Nature Conservancy to honor Anne Duncan, NRG Texas during 16th-annual Houston Conservation Leadership Awards Luncheon

The The Woodlands Development Company will receive special award; Nature Conservancy lead scientist M.A. Sanjayan will deliver keynote address

HOUSTON, TEXAS — The Nature Conservancy of Texas will honor Anne Duncan and NRG Texas for their commitment and leadership in furthering conservation during the 16th-annual Houston Conservation Leadership Awards Luncheon on Oct. 22. The Woodlands Development Company also will receive special recognition during the event. Chevron is the founding underwriter of the luncheon.

With the theme “Protecting nature. Preserving life,” the event will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Hyatt Regency Houston, 1200 Louisiana St. Some 750 Houston-area conservation supporters are expected to attend.

M.A. Sanjayan, lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy, will deliver the keynote address on current issues and challenges in environmental conservation, including along the Texas coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. 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 around the world, Sanjayan experiences the rigors of global habitat conservation first hand.

“I can’t overstate the importance of the support for conservation we celebrate with our annual Houston conservation awards, especially in these times,” said Laura Huffman, Texas State director for The Nature Conservancy. “I particularly want to recognize the dedication of our longtime volunteer Anne Duncan. Anne and others like her are essential to our conservation achievements.”

Duncan will receive The Nature Conservancy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to recognize an individual who has made a lifelong commitment to conserving Texas’ irreplaceable natural heritage. This award is not bestowed annually, but is presented only when an individual’s achievements warrant recognition.

A member of The Nature Conservancy of Texas Board of Trustees since 1994, where she now serves on the philanthropy committee and the conservation and public policy committee, she also has been a member of the Conservancy’s Houston Advisory Board since 1992. Duncan has provided leadership and support for the organization’s acquisitions of the Davis Mountains and Independence Creek preserves in West Texas, Love Creek Preserve in the Hill Country and the Lennox Foundation Southmost Preserve in the Rio Grande Valley, as well as expansions of Clymer Meadow Preserve in North Texas and the Clive Runnells Family Mad Island Marsh and Shamrock Island preserves on the Gulf Coast.

Duncan also serves on the boards of the Yellowstone Park Foundation and the Houston Zoo. She and her husband, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Charles W. Duncan Jr., have owned a ranch near Cody, Wyo., since 1972, where they have made the stewardship of natural resources a top priority.

NRG Texas will be presented with the Conservation Leadership Award, which recognizes enterprises whose leadership sets an outstanding example to others in the community through strategies such as land conservation, restoration, compatible development, environmental responsibility, environmental policy, public involvement and education and financial support.

NRG Texas’ EcoCenter, near Baytown, is a unique education-outreach facility and environmental resource. The EcoCenter grows the majority of plants used in Galveston Bay for wetland restoration projects. NRG Texas promotes employee volunteer programs for conservation, including tree planting and recycling programs. In 2007, NRG Texas employees participated in more than 10 conservation-enhancement projects.

The Woodlands Development Company will receive a special award for the vision and development of the George Mitchell Nature Preserve in The Woodlands Village of Creekside Park. More than 1,700 acres in size, the preserve is a major link in the Spring Creek Greenway Project, an initiative of Harris and Montgomery counties to conserve more than 33 miles along Spring Creek for a regional park and nature trail system that extends from the San Jacinto River in Humble to Burroughs Park.

“We are so grateful to have the opportunity to recognize these outstanding companies and individuals for their passion and commitment to conserving our natural world,” said John Cronin Jr., the Conservancy’s director of philanthropy for Houston. “The leadership, intelligence and dedication that they bring and the embracing of conservation is more than a social obligation – it is sound business management and should serve to inspire other leaders in a variety of industries.”

Clayton and Sheldon Erikson are this year’s event chairpersons. Sheldon Erickson is chairman of the board of Cameron.

Individual tickets for the luncheon cost $250 and tables for 10 begin at $2,500. Call (713) 524-6459, Ext. 105, to learn more.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 18 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 117 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 more than 30 nature preserves and conservation projects and assists private landowners to conserve their land through more than 100 voluntary land-preservation agreements. The Nature Conservancy of Texas protects some 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.