Secretary Salazar Presents the Weaverville Community Forest Stewardship Project with Partners in Conservation Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today presented a Partners in Conservation Award to the Weaverville Community Forest Stewardship Project for their work in the town of Weaverville and on more than 1,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management public lands in northern California.

It was one of 26 national awards to individuals and organizations presented at a ceremony at Interior headquarters in Washington, D.C. to honor “those who achieve natural resource goals in collaboration and partnership with others.”

The 26 Partners in Conservation Awards recognize conservation achievements resulting from the cooperation and participation of a total of 600 individuals and organizations including landowners; citizens' groups; private sector and nongovernmental organizations; and federal, state, local, and/or tribal governments.

“The Partners in Conservation Awards demonstrate that our greatest conservation legacies often emerge when stakeholders, agencies, and citizens from a wide range of backgrounds come together to address shared challenges,” the Secretary said. “Since 2005, the Trinity County Resource Conservation District Staff has been working with the BLM to implement the Weaverville Community Forest Stewardship Project to implement several projects that have helped protect and enhance the natural and cultural resources found on public land.”

These projects have included helping to implement a forest health timber sale within the Weaverville Community Forest that has reduced fire hazard on dense forested BLM lands close to private property with homes. The funds from the timber sales can be used to complete several management projects, such as invasive weed survey and management, post-fire hazard fuels reduction and future timber sale treatment. In addition, the Trinity County Resource Conservation District has promoted recreation and public land interpretation.

“These 26 awards recognize the dedicated efforts of people from all walks of life, from across our nation– and from across our borders with Canada and Mexico,” Salazar noted. “They celebrate partnerships that conserve and restore our nation's treasured landscapes and watersheds, partnerships that engage Native American communities, and partnerships that engage youth.”

Those sharing this award include:

Bureau of Land Management
Francis Berg
Walter Herzog
Glenn Lahti
Julia Lang

Trinity County Resource Conservation District
Kenneth Baldwin
John Condon
Alex Cousins
Patrick Frost
Jerry Hauke
Richard Morris
Colleen O'Sullivan
Kelly Sheen
Patrick Truman