Brewster Inc. selected as a finalist for the 2009 Alberta Emerald Award for ‘Walking the Stewardship Talk’ at the Columbia Icefield.

Banff, Alberta [May 4, 2009] The Alberta Emerald Foundation has selected Brewster’s ‘Walking the Stewardship Talk’ project at the Columbia Icefield Visitor’s Centre as one of the finalists for the 2009 Alberta Emerald Awards. The Alberta Emerald Foundation celebrates environmental leadership in the province, and encourages creative thinking and innovation in environmental management systems, technologies and education programs.

Since it’s founding in Banff 117 years ago, Brewster Inc. has excelled at its core function of interpreting the Canadian Rockies to visitors from around the globe. Beginning with horseback pack-train camps at the Columbia Icefield in the early 1920s, Brewster has since provided millions of Canadians and international guests with guided human and natural history narrative, with much of the messaging promoting stewardship of this remarkable area. In 1996 Brewster was able to further its conservation messages by showcasing a wide variety of environmental stewardship measures with the opening of the Columbia Icefield Visitor Centre. The facility addresses waste reduction/recycling, noise pollution, water and power conservation, wildlife and vegetation impacts and wastewater treatment – in very public ways that encourage visitors to participate, and to take these important initiatives home with them. Through example at the Columbia Icefield Visitor Centre, Brewster truly knows how to ‘walk the talk’.

The ‘Emerald Award' presentations, which will take place in Edmonton this June, is Alberta's most prestigious event celebrating environmental excellence in the province. Further information on the Alberta Emerald Foundation can be found at www.emeraldfoundation.ca.