‘American Land Heroes’

May 24, 1996

The Wilderness Society and the Isaak Walton League designated June 14, 1996, as the first annual celebration of the country’s national lands, the ownership of which is a right of citizenship unrivaled in the world.

They also issued 10 awards to 11 volunteers (nine individuals and one couple) whose actions epitomize the spirit of public preservation of national lands begun by people like John Muir and Aldo Leopold.

Among the inaugural recipients for this new award is Ed Garvey, an honorary life member of the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association and a 1970 A.T. thru-hiker. Ed was interviewed in May on C-SPAN, and the program may have been repeated around Flag Day on June 14, the date of the Wilderness Society’s newly designated National Lands Day.

The list of honorees follows:

Dennis Stansell of Gainesville, Ga., has been a staunch advocate for protection of the Chattahoochee National Forest, with the A.T. passes through.	Gene Sentz of Choteau, Mont., has dedicated himself to making sure the Rocky Mountain Front does not turn into a strip of oil and gas fields.
John Osborn of Spokane, Wash., has devoted untold hours to protection of national forests and other natural assets in the Inland Empire.	Herb Johnson of Minneapolis has championed wilderness protection in northern Minnesota for decades.
Brian Goller of Boise, Idaho, has helped lead a broad coalition seeking to prevent the Owyhee Canyonlands from becoming a bombing range.	Leslie Glustrom of Prescott, Ariz., has waged a relentless campaign to curb improper grazing on national forest land.
Ed Garvey of Falls Church, Va., made protection of the Appalachian Trail a personal crusade, often conducted behind the scenes with little fanfare.	Dottie Fox of Aspen, Colo., has been an advocate for wilderness in the Roaring Fork Valley for nearly 30 years.
Rosa Durando of Palm Beach County, Fla., has been a “bulldog” in the history-making campaign to restore the Everglades.	Susan and Joseph Bower of Hayfork, Calif., have fought herbicide spraying and clearcutting in Northern California.

Summing it up are these words from the Wilderness Society:

Much of the work that is done to save the last great places is done by volunteers, people whose pay is the satisfaction of knowing that their efforts will bear fruit for our children and grandchildren. There are many thousands of these people spread across the country. Their passions vary. Some fight for the right to look up, slack-jawed, at a redwood that stretches toward the sky; others want to make sure there are still wide-open places to canoe, fish and hunt. Their tactics differ, too. Their willingness to devote themselves to these labors is one of our country’s great strengths.

Back to the Environment Vigil page