Cheyenne Mountain Zoo wins innovation award
The Quarters for Conservation program won Cheyenne Mountain Zoo the Innovation in Conservation Award from the Palmer Land Trust on Wednesday.
The award, part of the Southern Colorado Conservation Awards, honors an individual, group, project, or program that has advanced the cause of conservation by developing new ideas.
The Quarters for Conservation program encourages zoo visitors to become environmental stewards as they learn about zoo projects and then “vote” with a token that is given as part of their admission fee. Funds from the program have supported local butterfly habitat restoration efforts and the Black-footed ferret Species Survival Plan. Quarters for Conservation has raised more than $200,000 since the program started in 2008.
Residents across Southern Colorado submitted the names individuals or organizations for the awards. Winners were selected by a Blue Ribbon Pannel which included Pueblo County Commissioner Jeff Chostner, Colorado Springs attorney Phil Kendall, Colorado Nature Conservancy past President Kathy Loo, Pueblo Chieftain assistant publisher Jane Rawlings, and El Pomar CFO Thayer Tutt.
Palmer Land Trust will recognize Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and other Southern Colorado Conservation Award winners 5:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at Antlers Hilton hotel. To register for the $50 event, visit www.palmerlandtrust.org.
The nonprofit Palmer Land Trust works to preserve open lands in southeastern Colorado. According to the group’s website, the trust has helped individuals and communities protect nearly 70,000 acres of farms and ranches, wildlife habitat, scenic corridors, and public open spaces since 1977.
