Augusta, ME – The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM), the state’s leading nonprofit membership organization working to protect Maine’s environment, has named its 2017 Conservation Leadership Award winners. The award is given each year to individuals or groups who have made an extraordinary contribution to the protection of Maine’s land, air, waters, or wildlife.
This year’s Conservation Leadership Award recipients will be honored Thursday, October 19, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath.
“We are excited to acknowledge the good work of hard-working and dedicated individuals with our Conservation Leadership Award,” says Natural Resources Council of Maine Executive Director Lisa Pohlmann. “Each of their contributions is so important, and the positive impacts extend across Maine and far beyond.”
For more than 30 years, NRCM has presented the award to citizens across the state who work to protect the natural resources that are so important for Maine’s economy and way of life. Past recipients include Senator George Mitchell, natural history author Phyllis Austin, former Baxter State Park Director Buzz Caverly, Olympic champion/clean air activist Joan Benoit Samuelson, and more than a hundred other citizen heroes who have made a difference in their communities and beyond.
NRCM’s 2017 Conservation Leadership Award recipients include:
David Courtemanch of Mt. Vernon
2017 Conservation Leadership Award for Lifetime Achievement
For his deep knowledge of and dedication to protecting Maine’s waters
Addie Farmer and Lainey Randall of Portland
2017 People’s Choice Award
For their work to keep plastics and other pollution out of Casco Bay
Tony Giambro and Travis Ritchie of Paris Autobarn, South Paris
2017 Conservation Leadership Award
For their outstanding citizen and business leadership on climate and energy issues
Martha Spiess of Freeport
2017 Conservation Leadership Award
For her work as a citizen activist/videographer volunteering hundreds of hours of video production for environmental protection
Special thanks to Maine magazine, media sponsor for this event.
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The Natural Resources Council of Maine is a nonprofit membership organization working statewide for clean air, healthy waters, safeguards for our people and wildlife, forest protections, sustainable solutions to toxic pollution and other waste, and for clean, efficient energy solutions. We harness the power of science, the law, and the voices of more than 20,000 supporters across Maine and beyond. www.nrcm.org
