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2009 marks the 20th Anniversary of the National Wetlands Awards program. Since 1989, the program has honored 143 champions of wetlands conservation; helped draw local and national media attention to their causes; and played an important role in securing funding for and convincing policy makers to consider seriously the issues they have championed. Please consider nominating someone for the 20th Anniversary National Wetlands Awards.

The 2009 nomination form and nomination guidelines are now available.

The 2008 National Wetlands Awards winners accept their awards. View more photos from the ceremony.

 

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1993 National Wetlands Award Recipients

 

Special Award for Leadership in Public Policy

Diane Dumanoski, the recipient of a special award for leadership in public policy, has been an environmental reporter for the Boston Globe since 1979. During the intense debate last year over the Bush Administration’s 1991 proposal to revise the wetlands delineation manual, Dumanoski’s articles in the Boston Globe were instrumental in raising public awareness both about the proposed changes and about the tens of millions of acres of wetlands that would no longer be protected by federal law were the manual finalized. Dumanoski’s articles on the wetlands delineation manual exemplify excellence in environmental reporting. Rather than simply accept the Bush Administration’s characterizations of the proposed manual at face value, she ferreted out the true impacts this proposal would have on wetlands. Dumanoski sought out and interviewed many of the most renowned wetlands scientists in the country. She reported that, contrary to popular belief, scientific research demonstrates that wetlands encompass more than standing water, lily pads and ducks, and can include “drier wetlands” that provide critical functions, particularly water purification. Dumanoski revealed that, under the proposed manual, at least half of the nation’s wetlands—50 million acres or more—would lose federal protection. She noted that protection would be eliminated for “drier wetlands” and for some of the nation’s most famous wetlands, such as parts of Florida’s Everglades and parts of Virginia’s Great Dismal Swamp.

Dumanoski also researched and reported the staggering costs of the proposed manual. She noted, for example, that opening up these wetlands for development would cost the public up to $75 billion for advanced sewage treatment plants to offset the loss of wetlands’ filtration functions. Dumanoski’s objective, well-researched, and accessible articles helped make the public aware of the wide discrepancy between the Bush Administration’s “no net loss” of wetlands promise and the drastic contraction of areas deemed to be wetlands under the proposed wetlands delineation manual. The resulting public outrage was so strong that the proposed manual became the most commented-upon proposed rule in EPA history. Dumanoski also deserves recognition for the wide array of articles she has written on national, state, and local environmental issues in the past 20 years. In the past two years alone, she has written at least nine articles for the Boston Globe on the manual debate, the Hayes bill (proposed amendments to the Clean Water Act), and other national wetlands issues. In addition, Dumanoski has extensively covered developments in wetlands protection in Massachusetts, ranging from articles on potential state regulatory developments to thoughtful articles examining the adequacy of wetlands protection efforts in the state. Her series on the extent and causes of cumulative loss of wetlands in Massachusetts serves as another fine example of Dumanoski’s ability to fully research a subject and provide the public with information that is not available elsewhere.

Although Dumanoski has covered the full range of environmental issues from acid rain to nuclear safety — she has always avidly followed wetlands issues and has a deep, abiding interest in wetlands. She sets a standard for environmental reporters that is hard to match.

— Terry Schley, Counsel, Fisheries & Wildlife Division, National Wildlife Federation

Nonprofit Category

Dana Beach, an award winner in the nonprofit category, is the founder and executive director of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League (SCCCL). In spite of the rapid population growth and associated environmental problems of the South Carolina Coast, there was no staffed organization working full-time on coastal environmental problems until 1989, when Beach started SCCCL. SCCCL currently has a staff of six and more than 2,500 members. The organization’s goals include protecting water quality, reforming destructive development patterns, and promoting forestry practices that maintain and restore native coastal forests.

A native of Columbia, SC, Beach attended Davidson College where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in mathematics in 1977. In 1979, he received his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Beach returned to South Carolina in 1983, and began fighting to protect coastal resources. Before starting SCCCL he gained valuable experience with other organizations. He assumed leadership positions in the Sierra Club, including local group chair and state political action committee chair. He spearheaded the effort to obtain Outstanding Resource Waters (ORW) status for the waters surrounding Edisto Island. He was instrumental in promoting the 1988 Beachfront Management Act and amendments in 1990.

