A Message from NRDC President Frances Beinecke
January 2008

This year has been one of extraordinary growth and achievement at NRDC, and our success forms a fitting tribute to Fritz Schwarz, our board chairman for the last 17 years. With his piercing intellect, legal prowess, and remarkably sound judgment, Fritz has steered NRDC through scores of litigation and advocacy victories. Although Fritz remains an NRDC trustee, we will miss his steady hand and his wise counsel.

Fortunately our new chairman, Dan Tishman, will be an equally impressive leader. In his role as CEO of one the nation's largest construction firms, Dan has championed green building, and from Maine to the Rocky Mountains, he has been an effective and passionate protector of wilderness.

We need passion and efficacy now more than ever. The environmental threats facing the planet are sweeping and complex. But with the generous support of our members and donors, NRDC has established a track record of disarming threats with innovation -- with new advocacy tools, new litigation strategies, new activism campaigns, and new partners. NRDC is in a constant state of motion to meet the environmental challenges of our time, and this year, we enhanced our ability to accelerate.

We started by welcoming Peter Lehner as our new executive director. Peter comes to us from the New York State Attorney General's office, where he engineered some of the most groundbreaking environmental litigation of this decade. NRDC is already benefiting tremendously from Peter's sharp legal thinking and strategic sense.

And thanks to the continued success of our Partnership for the Earth Campaign -- now almost at the midway point -- we are securing increased resources that have expanded our abilities to battle environmental problems on many fronts. We opened a Midwest office to tackle regional issues and reach new allies and a Beijing office to quicken the greening of China. We also launched NRDC's Center for Market Innovation to expand our business expertise, so we can harness the power of markets for positive environmental change.

I offer my deep thanks to those who have made a gift to the Partnership for the Earth Campaign. I am grateful for your confidence in NRDC and your investment in our strategic efforts to solve the planet's most threatening environmental problems. Your faith in us is already paying off. In the past year alone, NRDC helped move America from essentially disregarding global warming to actively trying to solve it in people's homes, in boardrooms, in statehouses, and in Congress.

Unstoppable momentum. Strategic innovations. Extraordinarily talented staff. Gifted trustees. Dedicated members. Generous and active supporters. This is what makes NRDC one of the most influential environmental groups in the nation. And this is why we are well positioned to meet the visionary goals laid out in our Partnership for the Earth Campaign. Restoring the health of our planet is certainly a tall order. But if there is one organization that can lead the charge, it is NRDC.

Frances G. Beinecke President

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