Winner of 2009 Rubber Dodo Award is Land Speculator Michael Winer

Today the Center for Biological Diversity announced that the winner of its third annual Rubber Dodo Award is Michael Winer, portfolio manager for Third Avenue Management, LLC (”TAREX”).

The Center for Biological Diversity awards the Rubber Dodo each year to the person who has contributed the most to driving endangered species extinct. Winer was selected this year for his leadership role in Third Avenue Management, LLC (”TAREX”), a giant real-estate investment firm responsible for unsustainable sprawl in California and Florida - and the driving force behind the proposed destruction of Tejon Ranch with a luxury development known as Tejon Mountain Village.

Last year’s recipient was former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

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According to Center for Biological Diversity attorney Adam Keats, Winer is behind Tejon Ranch Company’s plan to destroy the largest parcel of private land in California, home to the critically endangered California condor.

Mr. Winer, more than almost any other single individual, is responsible for the reckless speculative investment strategies that have led to the current development pressure facing Tejon Ranch.

If Tejon Mountain Village gets built, our children will very likely never be able to witness the majesty of the California condor soaring over its ancient core habitat. Meanwhile, we’ll all be stuck holding the bill for the project’s smog, traffic, water use, and wildfires, while Mr. Winer and his investors make off with the profits.

In an effort to distract the public from its bid to destroy critically endangered California condor habitat, Tejon Ranch Company concocted an elaborate PR scheme called “Tejon Preserve”, which (ahem) won a conservation award from environmentally-unconscious California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Congratulations, Winer - you’ve certainly earned it.

See also:

• Condor-Killing Development Company Receives Governor’s Conservation Award?
• California Condors in Peril: Is ‘Tejon Preserve’ Just A PR Smokescreen?

Image via Center for Biological Diversity

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