In 1986, he accepted a position as special assistant for the environment to Congressman Arthur Ravenel. As a member of the congressional staff, he was involved in resolving the SC coast’s first major wetland battle, the proposed filling of 140 acres of swamp forest in North Charleston. Beach met with both the regulatory agencies and the developer to fashion a development plan that greatly reduced the area of impacted wetlands. He left the congressman’s office to form the SCCCL, starting with a mailing list he pulled together using the local phone book. “I underlined every person I knew, or knew of, in Charleston,” he says. Now, Beach spends his work day addressing local, state and national issues. He is on the Board of Directors of the Coast Alliance and a member of the Project Coordinating Committee of the National Growth Management Leadership Project. He served on the South Carolina General Assembly’s Energy Committee, was a member of the Ashepoo/Combahee/Edisto (ACE) Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve Task Force, and serves on the Charleston County Planning Board. He holds seats on a dozen or more committees and boards.

One of the greatest threats to SC coastal wetlands is the proposed widening of a highway through the ACE Basin. The ACE has been named one of The Nature Conservancy’s “Last Great Places” and is a target for conservation by The Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited. SCCCL, with legal assistance from the Southern Environmental Law Center, has opposed this destructive project by advocating another, less sensitive route which skirts the edge of the basin.

Beach was the 1989 Conservationist of the Year for the SC Sierra Club. He won the South Carolina Wildlife Federation’s Outdoor Ethics Award and has authored various articles and given presentations on hazardous waste, beachfront management, wetlands, tropical forests, and landuse planning. He is now the driving force behind a growing movement pushing for landuse planning in South Carolina. After years of fighting thousands of small environmental battles, the League is focusing on the real culprit behind so much of the mayhem — poor development patterns that are as detrimental to the coastal economy as they are to its natural and cultural landscape.

— Marjan Farzaad, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Region 4

Nonprofit Category

As counsel to National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Fisheries & Wildlife Division and, subsequently, as an independent consultant, pro bono advisor, and a widely published author, Janice L. Goldman-Carter, an award winner in the nonprofit category, has tackled some of the most pressing and difficult issues in wetlands protection.

For example, in 1990, when Goldman-Carter was an attorney at NWF her outrage at the loss of thousands of acres of wetlands a year through purposeful evasion of the wetlands regulations prompted her to initiate a lawsuit (North Carolina Wildlife Federation v. Tulloch) to stop this abuse. Under the existing regulatory definition of “discharge of dredged material,” some small discharges of dredged material have been allowed without Clean Water Act §404 permits even though these discharges were associated with tremendously devastating impacts to wetlands. In the Tulloch case, Goldman-Carter sued two developers in North Carolina that had ditched and drained hundreds of acres of wetlands without a §404 permit. She argued that the developers should have obtained permits because small amounts of dredged material had fallen back into the wetlands during the ditching. In addition, she sued EPA and the Corps for failing to require permits, and because the Corps seemed to be advising the developers as to how to avoid §404 regulation. As a result of the Tulloch settlement in 1992, EPA and the Corps proposed a regulation which would clarify the requirement for §404 permits when ditching, draining, excavating, and channelizing wetlands because these activities entail discharges of dredged or fill material. If this proposed regulation is finalized without significant alteration, it will close the loophole in the regulations and staunch the loss of thousands of acres of wetlands.

Goldman-Carter’s accomplishments in wetlands regulation extend well beyond the courtroom. As an independent consultant, Goldman-Carter has spent the past year aiding environmental groups and government agencies on a wide array of legislative and regulatory issues. A particularly notable project was the work she did with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to advise the state of California in developing a state wetlands conservation plan. Goldman-Carter advised California on regulatory options for protecting its wetlands, including §404 state water quality certification programs, state programmatic general permits (SPGPs), and state regulatory programs that are not linked to the federal §404 program. The reports she wrote on these issues have been widely influential. The state of Indiana, various Corps district offices, and environmental groups have used this report to formulate §401, SPCP, and state wetland legislative strategies. Pro bono activities have also demanded a lot of Goldman-Carter’s time. In 1992, she was a board member of the Indiana Wildlife Federation, taking a leadership role on state wetlands and water quality issues.

