TPL’s HI Director Recognized As Outstanding Conservation Leader

HONOLULU 8/5/2009: Lea Hong, Director of the Hawaiian Islands program for The Trust for Public Land, has been recognized by the Hawaiian Conservation Alliance with the group’s Outstanding Leadership Award.

The award was given recently at the HCA’s annual conference of close to 1,000 conservation professionals and students from Hawai`i and the Pacific, and recognizes a person who has “demonstrated exceptional leadership in advancing environmental conservation in Hawai’i over the short to medium term.”

Ms. Hong said the award recognizes the 30 years that TPL has been working in Hawai’i. “Our first TPL project was completed in 1979, when we helped expand Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park by nearly 270 acres. Since then, TPL has conserved more than 36,000 acres in the state and led successful ballot measure campaigns to establish millions of dollars of public funding for land conservation.”

TPL President Will Rogers said, “This award is well-deserved. As Lea says, we have a long record in the islands, and we also need to recognize her personal leadership and success. Lea is a successful state director because she combines commitment, passion, knowledge and hard work to the task.”

TPL is a national non-profit land conservation organization founded in 1972 to conserve land for people. In Hawai’i, TPL works side by side with land trusts, community groups, and public agencies to protect land important to the people of the state.