May 20, 2004

News Release

photo info below

Contact for the news media: Rick Morat, Sacramento, CA (916) 414-6571

Barbara Salzman, a long time volunteer with the Marin Audubon Society and founder of Marin Baylands Advocates, has won the Environmental Law Institute's National Wetlands Award in the category Wetland Community Leader. Salzman, along with just five other recipients in other categories, was honored at a ceremony on May 20 in the Senate Caucus Room in the Nation's Capitol.

“For more than 20 years, Barbara Salzman has led the Marin County environmental community and the Marin Audubon Society in a wetlands acquisition and restoration program that rivals many accomplishments by much larger organizations,” said Wayne White, Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office. “The nearly 1,000 acres of wetlands and former tidal marsh acquired and/or restored because of Barbara's leadership continues to grow. Barbara is a model for a wetlands community leader. The Service's Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office is proud and honored to have submitted the nomination.”

Salzman has a 30-year history of working on wetland issues in the Bay Area and with public natural resource agencies in advocating for the protection and restoration of wetlands. Notable among the accomplishments for which she was nominated is the recent acquisition of the Bahia property. Barbara and her cohorts worked to stop planned development of this 632-acre site. Once stopped, they raised $15.8 million to acquire it in 2003. Three hundred sixty-two acres of diked former baylands are now free to be restored to tidal marsh.

The Fish and Wildlife Service's Coastal Program has partnered with Salzman and the Marin Audubon Society four times during the past 12 years, providing modest funding that she has leveraged into important natural resource protections.

The Environmental Law Institute's Award program has been in existence since 1989 and is co-sponsored by members of Congress, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, NOAA Fisheries and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.

For more information contact Rick Morat at 916/414-6571 or visit www.eli.org/nwa/nwaprogram.htm

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

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