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Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife, Inc. Receives First Place Gulf Guardian Award in the Civic/Non-Profit Organization Category

Release Date: 06/07/2013
Contact Information: William McBride, 404-562-8378 (direct), 404-562-8400 (main), mcbride.william@epa.gov

Stennis Space Center, MS – The Gulf of Mexico Program recently announced the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife, Inc. (CROW) will receive a First Place 2013 Gulf Guardian Award in the Civic/Non-Profit Organization Category. The awards ceremony will be held on June 26, 2013, at the Tampa Bay Grand Hyatt beginning at 6PM.

For more than 40 years, CROW has been caring for and rehabilitating sick, injured or orphaned wildlife, including many threatened and endangered species, through a conservation medicine approach to care. In addition, CROW provides education to young people and adults that increases awareness of appropriate human/wildlife interaction and emphasizes the need for conservation of Southwest Florida's coastal wildlife habitats.

Since its establishment in 1968, CROW has treated and released more than 60,000 wildlife patients. CROW sees thousands of patients each year representing more than 200 species of mammals, reptiles, birds and amphibians. Many of these animals are threatened or endangered including wood storks, sandhill cranes, bald eagles, least terns, gopher tortoises and loggerhead, Kemp’s Ridley and green sea turtles. CROW is the only gulf coast facility between Sarasota and the Florida Keys licensed to care for sea turtles. CROW takes a conservation medicine approach to wildlife rehabilitation with the ultimate goal being the reintroduction of wildlife into their natural habitats and a reduction of wildlife casualties from human interaction through public education.

The Gulf of Mexico Program initiated the Gulf Guardian awards in 2000 as a way to recognize and honor the businesses, community groups, individuals, and agencies that are taking positive steps to keep the Gulf healthy, beautiful and productive. First, second and third place awards are given in seven categories: individual, business/industry, youth environmental education, civic/nonprofit organizations, cultural diversity/environmental justice, partnership and bi-national efforts.

“This year’s Gulf Guardian Award recipients are to be commended for providing environmental leadership to protect and restore one of our nation’s most treasured natural resources, the Gulf of Mexico. These Award recipients are true environmental stewards and protectors of this vital ecosystem,” said EPA Acting Administrator A. Stanley Meiburg.

The Gulf of Mexico Program began in 1988 to protect, restore, and maintain the health and productivity of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem in economically sustainable ways. The Gulf of Mexico Program is underwritten by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is a non-regulatory, inclusive consortium of state and federal government agencies and representatives of the business and agricultural community, fishing industry, scientists, environmentalists, and community leaders from all five Gulf States. The Gulf Program seeks to improve the environmental health of the Gulf in concert with economic development

Ben Scaggs, Director of the Gulf of Mexico Program said, “Given all the incredible challenges that the Gulf has faced over the last several years and the work that has continued with strength and vigor despite what sometime seem like overwhelming obstacles, it is difficult to adequately and succinctly express the community value of the awards and the role they play in reminding us of what yet needs to be done while giving us all the energy and optimism to stay the course.”

For more information please contact James Robinson, Phone: (239) 472-3644; or Email: development@crowclinic.org

Editor’s Note: For more information about the Gulf Guardian Awards and the Gulf of Mexico Program, call the Gulf of Mexico Program Office at 228-688-3726 or visit our web site at https://www.epa.gov/gmpo.

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