Center For Private Conservation Celebrates Private Conservation Day

Third AnnualPrivate Conservation DaySaturday, April 13, 200211:00 a.m. – noonNatural Bridge of Virginia

Please join the Center for Private Conservation to celebrate its Third Annual Private Conservation Day. The event will take place at the Natural Bridge of Virginia, the first known example of private stewardship in American History, thanks to Thomas Jefferson’s purchase of the bridge from King George III in 1774.  Jefferson called it “The most sublime of Nature’s works.”Event highlights will include remarks by:

·         The Honorable Mark Rey, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment who will acknowledge the outstanding contributions of private landowners everywhere and present this year’s “Private Conservationist of the Year” award.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />

·         Becky Norton Dunlop, Vice President of External Relations for the Heritage Foundation and former Secretary of Natural Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

·         Chief Kenneth Branham from the Monacan Indian Nation.

Come view one of this country’s earliest examples of private conservation and see why Interior Secretary Gail Norton proclaimed, “Private Landowners are often the best stewards of our land,” during CPC’s Second Annual Private Conservation Day.