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The Nature Conservancy Bestows Eighth Annual Conservation Leadership Awards

Award-winning author and scientist Carl Safina gives keynote address

PORTLAND, OREGON — October 30, 2008 — The Nature Conservancy honored Oregon’s “conservation heroes” today at its eighth annual Conservation Leadership Awards Luncheon. Held at noon at the Oregon Zoo, the event brought together community and business leaders to recognize individuals, community partners and others for their leadership in conserving Oregon’s natural lands and waters.

“Oregon is rich in its diversity of habitats for fish and wildlife, and we're honoring the exceptional leadership of those who are helping to keep it that way,” said Russell Hoeflich, vice president and Oregon director of The Nature Conservancy.

The 2008 Conservation Leadership Award recipients are:

Lifetime Conservation Leadership Award
Ned and Sis Hayes
Family traditions for Ned and Sis Hayes include working in harmony with the land and passionately acting to protect it. Their love for the outdoors and a career in forestry have helped shape lifelong commitments to sustainable resource management, environmental education and protection for special places. Ned was a founder of Outward Bound and has led many other efforts to inspire the next generation of conservationists. Members of The Nature Conservancy for more than three decades, Ned and Sis have explored and generously given to protect many important natural areas including Sycan Marsh and Zumwalt Prairie preserves. With an abiding zeal for healthy forests, they recently sponsored a major initiative to return prescribed fire to key forested landscapes.
 

Business Partner Conservation Leadership Award
Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery
Once considered limitless and inexhaustible, our world’s oceans, bays and estuaries are in jeopardy, and several keystone species are in sharp decline. Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery, one of the largest producers of commercial shellfish seed on the West Coast, is helping to change that. Since 2005, they have graciously raised nearly 50 million native Olympia oyster larvae to be seeded into Netarts Bay on the Oregon coast. Whiskey Creek’s dedication to collaboration, healthy oyster rearing and conservation is leading the way to a self-sustaining native oyster population once again fulfilling their natural role of filtering water, improving water quality and providing habitat for salmon and other wildlife.

Community Partner Conservation Leadership Award
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Oregonians who love the diversity and beauty of our state have been inspired and educated for years by stories on "Oregon Field Guide" about amazing creatures, places and people. This year Oregon Public Broadcasting went deeper, producing an hour-long special report, "The Silent Invasion," spotlighting emerging threats to Oregon’s environment and economy from invasive species. Together with SOLV, The Nature Conservancy and others, OPB launched a call to action including volunteer networks, an online invasives hotline, an Oregon gardening booklet, and many other local and statewide efforts. OPB is helping to inspire and equip Oregonians to protect Oregon’s spectacular natural heritage far into the future.

Dr. Carl Safina, co-founder and president of the Blue Ocean Institute, is keynote speaker. His presentation is titled Our Oceans, Ourselves: Making the Spiritual Connection. The Blue Ocean Institute unites science, art and literature to inspire a closer relationship with the sea. Dr. Safina has written more than a hundred publications including his books Song for the Blue Ocean, Eye of the Albatross and Voyage of the Turtle. Among many other distinctions, he is recipient of the Pew Scholar’s Award in Conservation and the Environment, the John Burroughs Medal for Literature and a MacArthur Prize.

About 375 people attended the luncheon. Presenting sponsor for the Conservation Leadership Awards was The ODS Companies, with additional major support from The Oregonian.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. In Oregon, the Conservancy owns or manages 46 nature preserves and has helped protect over 494,000 acres of important habitats, with support from 23,000 member households.