in support of its efforts to fight invasive Asian carp in the state\u2019s waters.<\/p>\n<p>Tennessee Wildlife Federation is one of the largest and oldest nonprofits dedicated to conserving the state\u2019s wildlife and natural resources. Its public policy work has increasingly focused on Asian carp as the invasive species, and the damages they cause, spread through Tennessee\u2019s waterways.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_444994\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Asian-Carp.jpg\"  class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-444994\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-444994\" title=\"Asian Carp\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Asian-Carp-480x190.jpg\" alt=\"Asian Carp\" width=\"480\" height=\"190\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-444994\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Asian Carp<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome invasive species spread largely unnoticed. Not Asian carp,\u201d said Michael Butler, CEO of Tennessee Wildlife Federation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCarp are known for jumping when startled. The risk of being hit by a 60-pound fish is driving many recreational boaters off our waters. And below the surface, they outcompete our native fish for food and are rapidly destroying our best fisheries,\u201d Butler stated.<\/p>\n<p>An avid angler, Jim Ayers acutely understands the impact these species have on outdoorsmen and women. The Ayers also recognize the broader effects Asian carp are having on entire local economies in West and Middle Tennessee and the growing dangers as the species spread eastward.<\/p>\n<p>Contributing to Tennessee Wildlife Federation complements one of the missions of The Ayers Foundations, which is dedicated to conservation.<\/p>\n<p>Every year in Tennessee, fishing generates $1.2 billion in economic impact, $112 million in state and local tax revenue, $149 million in federal tax revenue, and supports 7,669 jobs. Boating generates $2 billion in economic impact and supports 23,500 jobs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWildlife conservation can seem disconnected from the daily lives of many Tennesseans,\u201d said Kendall McCarter, chief development officer for Tennessee Wildlife Federation. \u201cThe Federation is thankful for visionary philanthropists like Jim and Janet, and The Ayers Foundation, who understand how our natural resources underpin much of Tennessee\u2019s economy and our traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Federation has secured targeted state funding to begin the most basic work needed to reduce Asian carp numbers in Tennessee\u2019s waters. With the Ayers\u2019 support, the organization is building on that success by coordinating a multi-state effort to secure largescale federal funding to address invasive Asian carp regionally.<\/p>\n<p>These funds would support a three-pronged approach of erecting barriers at locks to stop the movement of carp, incentivizing and expanding commercial fishing to remove Asian carp from our waters, and monitoring and researching progress to find areas for improvement.<\/p>\n<p>[320left]\u201cTennessee\u2019s waters flow in and out of other states, so we can\u2019t just fight carp here at home,\u201d said Butler. \u201cThanks to the Ayers\u2019 support, we have brought together congressmen and senators across the Southeast who are now actively working to secure the funds needed for Tennessee and our neighbors to block and tackle carp in a big way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about Asian carp in Tennessee and take action, visit <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.tnwf.org\/asiancarp\" >www.tnwf.org\/asiancarp<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>About Tennessee Wildlife Federation<\/h3>\n<p>Tennessee Wildlife Federation leads the conservation, sound management and wise use of Tennessee&#8217;s great outdoors. Since 1946, the Federation has spearheaded the development of the state\u2019s wildlife policy, advanced landmark legislation on air and water quality and other conservation initiatives, helped restore numerous species, and introduced thousands of kids to the great outdoors.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more, visit <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.tnwf.org\" >www.tnwf.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nashville, TN &#8211; The Ayers Foundation, created in 1999 to sustain and significantly improve the quality of life in Tennessee, has made a notable gift to Tennessee Wildlife Federation in support of its efforts to fight invasive Asian carp in the state\u2019s waters. Tennessee Wildlife Federation is one of the largest and oldest nonprofits dedicated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[11906,12482,12483,229,284,261,3617,228],"class_list":["post-14812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-leisure","tag-asian-carp","tag-ayers-foundation","tag-michael-butler","tag-middle-tennessee","tag-nashville-tn","tag-tennessee","tag-tennessee-wildlife-federation","tag-west-tennessee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14812"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14813,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14812\/revisions\/14813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}