American Honda Motor Co., Inc., has donated a 2006 Honda Ridgeline pickup to the Catalina Seabass Fund to use as a support and feed transport vehicle for special growing pens on Catalina Island.
Under the umbrella of the Ocean Research Enhancement and Hatchery program, the California Department of Fish and Game provides thousands of White Seabass fingerlings to the Catalina Seabass Fund. The group then grows the fingerlings until they are approximately ten inches in size, when they are released into the Pacific Ocean. The entire project is designed to help save the White Seabass, whose population has declined dramatically in recent years and remains near extinction.
"Honda is happy to be able to support this effort to save a valuable marine species," said John Mendel, senior vice president of American Honda "We hope that our support and the project's success will help inspire more grassroots efforts to improve our environment."
"Honda's donation of this much needed, highly versatile pickup will be a big help in supporting our efforts to save the White Seabass." said Doug Oudin, vice president of the Catalina Seabass Fund. "This will help our day-to-day operations immensely as we move people, feed and equipment around the island."
The Catalina Seabass Fund, a non-profit organization, has been highly successful since it released its first batch of more than 500 fish in 1994. In May, they are scheduled to release their 100,000th fish. Two paid employees and 4 volunteers staff the project. Over the past decade, Honda has supported the project through the donation of Honda portable generators and other marine equipment.
Honda views environmental stewardship as a fundamental management responsibility and has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to reducing the impact of its products and operations on our environment. The company has been recognized on three consecutive occasions as the world's "greenest automaker" by the Union of Concerned Scientists and is the first automaker to have met California's low-(LEV), ultra-low (ULEV) and super-ultra low (SULEV) vehicle emissions requirements as well as the U.S. EPA's national low-emission vehicle (NLEV) and Tier 2 emissions standards.
The 2006 Honda Ridgeline RTS features a 247-horsepower VTEC V-6 engine; 5-speed electronically-controlled automatic transmission; advanced Variable Torque Management four-wheel drive system; 5-foot cargo bed with six heavy duty tie down cleats and 4 bed lights; an 8.5 cubic foot secure, lockable In-Bed Trunk™; and dual-action tailgate. Equipped with the accessory tow hitch, it is capable of towing up to 5,000 lbs. The Ridgeline is certified as an Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (ULEV-2) by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). EPA fuel economy estimates for the Ridgeline are 16 mpg city and 21 mpg highway.
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Additional media information including detailed pricing, features and high-resolution photography of the 2006 Honda Ridgeline is available atwww.hondanews.com. Consumer information regarding the 2006 Honda Ridgeline is available at www.honda.com.
