11/7/2011

NEWCASTLE, CA – Retired Placer County Agricultural Commissioner Christine Turner was honored by Placer Land Trust with the prestigious Placer Conservator Award on Saturday in Newcastle.

Placer Land Trust awards the Placer Conservator Award annually to individuals who have enriched the quality of life in Placer County through resource conservation.

“As Agricultural Commissioner Christine went beyond her duties to uphold the regulatory laws in our county and became an important voice for the long term protection of our agricultural land and community.” said Jeff Darlington, Placer Land Trust’s Executive Director.

During her 11-year tenure as Placer County’s Agricultural Commissioner and Sealer of Weights & Measures, Turner worked tirelessly with the Placer County Planning Department and Placer County Board of Supervisors to ensure that conservation funding and mitigation measures included agricultural land as well as natural land.

“When the land resource is gone, then it’s gone – and agriculture will go with it,” said Turner, speaking in front of a crowd of 160 at the Portuguese Hall in Newcastle.

Turner’s passion for agriculture and conservation developed through a deep understanding of soil acquired in her Soil Science degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, with stints in the Agriculture Departments at San Luis Obispo and San Diego Counties before moving back to the foothills in 1999.

“Soil is a non-renewable resource, and our most precious resource” added Turner. “The protection of our agricultural land is the most important thing we can do today, to ensure that future generations can continue to live and work on the land and contribute to our local economy, environment, and quality of life.”

Supervisor Robert Weygandt represented the County Board of Supervisors, who served as honorary co-hosts of the event to honor Turner.

“Christine has a long standing history of promoting agriculture in Placer County and her contributions towards agriculture in Placer County will benefit generations to come and encourage support for agriculture in Placer County.” said Weygandt, who also presented Turner with a special commendation from the County.

Turner retired from the County last year, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Placer County Farm Bureau and the Future Farmers of America at both Placer and Lincoln High Schools.

Proceeds from this year’s awards event will benefit Placer Land Trust’s Small Farm Program.  Past recipients of the Placer Conservator award include Joanne Neft, Janice Forbes, Joe Medeiros, and Andy & Shana Laursen.

Placer Land Trust is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in 1991 and dedicated to working with willing landowners and conservation partners to permanently preserve natural and agricultural lands in Placer County.  To date the Trust has preserved 7,171 acres across Placer County for current and future generations.  For more information, call (530) 887-9222 or visitwww.placerlandtrust.org.

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