Finally, Goldman-Carter has put her biology and law degrees to good use as a thoughtful and prolific author. Goldman-Carter just finished writing a law review article on takings — “Protecting Wetlands and Reasonable Investment-Backed Expectations in the Wake of Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Comm’n” — which will appear in the University of Wyoming’s Land & Water Law Review. She has also recently written on such topics as wetlands classification, Nationwide Permit 26, and the Bush Administration’s no-net-loss implementation plan.

Goldman-Carter exemplifies achievement in wetlands protection. In an ever changing and controversial area, she has demonstrated the versatility to influence the wetlands debate on the state, local, and national levels.

— Terry Schley, Counsel, Fisheries & Wildlife Division, National Wildlife Federation

Nonprofit Category

Timothy Seachinger of the Environmental Defense Fund is an award winner in the nonprofit category for his achievement as principal author of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report, How Wet is a Wetland? His 175-page report represents the work of over 40 scientists, assorted other environmental policy analysts, and EDF and WWF staff. Although unnamed here, all of these contributors should take pride in sharing the credit for this award.

EDF and WWF submitted How Wet is a Wetland? to the Environmental Protection Agency in January 1992, in response to the August 1991 proposed revisions to the Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands. The revisions were numerous and complex and had the potential to significantly affect the scope of federal regulatory jurisdiction.

Searchinger produced a report that provides a clear, plain language, comprehensive, and compelling analysis of the proposed revisions. Hism report immediately became a desktop reference for information on the effects of the proposed revisions in several important wetlands types and for readable explanations of the causes of those effects. Distributed to the offices of all the members of the 102nd Congress, the orange-covered report was soon seen in the hands of key congressional staff at meetings and hearings on the manual revisions. Searchinger’s estimate of the potential effects of the proposed revisions on the geographic scope of the federal wetlands protection programs became the most quoted news bite on the proposed manual.

Searchinger’s quick, aggressive action on this project was crucial to its success. For several months, he led his co-workers at EDF and their counterparts at WWF in organizing financial support from six charitable sources, and obtaining detailed analyses from some of this country’s top wetlands ecologists, including scientists at four other major conservation organizations, several local conservation organizations and private consulting firms, and more than 20 major universities.

Following a strong foundation of background information on wetlands functions and values, Searchinger constructed a thorough analysis of the proposed revisions using an abundance of well-documented examples to support his challenge to some of the underlying bases of the proposal. For example, he addresses the “wetter is better” paradigm with descriptions of the aquatic functions of seasonally wet/seasonally dry habitat types, such as waterfowl dependence on temporarily and seasonally ponded prairie potholes.

Tim Searchinger received his B.A. at Amherst College, and J.D. at Yale, where he was senior editor of the Yale Law Journal. He later clerked in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, and was deputy general counsel to the governor of Pennsylvania. He has been at EDF since 1989.

— Michael Fritz, Environmental Protection Specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Washington, DC

Private Sector Category

Randy Riviere, the award winner in the business category, is the wildlife biologist and production manager at Tri Valley Growers (TVG) Volta Plant in Los Banos, California. Riviere has a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana and is working toward a doctoral degree in wildlife management with an emphasis on the challenges and ramifications of integrating wildlife management into an industrial setting.

He has published several articles on the integration of wildlife management with food processing wastewater systems. He is chair of the San Joaquin Valley Agriculture and Wildlife Enhancement Committee, a Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture, through which he has worked with farmers in an effort to reestablish waterfowl populations to meet the objectives of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. He is associate director of the California Waterfowl Association and supervises waterfowl research crews in the San Joaquin Valley. He also assists in the various outreach efforts with private landowners.

TVG’s Volta Plant is located within the San Joaquin Valley Grasslands and the Pacific Flyway, an area critical to wintering waterfowl and many other types of wildlife. A full 95% of these wetlands have been lost to farming and other human activities. Therefore, every scrap that can be retained is of critical importance.

TVG processes tomato paste at this facility, consisting of approximately 1,000 acres, 300 of which are set aside permanently for wintering and breeding waterfowl and other wildlife. The remaining acreage houses the processing plant and areas set aside for water applied directly to the land surface via flood irrigation. The acidic nature of the wastewater is gradually changing the alkaline soils native to the area.

