Opposing parties flock together for Audubon awards

Political party lines will be purposely blurred April 30 as conservationists and philanthropists honor former New York Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar, a Democrat, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology Executive Director John Fitzpatrick at Audubon Connecticut”™s “Conservation Knows No Party, Party” in Greenwich.

Pataki and Salazar will each receive the Environmental Leadership Award for their “outstanding commitment to Audubon and their achievements in the field of conservation.”

The event will start at 6:30 p.m. April 30 at The Belle Haven Club, 100 Harbor Drive, Greenwich, with cocktails and light food. The dinner, program, awards and live auction begin at 7:30.

“Our 2014 honorees remind us of what has always been an American tradition ”“ that the conservation and wise use of our natural resources is not bound to political party or ideology, but is the responsibility of all of us to strengthen and continue,” said Audubon Connecticut Board Chairman Marty Cannon.

Past Audubon Leadership Award recipients have included Phoebe Milliken, Donal O”™Brien Jr., David Ogilvy, Jayni Chase, Dan W. Lufkin, U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays and Kathy Wriston.

Tickets are $500 to $10,000, and tables are $5,000 to $100,000. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit ct.audubon.org or call 203-869-5272.