Marathon Oil Corp. contributes to tamarisk removal effort

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado - Marathon Oil Corp. on Tuesday announced that it was launching a conservation effort to battle tamarisk growth in Colorado.

The company's efforts began Tuesday with an initial contribution of $100,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), according to a statement from the company. Marathon said it intends to contribute up to $350,000 through 2009 "to benefit the major watersheds and tributaries of the Colorado River."

Marathon's contribution to NFWF will assist The Nature Conservancy in completing the removal of tamarisk along 40 miles of the San Miguel River. Additional funding will come from the Bureau of Land Management, the statement said.

"One of Marathon's core values is to help preserve the environment for future generations," Steven P. Guidry, Marathon's regional vice president, North America Production Operations, said in the prepared statement. "We know that we are guests in the communities in which we work, and therefore, we live by our principles of promoting sustainable social, environmental and economic benefits wherever we operate."

Jeff Trandahl, executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, also said in the statement that the organization applauded "Marathon's leadership in directing their contributions and private industry's attention toward solving a serious conservation issue in the West."

The effort involves the labor of cutting tamarisk and applying herbicides directly to the stumps, in combination with mechanical removal in certain locations, Marathon's statement said.