Sonoma County Envr Awards Results!!

John Herrick, Conservation Corps North Bay and SRJC Student Jessica Jones honored
Photos at bottom taken by Gary Hundt
From right, awardees John Herrick, Jessica Jones, Craig Enyart, Gary Miltimore, Marilee Eckert and nominee Steve Birdlebough.

March 7, Sebastopol. The Sonoma County Conservation Council, the Sierra Club, Sonoma Group and more than 145 activists gathered Saturday night at the Sebastopol Veterans Auditorium to honor seven individuals and five local programs working to protect the environment. John Herrick of Forestville was named Environmentalist of the Year and Conservation Corps North Bay of Rohnert Park was named the Outstanding Environmental Education Program. This year, the SCCC initiated the Environmental Youth Award, which recognizes up and coming younger people - teens and twenty somethings, who are stepping up to help protect and restore our environment. Jessica Jones of Santa Rosa Junior College received that honor.

Mr. Herrick was nominated by Suzanne Doyle of the Sierra Club, Conservation Corps North Bay was nominated by Sheri Cardo of Sonoma Land Trust and Jessica Jones was nominated by former Santa Rosa City Councilmember Veronica Jacobi. Their contact information is listed at the end of this release.

Honorable Mentions:
Steve Birdlebough, Sierra Club Sonoma Group
Duane DeWitt, Advocate for Roseland
Craig M. Enyart, Maacama Watershed Alliance and Concerned Citizens of Knights Valley

Sonoma County Energy Independence Program
Sonoma Country Day School, Environmental Sciences and Sustainability Program
Santa Rosa High School Environmental Programs
Montgomery High Green Tech Pathway

Lucas Oshun, Global Student Embassy
Charles Nudi, Montgomery High Green Pathway

The evening’s theme was Defending Our Wildlife and Native Habitats with a special focus on the 2010 Sonoma County Biodiversity Action Plan. Craig Anderson, Executive Director of LandPaths, served as the Master of Ceremonies. Hattie Brown of the Laguna Foundation introduced the Action Plan. Bill Keene of Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and Bob Neale of the Sonoma Land Trust, each presented their organization’s long-term strategy for protecting wildlife and native plant communities, and their accomplishments and challenges in this arena. The awards were presented by Stephen Fuller-Rowell of the Sonoma County Water Coalition. Jane Nielsen, PhD., last year’s Environmentalist of the Year as well as a member of the Water Coalition, assisted with presenting the award to Mr. Herrick.

Local elected officials in attendance included Santa Rosa City Council members Susan Gorin and Marsha Vas Dupre, Rohnert Park Vice Mayor Jake Mackenzie, Windsor Vice Mayor Debora Fudge, Palm Drive Hospital Board Member Nancy Dobbs and Marin County Water District Boardmember Frank Eggert. Joanne Kohn was there representing Assemblymember Michael Allen and Jessica Diaz representing Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane who, along with Supervisor Carillo was in Washington DC for the National Counties Conference.

Former elected officials included Sebastopol ex-mayor Larry Robinson, County, Rohnert Park ex-mayor Tim Smith and County Supervisor Bill Kortum with Guy Conner representing retired State Senator Patricia Wiggins. A zero waste event, the event was produced by Green Synergy, a local green event team led by Portia Sinnott and Wendy Krupnick assisted by Diana Nasser.

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About the Awards and the SCCC
The Sonoma County Conservation Council (SCCC) is the Federation that operates the Sonoma County Environmental Center in Santa Rosa. The SCCC has been presenting awards since 1975. Nominations are solicited from all over the county; voting is limited to members of SCCC groups:
CA Native Plant Society, Milo Baker Chapter
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Community Network for Appropriate Technology
Conservation Corp North Bay
Forestville Citizens for Sensible Growth
Greenbelt Alliance
League of Women Voters of Sonoma County
LITE Initiatives
Madrone Audubon Society
Paula Lane Action Network (PLAN)
Russian River Watershed Protection Committee
Russian Riverkeeper
Sierra Club Redwood Chapter, Sonoma Group
Sonoma County Conservation Action
Sonoma County Transportation & Land-use Coalition
Sonoma Land Trust
Trout Unlimited, Redwood Chapter
Sonoma County Environmental Awards 2011

Nomination statements can found at https://envirocentersoco.org/awards/nominations/
Sponsored and produced by LITE Initiatives, [email protected].
Organizations are listed for reference, only. Endorsements not intended, explicit or implicit.