September 23, 1999
International Living Lakes Conference
October 1st – 3rd, 1999
Press Contact:
Kay Ogden, Marketing Director
Mono Lake Committee
(760) 647-6595
For Immediate Release
The Mono Lake Committee and the Global Nature Fund invite you to participate in an international conference of environmental and business leaders, academics, and journalists at Mono Lake, Lee Vining, California. The theme of the conference is "Restoring Streams and Lakes¾ Revitalizing Communities". The 3-day program (October 1-3) will feature the interaction between conservation and sustainable development, focusing on ways creative leadership can turn conflict into positive outcomes for the environment and communities.
The conference officially opens on Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. with the proclamation of the Second World Lakes Day. Art Baggett, Member of the State Water Resources Control Board, will welcome the international visitors for the State of California, and Patrick Wright, Deputy Director for Policy Development in The Resources Agency, will give the keynote address. The Global Nature Fund will give Best Conservation Practice Awards, and DaimlerChrysler will present a program on its conservation work. Friday's program will be at The Mono Inn at Mono Lake, Lakeview Room.
The schedule continues on Saturday at the U.S. Forest Service Visitor Center with a keynote address from Credo Mutwa from South Africa, and with panels and discussion Saturday and Sunday mornings followed with trips into the field to see restoration work first hand. Topics include "Sustainable Communities – Balancing Resource Protection with Economic and Social Well-being", "Strength in Partnerships", "Economic Development, Restoration" and "Living Lakes Network". Field trips will include a tour of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's Mono Basin diversion facilities, a tour of Mono Lake's South Tufa, and hikes up Lundy Canyon and along Lee Vining Creek to review restoration work.
The Mono Lake Committee is co-hosting this international conference as a member of the Living Lakes partnership, a worldwide network of lake protection organizations. International conference participants will come from the other partner lakes, including Lake Constance in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; Lake Biwa in Japan; Lake St. Lucia in South Africa; Lake Baikal in Russia; Nestos Lakes in Greece; and La Nava in Spain. Representatives from the conference sponsors¾ Global Nature Fund, Unilever International, Compaq, DaimlerChrysler, and Lufthansa Airlines, as well as several European foundations¾ will attend. Since Mono Lake and Living Lakes will be featured at the EXPO 2000 in Germany next year, international press will also be covering to the event.
A press briefing will be held Friday, October 1, at 1:00 p.m, at The Mono Inn at Mono Lake, Lakeview Room, but participants are available for interviews throughout the conference. For more information or a complete schedule of events, please contact the Mono Lake Committee at (760) 647-6595. Click here to read the press release "World Lake Charter approved at 3rd World Lakes Conference."
# # #