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Alvaro Ugalde, Father of Costa Rica’s National Parks, Born (1946)

Costa Rica is famous for its commitment to conservation and sustainability.  The country has more of its land and waters in protected parks and other reserves (about 27%) than any other nation in the world.  And much of that success can be traced to Alvaro Ugalde, known as the father of Costa Rica’s national parks.

Alvaro Ugalde (photo by University of Michigan)

Ugalde was born in Heredia, Costa Rica, a mountain village, on February 16, 1946 (died 2015).  He had an early love of nature and pursued that love to get his first college degree in biology from the University of Costa Rica in 1970.  Later, he studied at the University of Michigan, earning an M.S. in Natural Resource Management (1973).

Costa Rica’s first national park, Santa Rosa had been established in 1970, through the urging of Mario Boza, who would work with Ugalde for decades in their campaign for conservation (Mario Boza is rightfully credited as the co-father of the country’s national parks). “Even before I finished my BS in Costa Rica,” Ugalde said, “I was already a volunteer in the first national park, which existed but had no staff, no management. So I decided to start volunteering there…”. He volunteered patiently, until he was finally put on the payroll as the park’s first director.

Santa Rosa National Park, where Alvaro Ugalde began his work first as a volunteer and later as director (photo by Geoff Gallice)

In 1974, Ugalde became director of the country’s national parks when Boza, who had held the position, resigned to move to an academic position.  That began Ugalde’s 17 years at the helm, building the system into the success we know it as today.   He worked closely with a succession of presidents, effectively convincing one after the other that conservation and ecotourism would be good for the country.  Part of his success was “because some of the parks that we started with—actually most of the park system, were ecosystems that were still pretty much left out by the agricultural development, either because they were very steep mountains like all our mountains, especially the top part of them, or because they were swamps, beautiful wetlands of course but swamps nonetheless for agriculture and just by luck maybe, lack of action, something like that.”  Park after park was added to the system, which now includes 29 national parks and many more other forms of protected areas.

Ugalde left the government in 1991 and spent a decade working with the United Nations and other conservation organizations.  In 1999, he co-founded the Nectandra Institute, which works to conserve the cloud forests of Costa Rica; he served as president until his death in 2015.  He was also active in the Osa Foundation, an organization committed to the preservation of the Osa peninsula on the south coast of Costa Rica.  Over his life, Ugalde earned many awards for conservation, within Costa Rica, throughout the Americas, and, indeed, throughout the world.

Corcovado National Park, on the Osa Peninsula (photo by Lautaroaguirre)

Ugalde was particularly interested in the Osa Peninsula, which contains Corcovado National Park.  The park is the largest in Costa Rica, occupying a large portion of this region rich in biodiversity (purported to contain 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity).  “Osa is as one of the most magnificent places on the planet,” he said, “a place that later, through my actions, would become Corcovado National Park, a place for which I am still fighting for almost 40 years later.”

Ugalde well understood that environment and development must co-exist for sustainability, recognizing the importance of natural capital as the basis for human society.  He wrote the following:

“Costa Rica’s national parks and other protected areas, not only help protect more than 4% of earth’s biodiversity, in a tiny country that is largely invisible on a world map, but also played a pivotal role in restoring forest cover back to near half of Costa Rica’s land area, after falling to a low of approximately 1/5 in the 80s. These parks also set the stage for what is today perhaps our top money maker: the tourism industry. It turned out to be an excellent investment in our natural capital.

Furthermore, the national parks system, together with other lands that are under the ownership and protection of local communities, non-profit organizations and private individuals, have helped maintain vital services the Planet provides us, services we notoriously take for granted, such as the provision of drinking water and the “hidden water” contained in virtually all our goods and services, soil erosion control, flood mitigation, carbon sinking and climate moderation. “

References:  

Boza, Mario.  2015.  M.Sc.Álvaro F. Ugalde Viquez. Bi ocenosis 30(1-2):2-4.

Cahn, Robert and Patricia.  1979.  Treasure of parks for a little country that really tries. Smithsonian 10(6):64-73.  Available at:  https://www.cartermuseum.org/collection/treasure-parks-little-country-really-tries-robert-and-patricia-cahn-nd.  Accessed February 23, 2021.

