STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Julia and George Argyros, who threw their financial support behind the new Argyros Performing Arts Center currently being built in Ketchum, have been busy giving money away again.
The couple has given a half-million grant to Yellowstone National Park’s Native Fish Conservation Plan.
The two gave a $500,000 grant to restore the native cutthroat trout population in celebration of the National Park Service’s #GoFishingInParks mini-campaign in June.
The plan is designed to restore the natural ecology, native biodiversity and enhance spot fisheries inthe park. The native cutthroat trout population in the park has decreased 90 percent from an estimated 4-plus million following the introduction of predatory lake trout in the late 1980s.
The Argyros family’s donation is part of the National Park Foundation’s Centennial Campaign for America’s National Parks, which has raised more than $500 million from individuals, foundations and companies for the National Park System.