Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Waterkeeper Alliance & Rep. Nancy Johnson Among This Year's Honorees
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is accepting the William O. Douglas Award on behalf of the Waterkeeper Alliance, of which he is the president, for its efforts to protect the nation's waterways from polluters. The William O. Douglas Award recognizes superlative use of the legal/judicial process to achieve environmental goals. Kennedy serves as president of the Alliance.
Representative Nancy Johnson, a Republican from Connecticut, is the recipient of this year's Edgar Wayburn Award, which recognizes service to the environment by a person in government. The Sierra Club is honoring Johnson for her efforts to prevent the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.
"Nancy Johnson has moved from being a quiet champion of the wilderness bill to leading the charge in opposition to the Republican leadership's effort to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," said Sierra Club President Lisa Renstrom. "She has at least twice penned a Dear Colleague letter to the Budget Committee Chair and the leadership urging that they not use the budget process to advance Arctic drilling and got a dozen of her moderate Republican colleagues to join."
The Sierra Club's highest honor, the John Muir Award, which honors a distinguished record of achievement, goes to Howard Booth, a Sierra Club member from Boulder City, Nevada, who has spent more than 30 years working to protect wilderness areas in Nevada and the Southwest. Areas he has helped preserve include the Red Rocks Canyon National Conservation Area outside Las Vegas.
Animal photographer Larry Allen, of Sarasota, Florida, is receiving the Ansel Adams Award, which honors excellence in conservation photography. Allen has written and produced a CD titled "Keep Wild Animals in Our Lives," which he uses to promote the need to preserve and protect wildlife and their natural habitats.
Kevin Frey, a wildlife manager with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, is receiving the Distinguished Service Award, which honors persons in public service for strong and consistent commitment to conservation over a period of time. Frey has devoted more than 30 years to protecting the bears that live in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
The Joseph Barbosa Earth Fund Award, which recognizes a Sierra Club member under the age of 30, will be presented to 22-year-old Charlie Fredrick of Washington, Missouri. Fredrick has helped to organize a network of environmental activists in the Midwest for the Sierra Student Coalition, the student run arm of the Sierra Club.
The Madelyn Pyeatt Award, which recognizes the contributions of Sierra Club members working with youth, goes to Linda Sullivan of Lombard, Illinois. Sullivan formed a Social Action Club at Lyons Township High School that showed students how the legislative process works and took them to their state capitol to practice their lobbying skills.
Both Fredrick and Sullivan will receive $500 from the Joseph Barbosa Earth Fund to continue their work.
Others receiving 2005 Sierra Club awards include the following:
Chico Mendez Award (recognizes global environmental heroism): Felipe Arreaga Sanchez, imprisoned in Mexico, Albertano Penalosa, recently injured in an ambush, and Celsa Valdovinos Rios of Mexico were honored in August for their efforts to defend the forests of Guerrero, Mexico, from illegal deforestation by multinational timber companies, powerful landowners and drug traffickers.
Electronic Communication Award: North Star Chapter of Minnesota for www.northstar.sierraclub.org
Environmental Alliance Award (recognizes individuals or groups that have forged partnerships with other non-Sierra Club entities): Timothy Logan of New York City for building a coalition to help address the city's solid waste problems.
Francis P. Farquhar Mountaineering Award (recognizes excellence in mountaineering): Gerry Roach of Boulder, Colorado.
Newsletter Award: The Mackinac published by the Mackinac Chapter of Michigan.
Oliver Kehrlein Award (for outstanding service to the Sierra Club's Outings program): Patrick Colgan of La Honda, California.
One Club Award (recognizes people who use outings as a way to instill an interest in conservation and protecting public lands): Deb Alper of St. Paul, Minnesota, for creating the "Tour de Sprawl" bike ride.
Special Service Awards (for strong and consistent commitment to conservation over an extended period of time): Ruth Gravanis of San Francisco, California; and Til Purnell of Millsboro, Delaware.
Susan E. Miller Award (for outstanding service to Sierra Club chapters): Clyde Hanson of Lutsen, Minnesota; Bettye Harris of Marietta, Georgia; and George Whitmore of Fresno, California.
William Colby Award (the club's highest honor for administrative work): Michele Perrault of Lafayette, California.
Most of the awards will be presented Sept ember 9 during the Sierra Club's Annual Dinner in San Francisco, CA. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will accept the William O. Douglas Award on behalf of the Waterkeeper Alliance at the Sierra Summit in San Francisco on Saturday, September 10. Representative Nancy Johnson will receive the Edgar Wayburn Award in Connecticut on Monday, September 12. For more information on the Sierra Club awards program, visit www.sierraclub.org/awards