Florida Photographer Wins National Sierra Club Award

SAN FRANCISCO – Sept. 23, 2000 – Florida photographer Clyde Butcher has received the national Sierra Club’s 2000 Ansel Adams Award. The award honors an individual who has made superlative use of still photography to further a conservation cause.

Butcher is known for his stunning photos of the Florida Everglades that are taken with a large format camera. They are printed on fiber base paper and selenium toned for archival preservation.

His photography has been used by Florida’s "Save Our Rivers" program, the South Florida Water Management District, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Division of State Lands, the Bureau of Submerged Lands and Preserves, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Audubon Society, the Wilderness Society and the Nature Conservancy.

Butcher’s photography is often found in museum exhibits throughout Florida and can be seen at his gallery, the Big Cypress Gallery, located on 13 acres in the center of the Everglades in the Big Cypress Preserve.

"Through his exhibits and appearances, Clyde bring out the beauty of Florida for every one to see - and inspires us to protect a stunning environment," said Mary-Slater Linn of the Florida Sierra Club.

Butcher’s involvement in environmental activities began when his son was killed by a drunk driver in 1986. He went into the Everglades to find restoration for his soul. When he returned from the Everglades, he began to use his photography to help educate people about the beauty of their environment. His hope was that the awareness of the beauty would allow people to see the importance of saving not only the Everglades, but also other important ecosystems in our world.

Butcher’s work has been featured in three books: Clyde Butcher – 1995 Limited Edition Collection; Clyde Butcher: Portfolio I, Florida Landscapes; and his biography, Seeing the Light: Wilderness and Salvation, a Photographers Tale. Public Broadcasting has completed an award-winning documentary on Butcher called Visions of Florida. Butcher also is featured in the award-winning program, Big Cypress Preserve: Jewel of the Everglades.

Butcher has received numerous awards, including the 1996 Heartland Community Service Award, the 1997 Everglades Coalition Award, the 1997 Environmental Education Award from the Environmental Education Council of Broward County, the 1997 Service Award from the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association, the 1998 Conservation Colleague Award from the Nature Conservancy, and the 1999 Keep Florida Beautiful Adopt-A-Highway Public Service Award. In 1998, he received the Artist Hall of Fame Award, Florida’s highest and most prestigious cultural honor given to a private citizen.

Six of Butcher’s Everglades photos were used in the July/August 1999 issue of Sierra magazine to illustrate the article "Splendor in the Swamp," one of five articles nominated for best black and white layout in the Western Publications Association’s Maggie awards in 1999.

The Sierra Club, which was founded in 1892 by John Muir, is the country’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization. It currently has more than 600,000 members. Ansel Adams, who was made famous by his striking photographs of the Yosemite Valley, was a long-time member of the club and served on its board of directors for more than 25 years.