Ralph Benson ’69 will receive the Bay Nature Institute’s Local Hero Award at a ceremony in March for “extraordinary work on behalf of conservation and environmental education.” In 12 years as the Sonoma Land Trust’s executive director, the organization has increased five-fold in budget, tripled in protected acreage, and doubled in staff. Benson attracted more than $80 million in outside funding for acquiring scenic Sonoma landscapes, and invested major resources into restoring and managing them. Previously, he spent 24 years as general counsel for the Trust for Public Land, one of the nation’s leading conservation groups.