LBJ Foundation Announces Nominations Are Being Accepted For The 2013 Lady Bird Johnson Environmental Award

$25,000 Award to Recipient

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The LBJ Foundation, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the LBJ School of Public Affairs have asked for nominations for the Lady Bird Johnson Environmental Award, established by the LBJ Foundation Board of Trustees to underscore the lasting devotion of the former First Lady to conservation and the environment.  The award honors outstanding achievements in the preservation, restoration or improvement of the natural world that embrace Mrs. Johnson's style, energy and commitment to her work.  The $25,000 award will be presented in April 2014, in Washington, D.C.  The LBJ School of Public Affairs and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center are affiliated with The University of Texas.

Nomination forms, with detailed information about award criteria, may be found on the website of the LBJ Foundation:

http://www.lbjlibrary.org/page/foundation/initiatives/lady-bird-johnson-environmental-award

The LBJ Foundation Board established the Lady Bird Johnson Environmental Award in 1992 in honor of Mrs. Johnson.  Past recipients have included U. S. Senator John Chafee, Laurance Rockefeller, Patrick Noonan, and Michael Dombeck.   

Lady Bird Johnson and the Environment:

Today, perhaps most people think of Lady Bird Johnson as the reason we see wildflowers blooming along the nation's highways and fewer junkyards and billboards between cities.  The Beautification Act of 1965 was one tangible result of Mrs. Johnson's campaign for national beautification.

However, the term beautification concerned Mrs. Johnson, who feared it was "cosmetic" and "trivial." She emphasized that it meant much more-"clean water, clean air, clean roadsides, safe waste disposal and preservation of valued old landmarks, as well as great parks and wilderness areas."   She dedicated her professional life to this cause.

That the Johnson Administration was the most active in conservation since the time of Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt is largely due to Mrs. Johnson. Among the major legislative initiatives enacted during LBJ's presidency were the Wilderness Act of 1964, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Program, and many additions to the National Park system, a total of 200 laws relevant to the environment.

The President thanked his wife for her dedication on July 26, 1968, after signing the Department of the Interior Appropriations Bill. He presented her with 50 pens used to sign some 50 laws relating to conservation and beautification and a plaque that read: "To Lady Bird, who has inspired me and millions of Americans to try to preserve our land and beautify our nation."

By presenting the Lady Bird Johnson Environmental Award, the LBJ Foundation continues Mrs. Johnson's legacy of preserving our land and the beauty of our nation.

What: LBJ Foundation is accepting nominations for the 2013 Lady Bird Johnson Environmental Award

Where: Nominations should be made online: http://www.lbjlibrary.org/page/foundation/initiatives/lady-bird-johnson-environmental-award

When: Nominations are accepted beginning February 19, 2013
Nomination deadline is May 31, 2013

SOURCE Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation