ATLANTA - The Georgia Conservancy's Board of Trustees recently honored two longtime supporters of Georgia's natural resources, former Lt. Gov. Pierre Howard as its Georgia Distinguished Conservationist and House Majority Leader Jon Burns of Effingham County as its first Legislator of the Year. Both were celebrated at the Georgia Conservancy's annual gala in Atlanta, ecoBenefete.
        As a first at ecoBenefete, this year the Georgia Conservancy introduced a new award that recognizes a Georgia lawmaker who has championed Georgia's natural resources during their tenure at the State Capitol.
        The first annual "Legislator of the Year" award went to Georgia House Majority Leader Jon Burns of Georgia's 159th District, which includes part of Bulloch County.
        "For 50 years, the Georgia Conservnacy has worked with the General Assembly on issues of great importance for Georgia's environment," said Georgia Conservancy President Robert Ramsay. "During that time, we've had a number of strong working relationships with legislators on both sides of the aisle. Majority Leader Jon Burns has exemplified the best in servant leadership and has always provided the Georgia Conservancy with the opportunity to speak our minds, share our concerns and work collaboratively with leadership in the Georgia House of Representatives."
        In addition to his commitment to working with all sides when it comes to the protection of our land and water, the Georgia Conservancy felt compelled to recognize Representative Burns' legislative leadership in a number of areas, including water emergency response procedures, forwarding a moratorium on the use of eminent domain for petroleum pipelines and the establishment of the state petroleum pipeline commission.