El Paso Corporation donates $50,000 to The Nature Conservancy for South Texas conservation outreach

SAN ANTONIO — June 21, 2007 — Houston-based El Paso Corporation has donated $50,000 to The Nature Conservancy of Texas for its conservation-outreach work in the Rio Grande Valley.

The gift will be used to support conservation projects at the organization’s Lennox Foundation Southmost Preserve in Brownsville, including the South Texas Native Plant Nursery, which provides ten of thousands of native plants for habitat restoration in the Valley, and educational outreach for school teachers and other educators. The donation also will support completion of a walking trail at the preserve that takes visitors through the plant nursery, sabal palm and thornscrub forest, and resacas, or oxbow lakes.

“El Paso is proud to support The Nature Conservancy of Texas with its Lower Rio Grande Valley outreach endeavors,” said Bruce Connery, Vice-President of Investor and Public Relations for El Paso Corporation. “We have long-standing pipeline and E&P operations in South Texas and this is a great opportunity for us to participate in an effort that will maintain this special ecosystem for future generations.”

The Nature Conservancy’s Texas State Director Cater Smith said his organization appreciates El Paso Corporation’s donation and its commitment to conservation. “The Rio Grande Valley is a true Texas treasure for its richness of habitat and species diversity,” Smith said. The region supports an amazing array of spectacular animals and plants, many of which are found nowhere else in the United States.”

The Nature Conservancy’s Southmost Preserve, which protects more than 1,000 acres along the Rio Grande at the southernmost tip of Texas, protects one of the largest and last remaining forests of sabal palms, the state’s only native palm, as well as dense stands of nearly impenetrable Tamaulipan thornscrub, which provides habitat for endangered ocelots and rare birds.

Part of the preserve remains in active agricultural cultivation, with organic citrus orchards and sustainable crop farming serving as a demonstration of agriculture that is compatible with habitat protection.

“This land has been called the jewel of the Rio Grande Valley,” said the Conservancy’s Smith. “Indeed, Southmost is part of the ‘string of pearls’ of conservation lands that make up the Lower Rio Grande Valley Wildlife Corridor. El Paso’s donation to support this project will help us share the whys and wherefores of conservation with others who will promote conservation of these natural resources.”

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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 nature.org. In the Lone Star State, The Nature Conservancy of Texas owns 35 nature preserves and conservation projects and assists private landowners to conserve their land through more than 70 voluntary land-preservation agreements. The Nature Conservancy of Texas protects 250,000 acres of wild lands and, with partners, has conserved close to a million acres for wildlife habitat across the state. Visit The Nature Conservancy of Texas on the Web at nature.org/texas.

El Paso Corporation provides natural gas and related energy products in a safe, efficient, and dependable manner. The company owns North America's largest natural gas pipeline system and one of North America's largest independent natural gas producers. For more information, visit www.elpaso.com.