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Eastern New York Chapter Names Oak Leaf Award Winner

Hudson River Foundation is Honored for its Support; Bivalvancy Celebrated!

New York, NY — January 30, 2007 — Each year, the Eastern New York Chapter of The Nature Conservancy presents the Oak Leaf Award to an individual or organization whose efforts have directly and significantly benefited Conservancy programs locally, nationally, or globally. The award is made in recognition of particularly dedicated service and support of the Conservancy’s mission to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.

This year, the chapter was pleased to present the Oak Leaf Award to The Hudson River Foundation for Science and Environmental Research and their Executive Director Clay Hiles. The award was presented at a gathering at the Yale Club where guests were also treated to a lively discussion by Mark Kurlansky, author of The Big Oyster History on the Half-Shell. In his talk, Kurlansky traced the ecological, social, and culinary history of the oyster in New York City. Also on hand were representatives of the Nature Conservancy’s Eastern New York and Long Island Chapters who outlined the work their projects are doing to restore shellfish populations in the Hudson River and Long Island’s Great South Bay.

Eighteen months ago, The Nature Conservancy initiated a new conservation program in the Hudson River Estuary Watershed. The Hudson River Foundation has played a key role in this endeavor by helping the Conservancy bring together more than 30 organizations, agencies, and research institutions to assess threats to the region’s nationally significant biological diversity.                                                            

According to Katie Dolan, Executive Director for the Conservancy’s Eastern New York Chapter, "As Foundation Executive Director, Clay was an active leader in our recent Hudson planning process, which included selecting conservation targets that represent the region’s biodiversity and overall health. Our Hudson River Estuary Program will join a growing network of places where shellfish are being restored…at last count, the Conservancy had 15 shellfish restoration programs including Long Island, the Chesapeake Bay and in Oregon. At the turn of the next century, we will have been truly successful in Hudson conservation if the Yale Club can serve oysters from local waters rather than tonight’s offerings from Texas!"

Added David VanLuven, the Conservancy’s Hudson River Estuary Landscape Director, "By fostering rigorous scientific research and collaboration, the Hudson River Foundation is helping the Conservancy and many, many other partners identify and implement strategies for restoring the Hudson."

The Nature Conservancy is the leading conservation organization working to protect the most ecologically important lands and waters around the world for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.