Nominate Your Conservation Heroes

Nominations can be submitted by April 1, 2016, here: 2016 Nomination Form

Wild South invites the public to submit nominations for the 8^th Annual Roosevelt-Ashe Conservation Awards. The awards recognize outstanding contributions to environmental conservation in the South during the past year. Awards will be given and top nominees recognized in each of the five categories:

• Outstanding Small Business
• Outstanding Journalist
• Outstanding Educator
• Outstanding Youth
• Outstanding Conservationist

 

On May 7, 2016, top nominees and award winners will be recognized at the 8th Annual Wild South Green Gala at The Millroom in Asheville, North Carolina.

“This is an opportunity to honor conservation leaders from around the South for their dedication, commitment and accomplishments in their fields. It is truly an inspiring process that Wild South is proud to lead,” said Pat Byington, Executive Director of Wild South.

Nominations are accepted from across the region and can be submitted through the online nomination form. Top nominees and winners will be selected by the Roosevelt-Ashe Selection Committee. Members of this committee are conservation leaders in the region and include:

• Katie Hicks, Associate Director of Clean Water for North Carolina (Asheville, NC)
• Jake Wheeler, Creative Director of RootsRated (Chattanooga, TN)
• Frank Peterman, Co-founder and Senior Business Manager for the Diverse Environmental Leaders National Speakers Bureau (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
• Audrey Peterman, Member of the Board of Trustees of National Parks Conservation Association (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
• Dusty Allison, Digital Publisher of Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine (Asheville, NC)
• Kathleen Williams, Founding Executive Director of Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation (Nashville, TN)
• Pete Conroy, Director of Environmental Policy & Information Center of Jacksonville State University (Jacksonville, AL)
• Camille Bowman, Architectural Conservator (Gadsden, AL)
• Mary Topa, Executive Director of Georgia Forest Watch (Dahlonega, GA)

 

Wild South named the Roosevelt-Ashe Conservation Award in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt and Mr. W.W. Ashe. Their conservation values mirror those of Wild South and the awards pay homage to their work to protect forests and wild places in the South and across the United States.

“We’ve been honoring extraordinary work in the conservation movement for eight years now and I am just as awed by the passion, talent, and courage of the nominees as I was in year one,” said Tracy Davids, Vice-Chair and former Executive Director of Wild South. “Their stories inspire me to continue my own efforts to defend and protect our natural world.”

The 2015 Roosevelt-Ashe Conservation Award winners were 212 Market Street Restaurant in Chattanooga, Tennessee (Outstanding Small Business), Karen Chavez of the Asheville Citizen-Times in Asheville, North Carolina (Outstanding Journalist), Nancy Muse of Central School in Florence, Alabama (Outstanding Educator), Carly Stines of Wake County, North Carolina (Outstanding Youth), and Paul Carlson of the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee in Franklin, North Carolina (Outstanding Conservationist). Additional lifetime achievement awards recognized Bishop Herron Johnson of Birmingham, Alabama, and Dr. Liane Russell of Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Please fill out the online nomination by April 1, 2016.

Please contact Hannah Morgan, Wild South Development and Communications Coordinator, at (828) 258 -2667 or hannah@wildsouth.org with any questions about the nominations.

About Wild South:

Wild South is the voice of our public lands, forests, and waters as people across the region band together to save the wild places and wild things that we all love. Wild South’s mission is to inspire people to enjoy, value and protect the wild character and natural legacy of the South. For the past 25 years, Wild South has been a leader in protecting our public lands in the South. Working in eight states, Wild South has offices in Asheville, North Carolina, and Moulton, Alabama, with additional staff in Tennessee and Mississippi. To learn more about Wild South, visit www.wildsouth.org.