Paying Tribute To Environmental Heroes
Teamwork. That’s how wilderness is saved. But teams need leaders, and The Wilderness Society believes in honoring those citizens who have gone above and beyond in their efforts to protect America’s wildlands and wildlife. Over the past year, we have presented the following awards.
Ansel Adams Award
Recently retired U.S. Senator Ernest Hollings of South Carolina received the Ansel Adams Award, which goes to an elected or appointed official who has made enduring contributions to the stewardship of America’s natural treasures. “Senator Hollings has created a wonderful legacy,” said Wilderness Society President William H. Meadows. “Over the course of his four decades in the U.S. Senate, he championed marine and coastal conservation, and he added to the public estate in ways that help ensure the future of clean water and air, open space, and special ecosystems in his beloved South Carolina. Senator Hollings created the state’s first national park, Congaree National Park, and his legacy includes the ACE Basin; Bonneau Ferry; additions to Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests; facilities at Waccamaw, Cape Romain, and Savannah Coastal National Wildlife Refuges; and the Hollings Marine Health Center.”
Robert Marshall Award
Named for one of our founders, the Robert Marshall Award is The Wilderness Society’s highest honor. In February 2005 it was won by long-time conservation leader John H. Adams, founder and president of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The award is inscribed: “Over the span of two generations, you have nurtured the conservation field. You have made it your business to give us clean air, pure water, and communities safe from toxic ravage….”
Environmental Heroes
In addition, The Wilderness Society saluted nine “Environmental Heroes” over the past year: five from California and four from Nevada. “These spirited volunteers show what dedicated individuals can do to protect our natural heritage,” said Meadows. “Our work would not be possible if we did not have tenacious and creative partners like them, and we are in their debt.”
Andrea Mead Lawrence of Mammoth Lakes, best known as a two-time Olympic skiing gold medalist, has invested more than 30 years in helping protect the wild lands of the Eastern Sierra. She founded Friends of Mammoth, the Sierra Nevada Alliance, and, more recently, the Andrea Lawrence Institute for Mountains and Rivers. Tim Alpers is a third-generation rancher who operates a fly fishing resort and raises trophy trout on the Upper Owens River. He has worked tirelessly to gain support for proposed wilderness areas and wild and scenic river designations in the Eastern Sierra. Joyce Burk of Barstow was instrumental in the creation of wilderness areas in the Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres and San Bernardino National Forests. She also worked for nearly 20 years to establish the Mojave National Preserve. David and Ellen Drell of Willits have spent the last two decades as volunteer activists with the Willits Environmental Center working to protect the Mendocino National Forest.
The Nevada heroes include John Hiatt, who chairs the Board of Trustees for the Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition, which he helped create, and has been conservation chair of Red Rock Audubon for 20 years. His wife, Hermi Hiatt, is a biologist who was tireless in her efforts to help pass the bill protecting wilderness in Clark County. For 15 years she has worked with the Friends of Nevada Wilderness, while serving on many boards. Marge Sill has been a leading conservationist for more than 40 years. She played an active role in the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964, the California Wilderness Act of 1984, the Nevada Wilderness Act of 1989, and the 1987 legislation establishing the Great Basin National Park. Another veteran, Dr. Roger Scholl, founded the Friends of Nevada Wilderness and is now on the Board of Directors. “These four stalwarts have been leaders in a conservation community that has created an astonishing two million acres of wilderness areas in Nevada since 2000,” said Bart Koehler, director of the Wilderness Society’s Wilderness Support Center.
Four master’s degree candidates in the College of Natural Resources (CNR) at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) were awarded Gaylord Nelson Earth Day Fellowships. Nelli Atkinson of Wittenberg, Wisconsin; Jennifer Dillard of Mission Viejo, California; Brian Barch of Baraboo, Wisconsin; and Jessica Huxmann of Stevens Point were recognized for making significant contributions to promoting conservation ethics and environmental education and for exhibiting future leadership potential in the field of environmental education. We initiated the annual recognition in 1990 to mark the 20th anniversary of Earth Day and to honor its founder, former U.S. Senator from Wisconsin Gaylord Nelson, long-time counselor of The Wilderness Society, who died July 3.
