The French Creek Project announced this week it will hold its inaugural charity golf scramble on July 29 at the Island Green Golf Course near Cochranton, to raise money for French Creek Project watershed conservation programs.

The 18-hole scramble will feature a chance at one $10,000 hole-in-one cash prize, line prizes for longest drive and closest to the pin, cash prizes to the top two scoring teams, as well as raffle prizes. Tournament participants will play 18 holes of golf with the use of a cart, and be served snacks, beverages and a sit-down meal.

The entry fee is $100 per person with all profits being contributed to the French Creek Project.

“We would like to thank the good people at the Island Green Golf Course for hosting this event,” noted Mark Gorman, Director of the French Creek Project. “The setting of the golf course is special in and of itself, being nestled in the kind of rural, wooded farming valley that makes the French Creek region such a special place. It's that mix of woodland and farms that has helped to protect French Creek and its diverse mussels and fish through the years.”

Individuals and teams can register for the tournament by calling the Island Green Golf Course at 814-425-7704 or in person at the Golf Course. There is a 12-team (48-person) limit and tournament positions will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. The Island Green Golf Course is located at 27815 Deckards Road north of Cochranton, Pennsylvania.

The French Creek Project, started in 1995, is an internationally recognized, award winning organization whose work is driven by a philosophy of “conservation through cooperation.”

The Project works with landowners, farmers, business leaders, local government officials, scientists, conservationists, sports people, and educators to help conserve the 1,270 square mile French Creek watershed in western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania, the most ecologically significant aquatic system in Pennsylvania, and among the richest in the United States.

The Nature Conservancy has named French Creek one of its original “Last Great Places,” and one of the thirty most important bodies of freshwater in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.

French Creek Project is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, The Nature Conservancy, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and Allegheny College.

For more information, visit the French Creek Project online or call 814-332-2946.

7/21/2006