March 31 , 2008

CONTACT: Josh Spradling
1-800-CLEAN-TX

Nine Communities Receive Prestigious State Environmental Award
Governor’s Community Achievement Award Winners Announced

(Austin, Texas) - On March 28, Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) announced the nine winners of the 2008 Governor’s Community Achievement Awards (GCAA), one of the most prestigious annual environmental awards in Texas. The communities of Angleton, Dallas, Denton, Duncanville, Lindsay, Muenster, Richland Hills, Tyler, and Whitehouse were selected by KTB to share an award of one million dollars from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to be used for landscaping projects in their communities.

A panel of judges chose one community from each of nine population categories for their achievements in seven areas including community leadership and coordination, education, public awareness, litter prevention and cleanup, illegal dumping enforcement, beautification and property improvement, and solid waste management.

“Keep Texas Beautiful’s mission is focused around helping people take responsibility for protecting and improving their environment, and that is exactly what these outstanding communities have done,” said Keep Texas Beautiful President Steve Hazlewood. “Their hard work and dedication has helped illustrate how these environmentally-focused projects can help Texas prosper into a more beautiful and enjoyable place to live.”

Every community in Texas is eligible to apply for the Governor’s Community Achievement Award. The share of one million dollars worth of landscape prizes is based on population size categories. The smallest population category (under 1,000) receives $60,000 in landscaping projects; the largest population category (more than 250,000) receives $265,000 worth of landscaping projects.

The GCAA program has recognized outstanding communities for 39 consecutive years with the Texas Department of Transportation providing the prize funds since l985. KTB will formally award these communities during the 42st Annual Keep Texas Beautiful Conference in Irving from June 24-28, 2008.

Keep Texas Beautiful, a statewide grassroots environmental and community improvement nonprofit, strives to educate and engage Texans to take responsibility for improving their community environment. KTB and its more than 350 affiliates work with government, businesses, civic groups, and volunteers to ensure that every Texan has the opportunity to make Texas the cleanest, most beautiful state in the nation. For more information on programs and events, call 1-800-CLEAN-TX or visit www.ktb.org.

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Click here for a full winner’s list and fact sheet