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 British Columbia's King Pacific Lodge Initiates Multi-faceted Plan to Reduce
the Lodge's Carbon Footprint by 50% Over the Next Five Years
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GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST, British Columbia, Canada, March 5, 2007 - King Pacific Lodge, A Rosewood Resort is breaking new ground in ecologically responsible tourism by announcing a plan to reduce its carbon footprint by half, including a first in the hospitality industry: in addition to offsetting the carbon emissions of all lodge operations and employee travel, also offsetting guests' air travel to and from the lodge - creating a truly carbon-neutral vacation.  
 
"We are the first hotel in Canada, and perhaps anywhere, to offset the carbon emissions of guests' round-trip air travel," said Michael Uehara, president of King Pacific Lodge. "We believe this is a very important step, but it is only the first step in a multi-faceted plan to reduce the lodge's carbon footprint by 50 percent over the next five years."
 
The air travel being offset by the lodge is from the guest's point of origin anywhere in the world to Vancouver on any airline, and from Vancouver to the lodge via the lodge's private air and seaplane charters.  Among the other key elements of the lodge's carbon footprint-reduction plan are installing a river-hydro plant and solar panels for the lodge's power needs and using suppliers who conduct their own program of carbon reduction.
 
"At King Pacific Lodge, it has always been our mission to do everything we can to minimize our imprint on the land," said Mr. Uehara. "With the additional steps we are now taking, however, notably the offsetting of guests' air travel, we are raising the bar on ecological responsibility and hope to stimulate more efforts in the hospitality world to protect the environment."
 
Mr. Uehara and owner Hideo (Joe) Morita, international businessperson and son of Sony co-founder Akio Morita, founded the lodge with a commitment to creating a viable and sustainable model of eco-friendly tourism, including leaving the lightest imprint possible on the local land and sea, strong support of conservancy efforts, and developing a supportive relationship with the indigenous people. Mr. Uehara has been a tireless activist for protecting the regional environment, including playing an important role in bringing the long-sought dream of establishing the Great Bear Rainforest to fruition. In 2006, British Columbia gave protected status to 4.4-million acres of pristine wilderness, an ecological treasure that incorporates the largest remaining tract of temperate rainforest in the world. King Pacific Lodge is located in the heart of this Great Bear Rainforest.
 
King Pacific is a floating luxury lodge that is towed to uninhabited Princess Royal Island from Prince Rupert for the May to September season. The lodge was the first tourism business in British Columbia to sign a working protocol with an indigenous people, the Gitga�at. A close working and mentoring relationship has been developed with the Gitga�at, who have adopted Mr. Uehara and Mr. Morita as a sign of a mutual respect and fondness that has evolved over the years. The lodge has been a leader, establishing a number of firsts, in non-retention fishing.
 
The lodge, which is accessible only by boat or seaplane, is surrounded by - and is working to protect - an indomitable array of nature at its most dramatic in the Great Bear Rainforest. Guests of King Pacific Lodge may see pods of humpback whales and orcas,  porpoises, sea lions, seals, sea otters and black bears, as well as experience 1,000-year-old hemlocks and cedars,  a network of untouched watersheds, cascading waterfalls, fjords and high alpine ice fields, sheer mountain faces and vast forests,  white sand beaches and countless islands and inlets. The rivers and ocean here are filled with Chinook, Coho, Chum and Pink salmon, halibut, rockfish, lingcod and yellow eye.
 
King Pacific Lodge, which has 17 rooms and suites, is a member of the prestigious Rosewood Hotels & Resorts collection. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts manages properties worldwide including The Mansion on Turtle Creek and Hotel Crescent Court in Dallas, The Carlyle in New York, CordeValle in San Martin, California, Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe, Las Ventanas al Paraìso in Los Cabos, Mexico, Hotel Seiyo Ginza in Tokyo, Japan, and a triumvirate of world-class Caribbean properties - Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda, Caneel Bay on St. John and Jumby Bay on Antigua. For more information on Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, please call 888-ROSEWOOD, or visit www.rosewoodhotels.com.

Guests of King Pacific Lodge enjoy interpretative hikes, sea kayaking, beach combing, heli-hiking, whale watching and other wildlife viewing, star gazing, floatplane tours, fly-tying instruction, cultural tours with the Gitga'at, searches to view the rare cream-colored Spirit Bear, saltwater trolling, fly-fishing and remote freshwater heli fly-fishing. Guests return from the activities to their beautifully appointed, comfortable accommodations and gourmet meals paired with award-winning wines. 

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Contact:

King Pacific Lodge
(888) 592-5464
www.kingpacificlodge.com
www.rosewoodhotels.com
 
Marian Gerlich
818-786-8687
[email protected]

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Also See: King Pacific Lodge, A Rosewood Resort, Names Daniel Ilias General Manager of the Floating Wilderness Lodge in British Columbia / April 2006
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