ATLANTA, GA, December 1, 2000---Senator Max Cleland (D-GA) has received the "Georgia's Wilderness Champion" award from The Wilderness Society for his unwavering support protecting wild areas in Georgia and throughout the Southern Appalachian region.

During a special event in Atlanta on Monday, Sen. Cleland was honored by members of the conservation community and local politicians. The co-Presidents of the EcoKnights of Pace Academy, Beth Rose and Camille Barchers, presented the award to the Senator.

"The state of Georgia is very fortunate to have Senator Max Cleland who, through his outstanding statesmanship and vision, has provided strong support for the conservation of 50,000 acres of new wilderness in the Chattahoochee National Forest," said Jennifer McCabe, The Wilderness Society's Southeast Regional Field Program Assistant. "As Senator Cleland knows, we can not afford to compromise the future of Georgia's last best unprotected places-Mountaintown, Kelly Ridge, Patterson Gap,Three Forks, and Rabun Bald-for short-term profit or as a result of misguided land management practices."

In 1997, Sen. Cleland transcended political parties by sponsoring a bipartisan letter sent to Dan Glickman, Secretary of Agriculture, asking that the Forest Service defer new timber sales and road building in federally inventoried roadless areas in the Southern Appalachians pending the completion of forest plan revisions. The following year, Sen. Cleland sent a letter to Dan Glickman in support of the Forest Service's moratorium on road building and urging the agency to develop a scientifically based transportation policy. This year he urged President Clinton to adopt a roadless policy that protected roadless areas in all national forests, including the Tongass in Alaska, from logging, mining and other environmentally destructive activities.

In 1999, Sen. Cleland lead efforts to that resulted in the acquisition of the Greyfield tract, a key acquisition on Cumberland Island that expand the wilderness. That same year, the League of Conservation Voters gave Sen. Cleland the outstanding rating of 99 (out of 100).

Sen. Cleland has led fights in the Senate to strike anti-environmental riders to the Interior Appropriations bill, such as the rider to eliminate existing requirements on the Forest Service to monitor certain wildlife populations in national forests when making decisions about logging.

Most recently Sen. Cleland wrote a letter to the Supervisor of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in Georgia asking for protection of wildlands in the Chattahoochee National Forest. He specifically asked that five areas, Mountaintown, Kelly Ridge, Rabun Bald, Patterson Gap and Three Forks, be designated as wilderness study areas in the forest plan revision. These "Cleland Areas" are also recommended as wilderness study areas by 61 conservation organizations representing hundreds of thousands of Georgians.

"Senator Cleland is Georgia's Wilderness Champion," said Brent Martin, Executive Director of Georgia Forest Watch, a grassroots conservation group based in Ellijay, GA. "He is the standard bearer. He has done so much to protect our natural resources and maintain the good quality of our state forests, clean water supply, wildlife, wilderness, and air quality. Each and every Georgian, present and future, owes him a great debt of gratitude."