Media Mogul Ted Turner, Sen. Jon Tester, Rep. Mike Simpson to be feted at annual awards gala.
WASHINGTON –-(Ammoland.com)- The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership will honor media mogul Ted Turner, Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Mike Simpson at the fifth TRCP Capital Conservation Awards next week.
The annual event recognizes the contributions of leaders in the sportsmen’s community, bringing together policymakers, conservationists, hunters and anglers to celebrate the TRCP’s mission and America’s outdoors legacy.
Ted Turner, recipient of the TRCP Lifetime Conservation Achievement Award, has consistently been recognized for his entrepreneurial acumen, business skills, leadership and philanthropy. He has advanced his conservation and philanthropic efforts through his numerous foundations, and since the 1990s, the Turner Foundation has given more than $357.7 million to programs for improving air and water quality, developing a sustainable energy future to protect our climate, safeguarding environmental health and protecting wildlife and habitats to maintain biodiversity. Turner also has conserved about 2 million acres on his own ranches, which are home to more than 55,000 bison and host projects such as reforestation, renewable energy, water resource management and reintroduction of native species. Turner spends at least 100 days hunting and fishing on those ranches every year.
“Ted Turner’s vision and determination have set a new standard for conservation philanthropy both in this nation and the world over,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh. “Fundamentally, Ted understands the importance of leaving the world a little bit better of a place than he found it. Hunting and fishing have helped to shape his conservation ethos, and sportsmen will reap the benefits of his foresighted actions for generations to come.”
Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Mike Simpson are the recipients of the TRCP James D. Range Conservation Award, named for the TRCP’s co-founder and visionary.
A third-generation Montana farmer with deep connections to the land, Tester recently chaired the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, where he worked to increase sportsmen’s access to public lands. He is the leading force behind the Making Public Lands Public Act that would annually direct funding to secure public access to existing public lands. Tester also was the driving force behind last year’s Sportsmen’s Act, which sought to increase sportsmen’s access, support land and species conservation and uphold hunting and fishing opportunities.
“Jon Tester has distinguished himself in the Senate through his unwavering support of measures that benefit both natural resources and sportsmen,” stated Fosburgh. “Moreover, he has worked to bring disparate parties together to solve tough issues, including his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act and the Public Lands Renewable Development Act, which would conserve lands and waters critical to hunting and angling and provide for long-term timber harvest in Montana. We owe a debt of gratitude to Senator Tester for his ongoing advocacy of sportsmen’s values.”
Congressman Mike Simpson serves on the House Appropriations Committee and chairs the Subcommittee on Interior and Environment, a position from which he has advocated responsible conservation and fought to balance the budget while protecting conservation funding from disproportionate budget cuts. Simpson gained national attention for his efforts to resolve the longtime debate over the Boulder-White Clouds Wilderness Bill, which has bipartisan support in Idaho and in the House and Senate.
“Congressman Simpson understands the importance of responsibly managing our nation’s natural resources and conserving our public lands,” said Fosburgh. “As chair of the Subcommittee on Interior and Environment, he has fought for funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and for the science-based management of our public lands. Instead of seeking to score political points, Congressman Simpson has always been one to look for solutions, for Idaho and for the country.”
Presenters at the TRCP event include U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe; Dave White, former chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service; and Mark Benson, Potlatch Corp.
The Capital Conservation Awards will take place on April 18th at the Decatur House on Lafayette Square in the heart of Washington, D.C.
Read the TRCP 2013 Conservation Policy Agenda.
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.