A Grayson County landowner has received a statewide environmental award for her work preserving a stretch of the New River.

Charlotte Hanes was presented the Governor's Environmental Excellence Gold Medal for Land Conservation at the Environment Virginia 2008 conference last week in Lexington.

Hanes, who lives in Winston-Salem, N.C., and operates a cattle farm along the New River in Grayson County, protected a 4.2-mile stretch of the river with conservation easements on more than 640 acres of her farmland.

The award also recognized Hanes' work in identifying a more suitable location for a state prison that was first proposed near the New River in Grayson County.

"Charlotte Hanes is committed to saving the New River and its productive farms so future generations can share in the natural beauty and the rural lifestyle that makes this part of Virginia and America unique," said Elizabeth Obenshain, executive director of the New River Land Trust, which nominated Hanes for the award.

Other area governments, companies and organizations recognized at the environmental conference include:

n Volvo Trucks North America received a gold medal and governor's flag for a wastewater recycling project at its Dublin location that resulted in the reuse of 70 percent of the plant's process wastewater.

n The Blacksburg Community Electronics Reuse and Recycling Project, a partnership between the town of Blacksburg and the YMCA at Virginia Tech, received a gold medal for a project that has diverted more than 85,000 pounds of electronics from the landfill.

n MeadWestvaco Corp. of Covington received a gold medal for its innovative approach to operating a sludge treatment system that reduced levels of phosphorous at the paper mill.

n The town of Blacksburg, in coordination with Virginia Tech and Sustainable Blacksburg, received a bronze medal for Sustainability Week 2007, a series of events that encouraged local efforts to protect the environment.

The awards were sponsored by the state Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Virginia Manufacturers Association and Virginia Tech's Center for Organizational and Technological Advancement.