Clients in the News – April 2013

Here’s what some of Avalon’s clients have been up to lately:

National Parks Conservation Association President Tom Kiernan applauded President Obama this spring for using the Antiquities Act to name three new National Monuments. Not only do these new monuments provide thousands of acres of open space for everyone to enjoy, but the monuments also honor prominent figures in American history.

• • The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument honors former slave Harriet Tubman’s harrowing work to shepherd escaped slaves to safety. 
  • In naming the First State National Monument President Obama fulfilled a vision set more than a century ago to create an urban oasis in the Brandywine Creek corridor, just north of downtown Wilmington, Delaware.
  • And the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Ohio is a well-deserved honor for the third African American to graduate from West Point, and the first to serve as an acting national park superintendent, when he managed Sequoia National Park in 1903. Colonel Young was a Civil Rights pioneer and an American patriot.

    For more on the history and future of these three new National Monuments, visit NPCA’s website.

• There’s a fantastic new exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture commemorating two events that changed the course of the nation – the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation and the 1963 March on Washington. To read more, and for information on visiting the exhibition, go to NMAAHC’s website.
• Another heartwarming story from our friends at Farm Sanctuary, who recently rescued 200 chickens from a factory farm where they had been cruelly neglected and mistreated. The hens are making great progress, as described by Farm Sanctuary’s National Shelter Director Susie Coston in this video. FS’s veterinarian and staff are treating the hens for a painful infestation of northern poultry mites, plus eye infections, malnourishment, and skin wounds. Their prognosis is excellent, and we look forward to Susie updating us on their progress soon. In the meantime, to learn more about Farm Sanctuary’s animal rescues and how you can help, please visit their website.
• And finally, some of my Avalon colleagues and I had the honor of attending the annual National Parks Conservation Association’s 2013 Salute to the Parks and Park Partners Gala — one of the largest and most influential gatherings for the conservation and environmental communities. We celebrated America’s national parks, while calling attention to their needs, and recognizing the people and organizations whose tremendous dedication to the national parks has made such a difference over the years. As NPCA President Tom Kiernan said before the event, “Tonight we will honor our national park champions, supporters, and allies who have worked tirelessly to ensure that our parks are well-funded, well-managed, and well-protected. “NPCA and park visitors nationwide owe them a great deal of gratitude for tirelessly advocating on behalf of our national parks.” You can view pictures from the gala below and here.