DENVER (April 11, 2007) -- In recognition of outstanding leadership and support of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Conservation System, the Conservation System Alliance will present Eric Finstick with the 2007 Leadership Award on April 13 in Golden, Colorado.
The award recognizes an outstanding BLM employee, who expresses passion, dedication and motivation for protecting and expanding lands included within the BLM’s Conservation System. The 2007 Leadership Award will be presented by members of the Conservation System Alliance, a group of conservation, historic preservation and recreation interests that collaborate with the BLM to assure nationally significant landscapes, rich in culture, ecology and scientific values remain protected for future generations to enjoy.
“Eric continually reminds the BLM and the public that conservation is one of the multiple uses on our public lands,” said Vera Smith of The Wilderness Society. “Eric understands the importance of this distinction and the fact that conservation can be compatible with the many other demands of the agency.”
Finstick received the nomination for the Leadership Award in recognition for his contributions, particularly in Colorado, to the inventory, designation and management of wilderness and wilderness study areas, wild and scenic rivers, national monuments, and national conservation areas. Throughout his 30 years of public service, he has advocated for, protected and helped create wilderness and conservation landscapes across the West, resulting in the conservation of millions of acres of public land.
Starting with the BLM shortly after the passage of the Federal Policy and Management Act, Finstick helped develop some of the first Resource Management Plans in the country. In his years with the BLM, he willingly shared his expertise and passion for protecting BLM’s landscapes, serving as a course designer and instructor for BLM’s national training course on wilderness, wilderness management, and the planning process. Finstick has also worked with partners and local communities to demonstrate how Wilderness Areas and National Conservation Areas can go hand in hand by helping to create Gunnison Gorge Wilderness within Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area and Black Ridge Canyon Wilderness within McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area.
When the BLM officially created the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) in the 1990s, Finstick rose to the occasion and helped craft a sustaining system of conservation lands within the BLM that would forever preserve the character of America’s western landscapes.
Today he continues to advocate for wilderness as the Colorado BLM Wilderness, National Landscape Conservation System and Wild and Scenic Rivers Program Lead.
“Colorado is a better place, a place where wilderness is at its heart, because of Eric’s lifetime of work,” Smith said.
In recognition of Finstick’s contributions, the Conservation System Alliance, the Colorado Wilderness Network, along with The Wilderness Society, Colorado Environmental Coalition, and the Colorado Mountain Club will host an evening reception in celebration of his accomplishments at the American Mountaineering Center from 6 to 8 p.m.