Camerson, Blair.  2015.  Interview of Alvaro Ugalde for Innovations for Successful Societies, Princeton University.  Available at:  https://successfulsocieties.princeton.edu/sites/successfulsocieties/files/interviews/transcripts/3917/D2%20FT%20BC%20Alvaro%20Ugalde_Final.pdf.  Accessed February 23, 2021.

Osa Conservation.  Available at:  https://osaconservation.org.  Accessed February 23, 2021f

Ugalde, Alvaro.  In Alvaro’s Words.  Nectandra Institute.  Available at:  https://www.nectandra.org/retro/article.php?name=NaturalCapital.  Accessed February 23, 2012.

Dr. Robert Bullard, Father of Environmental Justice, Born (1946)

The statement from the United Nations Environment Programme just about says it all.  Upon presenting Dr. Robert D. Bullard with the 2020 Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award, the UNEP noted “Robert Bullard has shown us how one person can mobilize others to build a movement for the planet and for social justice. His commitment to the idea that all people, regardless of background, have a right to clean air and clean water reflects a human-rights based approach to the environment, which is critical for global discourse. UNEP is honoured to recognize this pioneer with our highest possible award.”

Robert Doyle Bullard was born in Elba, Alabama, on December 21, 1946.  He was a good student as a child, graduating second in his high school class.  He received a Bachelor’s degree from Alabama A&M University in 1968 and then served two years with the US Marine Corps.  He then studied sociology at Atlanta University (M.A., 1972) and Iowa State University (Ph.D., 1976). 

Dr. Robert Bullard in 2012 (photo by Dave Brenner)

He took a position as an assistant professor at Texas Southern University, a HBCU in Houston.  While there, his wife, attorney Linda McKeever Bullard, asked for his help developing data for a lawsuit challenging the siting of a landfill in an African-American neighborhood.  Driving around the city with maps and colored markers, he discovered that the vast majority of landfills in Houston were in African-American communities, although only 25% of the city’s population was Black.  “It was an awakening for for me,” he remembered.  “I decided I am not going to do dead white men sociology.  I am going to do kick-ass sociology.”

And the rest, we might say, is environmental justice history.  Bullard expanded his study nationwide, documenting in his first book (Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Quality, 1990) that pollution landed disproportionately on minority communities.  That book, and his continuing work, established a new field of research and activism and earned Bullard the rightful title as “father of environmental justice.”

Bullard has labored for a lifetime to help the world understand that environmental degradation and racism are not two problems, but one.  “It took us almost 25 years until the two movements merged,” he said, “until folks on both sides woke up to the realization that what we were experiencing in low-income and communities of colour was a form of systemic racism with detrimental health impacts. Not only that, but that these environmental disparities were having detrimental effects on life expectancy, home ownership and transformative wealth creation.”

His work is an inspiration of passion and persistence.  He has written or co-written eighteen books that range broadly across environmental justice, encompassing sustainability, land use, housing, transportation, smart growth and many other issues.  He has received numerous awards for his work, frequently cited as among the most important African-American environmental voices in the nation.  He moved among several universities during his career, but returned to Texas Southern in 2011, where he began.  He served as dean of public affairs there until 2016, and is now Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy.

After more than forty years in the academic and activism trenches of environmental justice, he remains optimistic.  “On our side we have lots of committed troops on the ground and a growing movement of young people,” he said. “Because of the way race operates in this society, there are some people — poor white people, for example — who have been given blinders; they’re blinded by racism and have voted against their own best interests. When we take the blinders off and allow every single American to rise and reach his or her potential without these artificial barriers, then we could really become a great country.”

In accepting the UNEP Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award, Bullard expressed what I think we all need to realize:  “There is a long arc of justice, and we have to understand that this is not instant oatmeal. If we get you all to understand that these struggles are long term, we will reach that North Star: justice, fairness and equity for all.”

References:

Bullard, Robert.  Dr. Robert Bullard, Father of Environmental Justice (website).  Available at:  https://drrobertbullard.com/biography/.  Accessed January 28, 2021.

Dicum, Gregory.  2006.  Meet Robert Bullard, the father of environmental justice.  Grist, Mar 15, 2006.  Available at:  https://grist.org/article/dicum/.  Accessed January 28, 2021.

UN Environmental Programme.  2020.  Robert Bullard — Lifetime Achievement Award.  Available at:  https://www.unenvironment.org/championsofearth/laureates/2020/robert-bullard.  Accessed January 28, 2021.

