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Nature Conservancy to honor George Bristol during Austin
Conservation Leadership Awards Luncheon

Organization’s lead scientist M.A. Sanjayan will deliver keynote; Joe Ely will provide music for the event

AUSTIN, TEXAS — September 8, 2008 — George Bristol, president and executive director of the Texas Coalition for Conservation, will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award during The Nature Conservancy of Texas’ 14th-annual Conservation Leadership Awards Luncheon beginning at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 12, in the Austin Hilton, 500 E. Fourth St.

Nature Conservancy lead scientist M.A. Sanjayan will deliver the keynote address on arid lands in Texas and around the world, and legendary Texas rocker Joe Ely will provide music during the event.

Bristol spent several years working with state legislators, parks and conservation advocates and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to achieve much-needed funding increases for the state parks system, culminating in 2007.

“George Bristol is one individual who has truly made a difference in achieving conservation success throughout the great state of Texas,” said Laura Huffman, Texas state director for The Nature Conservancy. “Despite many challenges, he never gave up, and his tireless devotion to improving our state parks has paid off in a much brighter future for the lands and water that are beloved by Texans throughout the state.”

Bristol currently serves as vice-chairman of the Texas State Parks Advisory Committee and is a trustee of the Glacier National Park Fund. He formerly served as chairman and vice-chairman of Audubon Texas’ board of directors. In addition to his work on behalf of conservation in Texas, Bristol is an award-winning photographer and poet.

Whether swimming with sharks in the Coral Sea, dodging polar bears in the Arctic while documenting global warming or exploring the nexus between conservation and poverty, Nature Conservancy lead scientist Sanjayan pursues a wild life – in the literal sense.

Sanjayan, who recently trekked 300 miles across Africa’s Namib Desert as part of an ecological assessment, will present a keynote address on the importance of conserving arid lands – including the Chihuahuan Desert of Texas and Mexico – during the event.

This year’s event underwriter is Wells Fargo Bank, with Pam and Mike Reese serving as honorary chairpersons. Individual tickets to the Conservation Leadership Awards Luncheon cost $150 and are available until Thursday, Sept. 11, by calling (512) 494-9559, Ext. 103.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world 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.  In the Lone Star State, The Nature Conservancy of Texas owns more than 30 nature preserves and conservation projects and assists private landowners to conserve their land through more than 80 voluntary land-preservation agreements. The Nature Conservancy of Texas protects 250,000 acres of wild lands and, with partners, has conserved 750,000 acres for wildlife habitat across the state. Visit The Nature Conservancy of Texas on the Web at nature.org/texas.