None The Nature Conservancy in Georgia Press Releases Search All Press Releases Christine Griffiths Phone: (912) 437-2161, ext. 225 E-mail: cgriffiths@tnc.org

The UPS Foundation Awards $25,000 Grant to The Nature Conservancy for Critical Conservation Work

Atlanta, GA—January 27, 2003—The Nature Conservancy recently received a $25,000 grant from The UPS Foundation, a charitable arm of United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), to enhance its work in Georgia with the help of volunteer conservationists and land stewards.

"UPS and its employees have always been committed to serving the communities where we live and work. In fact, community service is a key part of our company charter," said Evern Cooper, president of The UPS Foundation and vice president of UPS corporate relations.

"We apply both financial and human resources in our support of groups that address the educational and human welfare needs around the world. UPS’ support of The Nature Conservancy signifies our shared focus and commitment to improve our communities," Cooper said.

The Nature Conservancy will use The UPS Foundation funding to strengthen the volunteer program in Georgia, thereby attracting more resources and manpower to accomplish conservation field work at priority ecological sites.

"The UPS Foundation is making it possible for us to further engage community and corporate volunteers to assist with on-the-ground work that is critical to conservation in Georgia," said Tavia McCuean, vice president and Georgia state director for The Nature Conservancy.

"As a non-profit organization, we depend on volunteers to help implement our land management activities across the state," Mrs. McCuean said. "In return, volunteers receive hands-on training, conservation knowledge and continued inspiration to protect our natural resources."

For the past five years, The Nature Conservancy has participated in the Alternative Spring Breakaway Program, a project that enables students to spend their spring break vacation performing community service work for non-profit organizations. Each year, two or three groups of  college students from different schools have volunteered with The Nature  Conservancy in Georgia. Last year, students from colleges in Michigan and New York logged over 600 hours in the field. In exchange for their time and labor, they received lessons in ecology and hands-on experience that would have been impossible to convey in the classroom.

The Nature Conservancy will use the $25,000 grant from The UPS Foundation to continue its work with the Alternate Spring Breakaway students, as well as community and corporate volunteers, as a means to enhance stewardship activities at priority conservation sites in Georgia.

At Moody Forest Natural Area in Appling County, the Conservancy will use UPS Foundation funding to engage volunteers in the restoration of the longleaf pine forest, which will include planting locally-grown longleaf pine seedlings, removing invasive species, and monitoring endangered species. Jointly owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the nearly 4,000-acre preserve borders the Altamaha River and contains an old-growth longleaf pine forest, bottlomland hardwood forests and cypress-tupelo swamps. The site provides critical habitat for the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, eastern indigo snake, gopher tortoise, bald eagle an several species of neotropical migratory birds.

The UPS Foundation funding will also help to engage volunteers at Broxton Rocks preserve in Douglas, Ga. A 1,550-acre site, Broxton Rocks provides critical habitat for 529 plants and an extensive sandstone outcrop system. Volunteers will learn about the unique features of the ecosystem as they help plant thousands of longleaf pine seedlings and re-introduce native herbs and grasses to the site. To protect Broxton Rocks’ fragile outcrops and provide visitors with improved access, volunteers will extend and restore the preserve’s current trail.

"Moody Forest and Broxton Rocks each have such unique natural characteristics that we are striving to protect," said Malcolm Hodges, ecologist for The Nature Conservancy’s Georgia Chapter. "But our staff  is limited in time and manpower, so it’s important that volunteers are available and willing to help protect these special places. The success of our conservation efforts depends on their support."

Volunteers have been--and will continue to be--an essential part of the Conservancy’s work in the Conasauga River basin. This spring, college students will again visit this conservation priority site in north Georgia to help with trail maintenance in the Chattahoochee National Forest and streambank restoration along the Conasauga River and its tributaries.

Funding from the UPS Foundation will enable the volunteers to reestablish a healthy riparian environment in the Conasauga basin by planting trees and other vegetation along the banks of the river and its tributaries. The plantings will provide habitat for a number of species, create a canopy that will help maintain a healthy water temperature, provide erosion control and, ultimately, protect water quality.

"Volunteers are the lifeblood of our work," said Shawn Clouse, director of the  Conservancy’s Conasauga River Project. "We have so much work ahead of us, that it would be  impossible to accomplish without  the help of our volunteers."

The UPS Foundation
Established in 1951 and based in Atlanta, Ga., The UPS Foundation identifies specific areas where its support will clearly impact social issues. The Foundation’s major initiatives currently include programs that support family and workplace literacy, prepared and perishable food distribution and increased nationwide voluntarism. In 2001, The UPS Foundation distributed more than $40 million worldwide. Of that amount, more than $20.5 million was awarded throughout the Corporate Grant Program, $3.1 million was distributed through the Region/District Grant Program, $2.5 million was awarded through the Community Investment Grant Program, and $9.3 million was donated to United Way

The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy’s mission is to preserve the diversity of  life by protecting critical habitats throughout the world. Formed in 1951 by a professional associated of ecologists, The Nature Conservancy has protected over 12 million acres of ecologically significant habitat in the United States and more than 96 million acres in Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. The Conservancy has been active in Georgia--the largest state east of the Mississippi River and the sixth most biologically diverse state in the United States, since 1968. To date, more than 220,000 acres have been protect in Georgia.