Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Mono Lake Defender of the Trust Award Dinner, wine tasting, and silent auction

The Mono Lake Committee gives the Defender of the Trust Award to individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to champion Mono Lake, its tributary streams, wetlands, and the public trust. The Mono Lake Defender of the Trust Award Dinner is a celebratory evening in the company of fellow champions of Mono Lake. This year the festivities will be held at The Mono Inn.

The evening begins with a wine tasting and silent auction hosted by Barefoot Wine & Bubbly. Dinner is accompanied by inspiring speakers, entertaining stories, and the presentation of the Defender of the Trust Award.

This year we will honor hydrogeographer Peter Vorster with the Defender of the Trust Award. Peter’s support of the Mono Lake Committee spans four decades—from the early days in Lee Vining galvanizing support for the lake to providing expert testimony to courts and the State Water Board, to working with the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power to implement successful stream restoration. His lake level forecast model and knowledge of California water management provided the foundational hydrologic science the Committee needed to win protections for Mono Lake, its tributary streams, and wetlands, and for decision-makers to order lasting protections. Peter’s extraordinary passion for the Mono Basin and the public trust has made restoration of Mono Lake and threatened aquatic ecosystems throughout California possible.

Peter Vorster on his way to Negit Island via the landbridge, April 1979. Mono Lake Committee archive photo.

Come celebrate the progress the Mono Lake Committee has made in protection, restoration, education, and science programs at Mono Lake, and the people who make it all possible.

Date: Saturday, September 29, 2018
Time: 4:00pm wine tasting & silent auction, 6:00–9:00pm dinner
Place: The Mono Inn (5 miles north of Lee Vining on Hwy 395, on the lake side of the road)
Dress: Mountain festive
Cost: $150 per person
Get tickets

For more information contact me by email or at (760) 647-6386 x111.

“The public trust … is an affirmation of the duty of the state to protect
the people’s common heritage of streams, lakes, marshlands
and tidelands…” —Supreme Court of California, 1983