SELC Receives National Conservation Award (2001)

SELC is proud to have received the prestigious National Conservation Achievement Award in 2001 presented by the National Wildlife Federation in recognition of SELC’s leadership and effectiveness in protecting the South’s natural resources.

SELC is the leading organization dedicated solely to protecting the natural areas and resources of the South. SELC works with more than 100 partner groups in its coverage area of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, on issues ranging from native forest and wetlands protection to clean water and transportation and land-use policy reform. Among other things, SELC has helped:

• Provide additional protection for 2 million of the almost 5 million acres of Southern Appalachian national forest;
• Bring more than 8 million acres of vital wetlands under first-time federal protection;
• Enact strong pollution controls for industrial hog and poultry factories;
• Catalyze national enforcement action to clean up outdated, coal-burning power plantsæthe single largest source of air pollution in the South;
• Stop unwanted and wasteful highway projects and curb sprawl development in Virginia’s Piedmont, the South Carolina Lowcountry and metro Atlanta.

Founded by Executive Director Rick Middleton in 1986, the center has grown to include three offices and 49 staff, including 20 attorneys, many of whom are recognized as national experts in their fields. As a testament to a decade of accomplishments, SELC last year successfully completed a multi-million dollar Campaign for the Environmental Future of the South to leverage its regional leadership and secure lasting protections for the South’s natural heritage.