Under Riviere’s supervision in the fall of 1989, TVG began introducing various grass regimes to provide dense nesting cover for waterfowl and pheasants in the upland fields associated with the wastewater program. The industrial objective was to yield economic benefits by increasing the wastewater disposal capacity of the facility, and the environmental objective was to provide improved wildlife habitat. Research suggested that residual cover was very important to early nesting waterfowl and as a result careful monitoring of the grasses became an essential part of the program. Both the environmental and the industrial objectives have been accomplished. The nesting success has markedly improved each year along with the wastewater evapotranspiration. The project underscores the notion that industry and conservation can exist side by side with bothbsides receiving benefits.

Riviere worked closely with the California Waterfowl Association to use radio transmitters to monitor ducks. The transmitters were surgically implemented in the spring of 1992 to monitor the nesting ducks. The knowledge and information gained from this experiment could be useful in expanding the scope of the project to the entire grasslands area.

Riviere and his project have received seven awards from groups and organizations representing a wide range of interests. He has conducted presentations at several public events, including a Marsh Management Workshop for the California Waterfowl Association; a workshop entitled “Managing Farmland to Bring Back Game Birds and Wildlife to the Central Valley” for the Yolo County Resource Conservation District; and events sponsored by the Agricultural Council of California, Audubon Society, Sierra Club, California Association of Family Farmers, Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture, Modesto Engineers Club, and Tri Valley Growers.

— Irene Potter, Stanislaw Audubon, Modesto, California

State Government Category

Dr. Kenneth Kettenring is an award winner in the state government category for his outstanding contributions to wetland protection in New Hampshire. Kettenring has worked tirelessly to improve the state’s relationships with both federal and local wetland protection agencies. Under his tenure as administrator of the New Hampshire Wetlands Board, the state has developed one of the most respected wetland protection programs in the country. The New Hampshire program, under Kettenring’s tutelage, has developed a stringent but efficient permit review program and an effective enforcement capability.

Kettenring was the primary proponent in fashioning the New Hampshire State Program General Permit (NHSPCP). Although a number of SPGPs now exist, this one stands out as a prototype for several reasons. The NHSPGP created a three-tiered approach to §404 permitting in the state: 1) automatic approval for minor projects; 2) automatic individual permit for projects exceeding certain thresholds; and 3) case-by-case screening to determine the proper category for all other projects. The NHSPGP replaced what had become a preposterously complex mosaic of regional general permits, nationwide permits, §404 conditions/denials, and individual reviews with a rational system that correlates the intensity of regulation with the severity of impact.

The NHSPGP increased environmental protection in the state by revoking the cumbersome and environmentally damaging nationwide permits that were in place. As such, the NHSPGP simultaneously improved wetland protection and simplified the regulatory program. The results of this new permitting scheme have been impressive: the Corps and EPA see many more projects than in the past, indicating an improved rate of compliance; average decision times have been reduced; and over 90 percent of the activities have proceeded under the general permit as either automatic approvals or expedited authorizations after screening. This SPGP would not have been developed without Kettenring’s willingness to help fashion the permit and then sell the concept to a myriad of interest groups within the state. The federal agencies hope to extend the concepts of the NHSPGP to the other New England states to develop environmentally sound approaches to the nationwide permit program.

In another innovative move, the state wetland program has reformed its fee policies. Application fees are now tied directly to the extent of adverse impacts to wetlands. The state determines the costs based on the permit application and does not refund the money in the event of denial or modification, a practice which motivates applicants to reduce wetland impacts prior to seeking a state permit. That Kettenring has achieved such success as administrator of the Wetlands Board in an atmosphere of tight budgets, occasional legislative hostility, and public mistrust of government regulation only underscores his effectiveness. Administering a wetland program in New Hampshire—where license plates read “Live Free or Die” could hardly be considered relaxing. Many residents have strong feelings about property rights and an antipathy toward government regulation. Nevertheless, with its reputation for efficiency and evenhandedness, the New Hampshire wetlands program has achieved a wide measure of acceptance throughout the state.

