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Mitsubishi Motors Sponsors 17th Annual World Fly Fishing Championship & Conservation Symposium

4 September 1997

Mitsubishi Motors Sponsors 17th Annual World Fly Fishing Championship & Conservation Symposium

          Sponsorship Supports Educational and Stream Rehabilitation
                          in the Jackson Hole Region

    JACKSON HOLE, Wyo., Sept. 4 -- In support of local
conservation efforts and to help create a stronger awareness that fly-fishing
is, indeed, an environmentally sound sport, Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America,
Inc. (MMSA) is sponsoring the 17th Annual World Fly Fishing Championship and
Conservation Symposium in the first-ever U.S. site, the famed Snake River area
of Jackson Hole, Wyoming and eastern Idaho, September 3-8, 1997.
    Billed as the "Olympics of Fly Fishing," the event will bring together
nearly twenty-five 4-person angling teams from around the world to compete for
national pride and honor.  The Annual World Fly Fishing Championship has been
a "catch and release" event since 1988 and for 1997, is much more than a fly
fishing competition.
    This year's event hosts the site of an important Conservation Symposium
aimed at promoting advanced stream management techniques to participating
anglers and international dignitaries.  The Symposium will bring together some
of the finest biologists, fishery managers, scholars and scientists to discuss
the process of rehabilitation of the Snake River.
    According to Richard D. Recchia, executive vice president and chief
operating officer for Mitsubishi Motors Sales of America, Inc., this
internationally acclaimed event is designed to help preserve the Cutthroat
Trout in Jackson Hole's Snake River.  "With a catch and release system in
place, serious anglers tackle the challenges that fly-fishing presents without
disturbing the ecology or nature's surroundings."
    "We believe that a company like Mitsubishi Motors can use its title
sponsorship of the 17th World Fly Fishing Championship to help publicize the
peril of extinction faced by Cutthroat trout in Wyoming's Snake River," said
Recchia.  "We plan to work with local organizers to fund improved stream
management."  Mitsubishi Motors has committed to donating all net proceeds
from the competition to the local chapter of Trout Unlimited and the National
Museum of Wildlife Art.  These funds will be used for educational and stream
rehabilitation in the Jackson Hole region.
    For additional information, graphics or video PSAs on the Mitsubishi
Motors 17th Annual World Fly Fishing Championship & Conservation Symposium,
contact Michael Banville, director of public relations, Flyfishing Team-USA;
P.O. Box 429, Teton Village, WY 83025; 307/733-2835 or e-mail:
  mkbanville@blissnet.com., or visit the event's web site
 (http://www.jacksonwy.com/mmwffc/).  Mitsubishi Motors web site can be reached
 at http://www.mitsucars.com.
    Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc. was established in 1982 by
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Tokyo, and markets a full line of vehicles,
including coupes, convertibles, sedans and sport utility vehicles.

SOURCE  Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc.