The Department of Environmental Protection officially presented Heron’s Eye Communications with a 2008 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for the firm’s work on Nature’s Keepers, an inspirational documentary film about Pike County’s 150-year history of land stewardship and those who are continuing that legacy today.

Nominations for the 2009 Governor's Award are due March 9.

A ceremony and reception, the award was presented by DEP Regional Director Mike Bedrin and included representatives of the regional and state conservation community. It was held at Grey Towers National Historic Site, the ancestral home of Gifford Pinchot, founder of the U.S. Forest Service and a two-term Pennsylvania Governor.

(Photo: Mike Bedrin, DEP Regional Director, Krista Gromalski and Sandy Long, Co-Founders of Heron’s Eye Communications.)

Video Blog: Watch A Preview Of Nature's Keepers

Accepting the award were Heron’s Eye Communications Co-Founders Krista Gromalski and Sandy Long. “There isn’t a more appropriate place to celebrate a project that highlights Pike County’s conservation legacy than right here at its heart,” said Gromalski.

“The completion of this project does not signal an end to the active conservation work highlighted in Nature’s Keepers. In fact, we hope the film’s message renews our collective commitment to this important work,” said Long.

“Since filming and production of Nature’s Keepers our region has experienced new and different challenges, such as proposals for major electric transmission lines, a struggling economic climate, and the rapid introduction of natural gas exploration in the Marcellus Shale located deep beneath our community," said Long.

"While these new issues may differ in some ways from the large scale commercial or residential development witnessed in Nature’s Keepers, continuing to protect our water, land and quality of life is going to require our renewed and continuing commitment to the ideals espoused in Nature’s Keepers, which have proven to be an effective approach toward balanced solutions,” Long added.

The film presents Pike County as a model for other communities nationwide that struggle with similar challenges.

Nature’s Keepers’ non-profit partner is the Delaware Highlands Conservancy, a local land trust serving Pike and Wayne counties, in Pennsylvania, and Sullivan and Delaware counties, in New York.

Nature’s Keepers was made possible by a grant from the Pennsylvania Film Office, major sponsors Hotel Fauchere and Davis R. Chant Realtors, as well as gifts from hundreds of regional individuals and businesses.DVDs of Nature’s Keepers are available as a complimentary gift for membership to the Delaware Highlands Conservancy. Call 570-226-3164 for details.

For more information visit the Nature's Keepers' webpage or call the Delaware Highlands Conservancy’s Hawley office at 570-226-3164.

NewsClip: Award Presented To Heron's Eye Communications

2/20/2009