Volunteers Honored
A woman whose efforts helped protect millions of acres of desert land was among the 18
activists honored at the Sierra Club's annual awards dinner in San Francisco in September.
The Club's top award, the John Muir Award, went to California resident Judy Anderson
for her work in shaping and securing passage of the California Desert Protection Act of
1994. The bill increased the levels of protection on 9 million acres of land by creating
two national parks, one national preserve and 69 Bureau of Land Management wilderness
areas.
"Without Judy Anderson's contributions it is extremely doubtful that the act would
have passed," said Club President Chuck McGrady.
Anderson chaired the California Desert Protection League of 120 environmental
organizations and held the coalition together from 1985 through 1994.
A new award, the One Club Award, which recognizes volunteers who use outings to instill
an interest in conservation and protect public lands, went to Maui Group member Mary
Evanson. The award included a $1,000 prize that will help activists to preserve the last
wild coastline in South Maui.
The Joseph Barbosa Earth Fund Award, which honors Club members under age 30 who have
demonstrated a commitment to the environment, was given to Sierra Student Coalition
activist Elizabeth Hagan, a sophomore majoring in public policy at Harvard. Hagan took a
year off from college to organize several campaigns for the SSC, one to save the Great
Bear Rainforest. She also organized SSC's first Public Lands Action Summit in Washington,
D.C. Hagan, who hails from Atlanta, will receive a $2,000 prize that will help the SSC
sponsor its second Public Lands Action Summit next spring.
Another new award, the Electronic Communication Award, was given to Josh Weisman,
Jeffrey Solari and Will Easton of San Francisco for their development of the Sierra Club's
sprawl Web site at www.sierraclub.org/transportation.
Others receiving awards for 1999 included the following:
The William O. Douglas Award (for contributions in the field of
environmental law): Tony Ruckel of Denver, Colo.
The Walter A. Starr Award (for continuing support of the Club by a
former director): Helen Burke of the San Francisco Bay Chapter.
The Oliver Kehrlein Award (for outstanding service to the Outing
program): Herbert Carlton of Greenville, N.C.
Special Achievement Award (recognizes a single act of importance
dedicated to conservation): Dick Simpson of Palo Alto, Calif.
Special Service Awards (for strong and consistent commitment to
conservation over an extended period of time): Richard Hellard of Juneau, Alaska; Jono
Miller of Sarasota, Fla.; Laurie Macdonald of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Lucille Vinyard of
Trinidad, Calif.
Newsletter Award: The Georgia Sierran (Georgia Chapter), Toiyabe
Trails (Toiyabe Chapter) and It's Our Nature (Fox Valley Group).
The Edgar Wayburn Award (for service to the environmental cause by a
person in government): Former Arkansas Governor and U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers.
The David R. Brower Award (for excellence in environmental
journalism): Tom Kenworthy of the Washington Post Denver office.
Up to Top
|
