Seattle, WA - KIRO 7, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land (TPL), announced Laura James as Western Washington’s 2012 Cox Conserves Hero.  As her nonprofit of choice, Sustainable West Seattle will receive $10,000.

As an eco-friendly scuba diver, she volunteers her time to removing batteries and other pollutants from the water.  James was nominated as a Cox Conserves Hero for her commitment to the Puget Sound.

In addition to James, this year’s finalists each received $2,500 to donate to their environmental nonprofits of choice:

• Clyde Kostelecky (Northwest Trek Foundation)
• Lynnette Scheidt (Metro Parks Tacoma)

The WSU Island County Beach Watchers organization also received $2,500 in memorial of Jan Holmes, a previous Cox Conserves Hero.

The Cox Conserves Heroes program was created through a partnership between The Trust for Public Land and Cox Enterprises, the parent company of KIRO 7, to honor everyday conservationists. The program also runs in Arizona, Atlanta, Orange County (Calif.), San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Virginia. More than $200,000 has been donated to local nonprofits through the Cox Conserves Heroes program. James is the 20^th individual selected as a Cox Conserves Hero.

For more information, visit CoxConservesHeroes.com or find us on Facebook.

Social Media: #CoxConservesHeroes and #CoxConservesHero

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Media Contacts:

• JP Shin, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News, 206-728-2375, jpshin@kirotv.com
• Elizabeth Olmstead, Cox Enterprises, 678-645-0762, elizabeth.olmstead@coxinc.com
• Karen Macdonald, The Trust for Public Land, 206-274-2912, Karen.Macdonald@tpl.org

About KIRO:
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News is a Cox Media Group station and CBS affiliate serving Western Washington.

Cox Media Group  is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of Cox Reps. Additionally, CMG owns and operates Valpak, one of North America's leading direct marketing companies.   With $1.7 billion in revenue, the company operations include 15 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 86 radio stations, eight daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services.   CMG operates in more than 30 media markets and reaches approximately 52 million Americans weekly, including 30 million TV viewers, more than 4 million print and online newspaper readers, and 18 million radio listeners.

About The Trust for Public Land
The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and natural areas, ensuring livable communities for generations to come.  Since 1972, The Trust for Public Land has completed more than 5,200 park and conservation projects, conserved more than 3 million acres, and helped generate more than $34.2 billion in state and local conservation funding.  In Washington, TPL has protected more than 80,000 acres throughout the state.

About Cox Conserves
Launched in 2007, Cox Conserves is the company’s national sustainability program that seeks to reduce Cox Enterprises’ energy consumption by embracing alternative forms of energy, conserving natural resources and inspiring eco-friendly behavior.  The program engages each of the company’s major subsidiaries (Cox Communications, Manheim, Cox Media Group and AutoTrader.com) and encourages Cox Enterprises’ 50,000 employees and their families to engage in eco-friendly practices.