Kettenring has built the state’s program through a strong commitment to both environmental protection and fair treatment of the regulated public. In so doing, he is a thoughtful steward of New Hampshire’s wetlands and serves the people of his state well

— Douglas Thompson, Chief, Wetlands Protection Section, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Region 1

State Government Category

Laurel Marcus, an award winner in the state government category, is almost single-handedly responsible for some of the most significant coastal wetland and watershed restoration efforts in California. Marcus is project manager for the California Coastal Conservancy, a state agency created in 1978 to preserve, enhance, and restore the wetlands and other resources of the California coast. The Coastal Conservancy is not a regulatory agency. Rather, it works to negotiate innovative solutions that benefit landowners and the environment. The Coastal Conservancy provides funding and direct technical assistance for wetlands acquisition, enhancement, and restoration to local governments and non-profit organizations.

As a biologist and program manager, Marcus has initiated, coordinated, and implemented numerous wetland and watershed restoration projects up and down the 1,100-mile California coast. Among her most notable projects are the development of the Russian River Resource Enhancement and Public Access Plan and the coordination and development of the Sonoma Baylands salt marsh restoration project.

The Russian River Resource Enhancement and Public Access Plan is concerned with stemming the long-term combined effects of federal water development projects and agricultural development in the “reclaimed” floodplain. Marcus recognized that sustainable restoration of riparian values, fish habitat, and other watershed functions could not occur if the realities of human uses of the river were ignored: in addition to agriculture, the 1,500-square-mile watershed offers significant recreational opportunities, supports gravel mining and other industries, and provides water for half a million people. Therefore, she initiated a true, community-based planning effort emphasizing the involvement of the landowners, as well as the more usual interest groups. Today, the Russian River project is the largest restoration planning effort underway in California. It is likely that restoration of the Russian River, including reestablishment of a healthy riparian system, will require a mix of negotiated land exchanges and easements as well as active reconfiguration work.

The Sonoma Baylands project in northern San Francisco Bay is particularly indicative of Marcus’s effectiveness in melding environmental and economic benefits. This project will restore over 300 acres of salt marsh—critical habitat for two species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act—using dredged material from a controversial port deepening project. “Beneficial reuse” of the dredged material to establish proper elevations for the marsh will expedite habitat development. At the same time, it is fundamental to overcoming local political and environmental concerns about the port project, and will therefore expedite the port’s economic interests. Through monitoring, this project will also be an important example of practicability for other large-scale beneficial reuse proposals in the Bay area. A portion of Marcus’s Sonoma Baylands project was unanimously recommended for, and selected as, a1991/1992 Coastal America project.

Perhaps Marcus’s most outstanding talent is her ability to work and communicate with landowners, business interests, environmental groups, regulatory and resource agencies, the state legislature, and California’s congressional delegation, with equal effectiveness. Without the good will Marcus has developed with all involved parties, environmental enhancement to thousands of acres, benefiting both landowners and other economic interests, would not have been possible.

— Brian Ross, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Region 9

Local Government

Gene Jones, the award winner in the local government category, has been a civil engineer with the city of Reno for eight years. In his role as a project manager in the department of community development, Jones used both his technical and management skills to develop a wetlands habitat conservation program for the Rosewood Lakes Municipal Golf Course in Reno.

From 1985 to 1989, Gene worked to obtain local, state, and federal approval for a municipal golf course project in the Steamboat Creek Floodway. At the start of the project, in 1985, the issue of wetlands impacts was a newcomer to the broad array of concerns involved in golf course construction.

Reno is located in a desert climate, and until recently there was little public awareness of local wetlands resources. Furthermore, wetlands in Nevada have suffered because rights to most of the water in the area have already been deeded for municipal or industrial use. The only wetlands that do exist in the region result from the small amounts of unused water or the water returned to the watershed after use. In addition, the city began the project at the time that the Army Corps of Engineers was beginning to enforce the Clean Water Act’s §404 (b)(1)guidelines, requiring permits to follow a sequencing process for avoidance, minimization, and mitigation of wetlands losses.

Jones was instrumental in getting the city to accept the requirements of the §404 (b)(1) guidelines. He worked with other members of his department, senior management, and the city planning commission to inform them of the Corps regulatory program, and the objectives of the Clean Water Act. Although Jones met with resistance to the use of alternative engineering practices, he persisted in explaining how, with various design modifications, community concerns could be satisfied while saving money. As a result, the course uses an alternative fairway to avoid and minimize construction impacts to wetlands. The city’s joint venture partner, Dermody Properties, also avoided wetlands impacts by moving all planned housing development away from wetlands areas. In addition, Dermody Properties purchased permanent water rights for wetlands mitigation and conservation. Unavoidable impacts to wetlands were mitigated through the conservation of existing wetlands and the restoration of former wetlands left dry by historical water diversions for agriculture.

