Larry Smith receives Abbott Award at 2015 VSO Annual Meeting
At the 2015 Virginia Society of Ornithologists Annual Meeting the Jackson M. Abbott Conservation Award was presented to Larry Smith for outstanding work in conserving Virginia’s birds and the state’s natural areas.
Larry Smith works as the Natural Areas Protection Manager at the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. In his letter of nomination it stated that, “Larry has been the primary staff person at [the Virginia] Natural Heritage [Program] to build Virginia’s Natural Area Preserve (NAP) System from zero acres/preserves in 1990 to 55,352 acres within 61 Natural Area Preserves in 2014. The Virginia Natural Area Preserve Systems support 22,220 acres of wetlands and 663 significant natural community and rare species locations”.
The VSO congratulates Larry Smith on receiving the Jackson M. Abbott Conservation Award, and his contributions to conserving Virginia bird life.