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St. Petersburg Resident Receives National Sierra Club Award
SAN FRANCISCO Sept. 24, 1999 St. Petersburg resident Laurie Macdonald was
among those receiving national awards from the Sierra Club this year.
Macdonald received a Special Service Award from the organization for her 20 years of
conservation work at the local, state and national levels. Her work has led to the defeat
of a highway widening through critical black bear habitat in the Ocala National Forest and
construction of highway underpasses for wildlife.
She also led efforts to create Floridas "Conserve Wildlife" license plate and to re-authorize Floridas renown land acquisition program, Preservation 2000.
"Lauries life is dedicated to conservation," said Mary-Slater Linn of
the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Macdonald has served as Chair and Conservation Chair of the Florida Chapter of the
Sierra Club. She also has chaired several national committees for the Sierra Club,
including the National Wildlife Committee, the Endangered Species and Habitat Committee
and the Wild Planet Strategy Team. She also has served on the National Nominating
Committee and as advisor to the Sierra Club Foundation on reviewing grants for wildlife.
In addition to her work with the Sierra Club, Macdonald serves on the Board of
Directors of the Environmental and Land Use Law Center and as a member of the Florida Game
and Fresh Water Fish Commission Working Group on Endangered and Threatened Species
Listing. She is a former Treasurer and President of the Florida League of Conservation
Voters.
A wildlife zoologist by training, Macdonald currently works part-time for the Defenders
of Wildlife as a Senior Field Coordinator.
Macdonald has received several previous awards for her work, including the State
Conservation Award and the Administrative Award from the Florida Chapter of the Sierra
Club, and the chapters highest honor, the Chapter Medal. In 1999 she received a
commendation from the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.
The Sierra Club, which was founded in 1892 by John Muir, is the countrys oldest
and largest grassroots environmental organization. It currently has nearly 600,000
members.