by Roger Gray & Tom Kligerman, Adirondack Committee
On the occasion of his 95th year, and his pending move to Seattle, the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter wishes to recognize the efforts Charlie Morrison has made in protecting the environment in New York State.
When Charlie became active with Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter in the 1970's he brought with him extensive environmental experience:
In the 1950's, he was the Assistant to the Director of Exploration and Field Research, American Geographical Society, studying glaciers in Alaska, Canada and the Rockies;
In 1964, he answered John F. Kennedy's New Frontier call to serve the nation, and left his home in New Jersey for Washington DC where he worked under Interior Secretary Stewart Udall in the newly formed Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, and with the Recreation Resources Review Commission, chaired by Laurance Rockefeller; where he helped develop a report which led to the creation of the national Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act;
In 1967, he followed his colleague at the federal Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, Henry Diamond, to New York State, where Charlie became the Director of the newly formed Commission on Natural Beauty, reporting directly to Governor Nelson Rockefeller. During this time, Charlie worked with Governor Rockefeller's Temporary Study Commission of the Adirondacks, touring mining operations in the Adirondacks;
In 1970, Henry Diamond became the Commissioner of the newly formed Department of Environmental Conservation, and Charlie transferred to DEC (Charlie noted that his title, Director of the Commission of Natural Beauty, was the only job title specifically mentioned in the legislation creating the Department of Environmental Conservation.)
In 1984, Charlie became Director of Land Resources Planning at the Department of Environmental Conservation where he was a key player in the State's Scenic Byways program which brought federal money to improve scenic roads in the State, and in many significant land protection efforts.
Charlie was present at many of the foundational events of the environmental movement in New York State:
In 1967, he was present at the conference at the Sit’n Bull Ranch Resort in Warrensburg when Laurance Rockefeller released his plan to make the Adirondacks a national park -- a plan which was soundly rejected.
In 1970, working with the commissioner of Environmental Conservation, Henry Diamond, in his role as Director of Community Assistance, Charlie was responsible for creating local conservation commissions in counties and municipalities around the State, which helped to put environmental issues front and center in local government.
In 1970, Charlie was one of the founders of the Environmental Planning Lobby, now Environmental Advocates, which was one of the first organizations in the nation to advocate for the future of a state's environment.
In 1989, in his role at the Department of Environmental Conservation, under commissioner Peter Berle, and through his work with other organizations, Charlie was instrumental in getting the Champlain-Adirondack region designated as a UNESCO globally recognized biosphere reserve, the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve.
When Charlie began his involvement with Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter Conservation Committee and Adirondack Committee in the 1970s, his role in State government necessitated that he act as a 'behind-the- scenes' player -- not an easy role for Charlie; however, he ghost wrote position papers and articles for the Chapter, and even leaked the occasional document. Among many things, his role was crucial in the long-term effort, which was a priority of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter at the time, to protect and subsequently acquire the lands that in 1998 became the core of Sterling Forest State Park.
In later years Charlie was the quintessential "citizen activist" working with his home town of Saratoga Springs' conservation committee, and with local advocacy groups, to protect wetlands in the area, to add lands to the Saratoga Spa State Park, to address problems with the village's water supply, and its overall development.
Charlie is a keen and thoroughly knowledgeable advocate of the New York Constitution's Article 14 "forever wild' protections for the Adirondack Forest Preserve.
One of his greatest environmental achievements was his years of work, in collaboration with the Pace University Law School, and Sierra Club activists, securing public rights to navigation on waterways in the Adirondacks, which resulted in a December 17, 1998, New York State Court of Appeals ruling that that usefulness of a stream for recreational travel, not just traditional commercial use, must be considered in deciding whether a stream is "navigable-in-fact", and which opened the Moose River in the Adirondacks to paddlers. Charlie worked for years after the 1998 Court decision to get a list of navigable rivers established in regulation so that each river need not be individually tried in the courts.
Charlie was a soft-spoken "behind the scenes" player, and sometimes not so soft-spoken, who had a key role in most of the major land protection efforts in New York State in the last 25 years of the 20th century.
Thanks, and best wishes, Charlie!
(photo includes: L to R: Roger Gray, Sam Sage, Jim Dumont, Caitlin Ferrante, Tom Kligerman, Bill Kebbeman, Charlie Morrison, Mark Bettinger, Monica Gray)