Below is a press release from www.savegeorgiashemlocks.org:

SAVE GEORGIA’S HEMLOCKS IS ONE OF TOP 3 FINALISTS

VOTING BEGINS FOR ATLANTA’S 2012 COX CONSERVES HEROES AWARDDonna Shearer, founder and Chairman of Save Georgia’s Hemlocks (SGH), is a finalist for the 2012 Cox Conserves Heroes award for her work to save north Georgia’s Eastern (Canadian) Hemlock and Carolina Hemlock. These species are in grave danger of being wiped out by an imported Asian insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid. The winner, to be selected by popular on-line vote October 1 – 29, will receive a substantial monetary gift for his/her nonprofit organization. You can help increase awareness of this important issue and funding for SGH programs by voting.

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Under Donna’s leadership, SGH has established educational programs to raise the public’s awareness of the dire consequences of losing the hemlocks and the practical solutions available to save them, developed in-depth training for volunteers who provide hemlock-related advice and assistance to others in their communities, offers charitable service to aid property owners who have limited financial resources for hemlock treatment, and supplies volunteer labor to public land managers such as the U. S. Forest Service to help with hemlock treatment in Georgia’s hemlock conservation areas.

“It is a great honor to receive this recognition for our work to save the hemlocks,” Shearer said. “It will help to increase the public’s awareness of the crisis that threatens the beauty and environmental balance of Georgia’s mountain ecosystem as well as the economic health of communities that rely heavily on tourism and outdoor recreation such as hiking and trout fishing, and the monetary award will enable SGH to expand our educational and charitable service efforts on behalf of these magnificent trees.”

Please vote for Donna and Save Georgia’s Hemlocks! From October 1 – 29, go to www.wsbtv.com/coxconservesheroes for the voting site, watch the video profiles, and cast your vote.