Sen. Patricia Wiggins honored Lower Lake resident Victoria Brandon as 'Woman of the Year' for the 2nd Senate District. Photo by Tiava Lee.

LOWER LAKE – North Coast State Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) on Monday honored Lake County resident Victoria Brandon as the 2008 “Woman of the Year” for California’s 2nd Senate District.

Brandon, who is being recognized for her involvement and leadership in a range of environmental and conservation efforts, was among the honorees at a special ceremony held Monday at the State Capitol.

The “Woman of the Year” commemoration is an annual event recognizing outstanding women in each of California’s 40 Senate districts.

“Victoria Brandon epitomizes the kind of person we seek to recognize as a Woman of the Year,” said Wiggins, who is one of 10 female state senators. “She has been an activist and leader in preserving some of our most precious natural resources and thus protecting the quality of life on the North Coast.”

A longtime resident of Lake County, Brandon serves as chair of the Sierra Club Lake Group and political chair of the Sierra Club’s 11,000-member Redwood Chapter.

A chapter delegate to the Sierra Club’s California-Nevada Regional Conservation Committee, she has also consolidated Lake County support for the federal Wilderness Bill and for the 2005 state law naming Cache Creek a Wild and Scenic River, and has been involved with local growth management and watershed health issues on an ongoing basis.

Among Brandon’s current projects are working on the passage of federal legislation creating a Blue Ridge Berryessa National Conservation Area, preserving open space on Mt. Konocti and, she says, “keeping Lake County the greenest place in California.”

The 2nd Senate District represented by Wiggins includes portions or all of six counties: Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano and Sonoma.

From left, Sen. Patricia Wiggins, Victoria Brandon and Wiggins' legislative aide, Ania Garbien. Photo by Debra Chase.

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