Contact: John Bianchi 212/979-3026 jbianchi@xxxxxxxxxxx PETE SALMANSOHN HONORED BY THE GULF OF MAINE COUNCIL Gulf of Maine Visionary Award Presented Today at Blaine House Augusta, Maine - Tuesday, June 25, 2002 - This morning, Audubon Environmental Educator Pete Salmansohn was honored with the Gulf of Maine Visionary Award, which was presented in a ceremony here at the Blaine House. The Gulf of Maine Visionary Award recognizes the contributions of people working to improve the health and future well being of the Gulf of Maine. Innovative and highly committed, these "visionaries" have spent years making the Gulf a better place. Each year, the Gulf of Maine Council gives two visionary awards to individuals or organizations in each state and province bordering the Gulf. This year's recipients are Salmansohn, and Sonja Sundaram and Ben Walter, the owners of the Oceanside Meadows Inn and Nature Preserve. Salmansohn began his career with Audubon in 1979 and has worked for 22 years at Audubon's Hog Island Camp. He spent his first decade there raising awareness of the coastal ecology of the Gulf of Maine, and his next decade as Education Coordinator for "Project Puffin", the groundbreaking and highly successful program designed to repopulate the islands of Maine coast with Atlantic Puffins. Salmansohn is able to innovatively combine classroom visits and boat tours to educate children, adults, and entire families on the project and the life of the charismatic puffin. He estimates that he has educated 30,000 people on board Audubon's eco-tourism puffin cruises, and taught more than 10,000 students. Just a few of Salmansohn's many other accomplishments include co-authoring Project Puffin: How We Brought Puffins Back to Egg Rock with Dr, Stephen W. Kress, and receiving the 1998 Environmental Educator of the Year award from the Maine Environmental Education Association. The Gulf Of Maine Council on the Marine Environment fosters cooperative actions within the Gulf Of Maine watershed to preserve our common heritage and encourage sustainable resource use for present and future generations. The Council's goals include restoring shellfish habitat, promoting restoration of fisheries resources, addressing the ecosystem and public health effects of toxics in the food chain, protecting and restoring coastal habitat, monitoring marine debris and whale entanglement. # # #