Jones’ efforts have resulted in a wetlands management area in the city that consists of 155 acres of wetlands and nearly 25 acres of open aquatic habitat. The wetland and aquatic habitats built in association with the city’s municipal golf course serve to attract a diverse assemblage of migratory waterfowl and raptors.

What’s unique about Jones’ accomplishments is that the community and city government have developed a significant appreciation for how wetlands habitats can be conserved while allowing development to occur in a watershed that has limited available water. Golfers and hikers frequently comment about how impressive it is to see so much wildlife in the wetlands areas; housing developers have designed homes to overlook the wetlands area; and public demand for watershed planning that includes wetland conservation has become common. Federal and state agencies use Jones’ project as a prime example in Nevada of how the wetlands permitting process can work to satisfy development needs. In addition, the city has adopted a wetlands planning ordinance to further the conservation and restoration of the city’s wetlands. As a result of Jones’ foresight and leadership, the city has recognized wetlands as a key element of Reno’s historical development and is developing land-use plans that will seek to conserve and restore wetlands.

— Terry Huffman, Huffman and Associates, San Francisco, CA

Local Government

It is rare to encounter individuals who combine Marc Matsil’s concern for protection, acquisition, research on, and restoration of our nation’s natural resources, with the ability to produce tangible results. Matsil, an award winner in the local government category, has been director of the Natural Resources Group (NRG) of New York City’s Department of Parks and Recreation since 1987.

Matsil has fought tenaciously to protect and restore natural resources by working with communities, businesses, and federal, state, and city agencies to improve the environmental practices of the city and of private commercial interests. Over the past several years, the NRG has embarked on an extensive natural resources protection, acquisition, and restoration program. The group has also designed, in cooperation with other city, state, and federal agencies, the natural resources damage settlements for the Exxon oil disaster of 1990, when more than one-half million gallons spilled into Arthur’s Kill. The $15 million settlement, recovered by the city and states of New York and New Jersey will pay for a restoration, research, and monitoring plan to restore damaged wetlands. It will also fund acquisition of ecologically important wetlands in Staten Island’s Harbor Herons Preserve. Matsil was a leader in the multi-government effort to assess the spill damage to the wetlands. In this effort, he had to overcome the perception that New York City coastal waters were already so polluted that the spill made no difference. The NRG collected data to prove to both the other governments and Exxon that Arthur’s Kill was indeed an area worth protecting.

The NRG has also conducted several natural resources inventories of the city’s natural resources, including more than 8,000 acres of wetlands, woodlands, meadows, and swamp forests. In coordination with The Nature Conservancy and its Natural Heritage Program, NRG has inventoried and registered more than 40 federal and state endangered and threatened flora and fauna — including the largest successful urban peregrine falcon breeding population in the world. Matsil was also instrumental in the acquisition of Dubos Point Wetlands Sanctuary, managed by the Audubon Society.

Matsil has also collaborated with the city’s Environmental Prosecution Unit to embark on several timely lawsuits against polluters, including several landfill dumping cases, oil spills, and the siting of a hazardous waste incinerator in the shadows of a parks wetlands preserve and heron rookery. He has consulted on the Fresh Kills Landfill (the largest in the country) end use planting and wetlands restoration/filtration plan.

Matsil works tirelessly on changing the public’s attitude toward green spaces, natural resources, and the stewardship of our environment. By working with community groups and high schools throughout the city, Matsil established the Adopt-A-Park (now the Plant Partnership) Program. Through hands-on environmental workshops, thousands of New Yorkers have become exposed to the city parks’ natural areas. Volunteers have planted more than 15,000 trees and shrubs in swamp forests, and woodlands. But, more importantly, these volunteers have proved to be valuable advocates and have helped to save the city’s remaining natural areas.

Matsil has been a unique voice for the protection of urban and wilderness landscapes. He has forged coalitions for the enhancement and restoration of communities in order to create a whole ecological community. Moreover, by including students and community members in the process of nurturing and restoring natural systems, Matsil has turned politics into a tool for better understanding of our environment.

— Henry Stern, Citizens United, New York, New York

 

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