Governor Minner Receives Conservation Hero Award from Delaware Nature Conservancy

Sen. Venables and Tom Draper Also Recognized for Conservation Achievements

Dover, DE — January 11, 2007 — The Delaware Chapter of The Nature Conservancy today presented its 2005-2006 Conservation Awards at a luncheon ceremony in Dover and honored Governor Ruth Ann Minner with its Conservation Hero Award for her stalwart conservation advocacy and her many achievements in preserving and protecting Delaware’s natural resources for future generations.

Senator Robert L.Venables received The Nature Conservancy’s Public Service Award, recognizing him for his land preservation efforts in the Nanticoke River watershed—including his efforts in securing State funding for preservation of significant forestlands in Sussex County.

Thomas H. Draper received The Nature Conservancy’s 2005-2006 Private Lands Conservation Award for his conservation initiative in permanently protecting rare habitat on his private property and for setting an example for other private landowners.

The Award Ceremony was held at the Lobby House in Dover following a buffet luncheon attended by many legislators, public officials, friends of the awardees, and Trustees of the Delaware Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

Roger L. Jones, Jr., Delaware State Director of The Nature Conservancy presided over the ceremony, welcoming awardees and guests, introducing presenters, and closed with a brief summary of the organization’s 2007 legislative agenda.

Patricia Schramm, Chair, Delaware Chapter Board of Trustees, presented Governor Ruth Ann Minner with The Nature Conservancy’s 2005-2006 Conservation Hero Award and reminded the guests of the Governor’s outstanding conservation legacy resulting from more than 30 years of public service marked by a dedication to environmental issues. In reviewing the Governor’s accomplishments, Schramm highlighted the Governor’s current Livable Delaware agenda for sustainable development, her sponsorship of the Land Protection Act in 1990, her establishment of the agricultural and forestland preservation programs, and her significant role in providing a consistent funding stream for open space preservation.

State Director, Roger L. Jones, Jr. presented Senator Venables with the 2005-2006 Public Service Award, thanking him for his crucial role as co-chair of the bond bill committee in 2002 and 2003. According to Jones, “Senator Venable’s leadership and persuasion were crucial in securing the $11 million general fund appropriation to permanently protect more than 14,000 acres of forestland in Sussex County.”

Wayne Holden, Conservation Committee Chair, Delaware Chapter Board of Trustees, presented Thomas H. Draper with the 2005-2006 Private Lands Conservation Award recognizing him for using the farmland preservation program as a vehicle for protecting his Lost Acres Farm and also for ensuring that the globally and state rare habitat on the Huckleberry Swamp area of his Fairfield Farm would be protected and preserved for its exceptional conservation value.

Each of the awardees was presented with a framed print depicting the beauty and majesty of a protected “special place” in Delaware to remind them of the value of their conservation contribution.

In closing the program, State Director Jones outlined The Nature Conservancy’s 2007 legislative agenda for Delaware, giving top priority to securing a $1,750,000 appropriation for purchase of the Eagle Nest Farm tract as an addition to the Blackbird Creek Estuarine Reserve—funding that would provide the required match to $1,750,000 in federal Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program funds for that land. Other priorities include: securing a $500,000 appropriation to the Delaware Coastal Management Program to initiate a major cooperative benthic habitat study of the Delaware Bay; and a $5,000,000 appropriation to fund the Forestland Preservation Program to stem an accelerating trend in loss of forestland; and an additional $10 million in general funds for the Delaware Farmland Preservation Program to increase the number of farms enrolled in the program.