Arizona League of Conservation Voters and Arizona League of Conservation Voters Education Fund Hire Executive Director for the Future.

For Immediate Release
July, 16 2009
Contact:
Kevin Gaither-Banchoff – President AZLCVEF, 520-869-4673
Deborah Tuck – President, AZLCV, 928-606-1754
Steve Arnquist – Executive Director, AZLCV & AZLCVEF, 520-331-6243, sarnqust@azlcv.org

The Arizona League of Conservation Voters, which turns environmental values into priorities for Arizona's elected officials, has hired a new Executive Director. Steve Arnquist, a long-time conservationist and dedicated staffer with the League, has been elected to serve the League as its’ new Executive Director. “The League’s two sister organizations have mapped out aggressive visions for the next five years, and I am thrilled to have been chosen to lead both of those efforts.” said Arnquist.

Steve has been active in politics his whole life. “I come from a very politically active family and developed environmental values early in life,” said Arnquist. After graduating from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1998, Steve moved to Arizona. Since coming to Arizona, Steve has personally registered thousands of voters and has implemented efforts that have registered more than 60,000 new Arizona voters. Before coming to the League in 2005, Steve was the Southern Arizona Director of the Moving America Forward Foundation, a non-partisan organization that registered Latino and Native American voters. Prior to that Steve designed and worked on electoral campaigns for local and federal candidates, and other issue-based organizations.

“I believe that Mr. Arnquist has the vision, the skills and the experience to once again make conservation relevant in Arizona politics”, said Kevin Gaither-Banchoff, President of the Arizona League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. “Steve’s background in grassroots outreach, fundraising, and electoral campaigns is combined with a passion that has not only inspired me, but will enable him to build a proactive movement of NGO’s, voters and decision makers that allows us to further our collective conservation goals and protect Arizona’s natural heritage”.

“The environment is one issue that affects all of us --here in Arizona, nationally and globally. The environment is truly a universal issue. The air we breathe, the water we drink and the natural resources still have benefit everyone; we can’t afford to short-change ourselves or future generations.” Said Deborah Tuck, President of the Arizona League of Conservation Voters. “Arizona state government needs a new path, we have too many natural treasures to have anti-conservation representatives in our state legislature and not to have a pro-conservation slate of governor and other statewide decision-makers to lead our state in the 21st century. That s why we have chosen Steve to lead this organization forward and to move the environmental agenda forward with elected officials in Arizona.”

“The people that we elect to represent us make so many decisions in our name. We need to make sure that our representatives are forward-thinking, responsible advocates for Arizona and for her people, and not just for today but for tomorrow and for 100 years from now. Arizona is at a crossroads and we must choose the sustainable path. The Arizona League of Conservation Voters will be steering the conversation towards conservation and environmental responsibility and we will continue to provide support to those representatives who are making the right decisions for Arizona.” Said Arnquist.

The Arizona League of Conservation Voters was founded in 1992 to provide a non-partisan political voice for the environment in Arizona and works to preserve Arizona’s natural heritage by creating pro-conservation state government. AZLCV works to increase accountability amongst elected officials, advocates for environmental legislation, endorses candidates and connects grassroots support with environmentally-responsible candidates.

The Arizona League of Conservation Voters Education Fund was founded n 2001 and works to heighten the importance of the environment as an issue in Arizona. AZLCVEF works to educate the public about environmental issues and their importance to the future of Arizona, educate the decision-makers about environmental issues and encourage the conservation community to become more engaged in the broader environmental debate.