For Immediate Release:  December 10, 2008

                          Contact:  Glen Collins (602) 861-1605, glendone@aol.com

Jan Holder of Tucson was presented with the Public Lands Foundation’s (PLF) Landscape Stewardship Award for her efforts in community-based landscape stewardship on public lands administered by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at a special ceremony today in Safford. Glen Collins, Arizona State Representative of the PLF, a national conservation organization, made the presentation at a meeting of the Gila Watershed Partnership, of which Holder is the Executive Director.

 

“Ms. Holder has shown outstanding leadership, vision and purpose in partnership with the BLM and numerous others over an extended period that has resulted in significant improvements in the Gila River watershed both on a landscape and site-specific scale,” said Collins in presenting the award. “In addition, she has committed substantial personal time and effort to obtain needed resources and to ensure completion of projects. We are pleased to be able to honor her for her efforts.”

 

In nominating Holder for the award, BLM Safford Field Manager Scott Cooke described her as “the heart and soul of the Gila Watershed Partnership (GWP).” He added that, “Ms. Holder is extremely well organized and able to ensure that projects are successful, starting with planning and securing grants, then involving all the stakeholders in the process, which results in active participation in the completion of each project. This is no small task given that the GWP includes more than 25 government entities, organizations, ranchers, businesses, educational institutions, and private landowners.”

 
The nomination included enthusiastic support letters from Frank A. Hayes, District Ranger, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests; Craig P. Wilcox, Forest Silviculturist, Coronado National Forest; David J. Henson, Biology Instructor and Coordinator of Desert Riparian Studies, Eastern Arizona College; Bill Brandau, Graham County Cooperative Extension Director; Kristine Uhlman, Non-point Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) Program Coordinator at the University of Arizona; and Pete Brawley, a founding member of the Gila Watershed Partnership.

The Public Lands Foundation honors the efforts of citizens who work to advance and sustain community-based stewardship on landscapes that include public lands administered by the BLM. According to Collins, “The purpose of this program is to recognize and call public attention to individual and group efforts, to encourage this vitally important public volunteer effort, and to call attention to the many values and management needs of our Public Lands.”

The Public Lands Foundation is a national non-profit organization, which is made up predominately of retired Bureau of Land Management employees, that advocates and works for the retention of Public Lands in public hands, professionally and sustainably managed for the responsible common use and enjoyment of the American people.