Charles Young, First African American National Park Superintendent, Born (1864)

Things are a lot different today in national parks than they were a century ago.  At the turn of the 20th Century, parks had official boundaries, but little else—few or no staff, few roads and other facilities and almost no enforcement of park rules.  One man, Charles Young, however, demonstrated that conditions could be different.

Charles Young was born on March 12, 1864, in Kentucky, the son of former slaves.  His family moved across the Ohio River to Ripley, Ohio, where the Emancipation Proclamation had made them free.  He attended school there, graduating with honors from the integrated high school in 1881.

Charles Young (photo by W. Allison Sweeney)

He taught high school in his hometown until 1884, when he won admission to West Point.  After suffering through academic, isolation and racist struggles, he graduated in 1889, only the third African American to do so.  Young went on to a series of assignments in the western United States before being posted as an instructor to the military science program at Wilberforce University, Ohio, in 1894.  He taught there for several years, earning a distinguished professorship and adopting Wilberforce as his hometown for the rest of his life.

When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, Young, now a major, returned to regular duty, leading a squadron of Buffalo Soldiers (the nickname of the 9th Cavalry of African American army soldiers) in Cuba.  He then became military attache in Haiti, the first American American to hold such a prominent military and diplomatic post.

Along the Don Cecil Trail in Kings Canyon National Park (photo by Martin Stiburek)

In 1903, Young achieved another first.  At the time, the US Army was responsible for staffing national parks, and Young was named Acting Superintendent of Sequoia and General Grant National Parks (now a part of Kings Canyon National Park), the first African American to serve as a park superintendent.  His tenure was short, lasting only from June through November (the usual summer term for such assignments).  But whereas other military leaders given such an assignment might consider it a paid vacation, Young was exceptional.  Previous detachments had made only minimal progress at the parks, but Young undertook his assignment with energy and commitment.  During their stay, Young and his Buffalo Soldiers built more than 15 miles of quality roads and 18 miles of trails—the same pathways still used today by millions of Americans to visit the parks’ giant sequoias, the largest trees in the world.

Young and his troops also took seriously the laws to protect the parks.  They turned back shepherds and their flocks of sheep, previously grazing illegally on park lands.  They enforced the prohibition on hunting, with no poaching violations reported during their tenure.  Noting that some of the largest and most accessible trees were suffering from over-visitation, they built fences around the trees to keep the visitors at a distance. The local community was so pleased with Young’s accomplishments that they wished to name a tree in his honor, as had been done for other notable Americans.  He declined the honor, however, suggesting that a tree be named instead for Booker T. Washington, the great African American educator.  

The Charles Young house in Wilberforce, Ohio, is now a national monument honoring Young and the Buffalo Soldiers (phot by Nyttend)

Young returned to active duty after his time in the parks, serving with distinction in the Philippines, Mexico and Liberia.  He was the highest-ranking African American in the US Army at the start of World War I, but was forced to retire in 1917 (various accounts suggest that his forced retirement was to avoid his becoming the first African American to achieve the rank of general).  After the war, the Army reinstated Young as a colonel.  He died while on an assignment in Nigeria in 1922.  He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Charles Young spent only a short time as an active conservationist, but his role was transformative, not only for the parks he worked in but also as an example that the parks could—and should—be more actively managed and protected.  He clearly understood what the parks were about, as he wrote in his final report as Acting Superintendent:

“Indeed, a journey through this park and the Sierra Forest Reserve to the Mount Whitney country will convince even the least thoughtful man of the needfulness of preserving these mountains just as they are, with their clothing of trees, shrubs, rocks, and vines, and of their importance to the valleys below as reservoirs for storage of water for agricultural and domestic purposes. In this, lies the necessity of forest preservation.” 

References:

Arlington National Cemetery.  Charles Young, Colonel, United States Army.  Available at:  http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/cdyoung.htm.  Accessed January 27, 2021.

National Park Service.  Colonel Charles Young.  Available at:  https://www.nps.gov/chyo/learn/historyculture/colonel-charles-young.htm#CP_JUMP_3401413.  Accessed January 27, 2021.

National Park Service.  Colonel Charles Young, Early Park Superintendent.  Available at:  https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/historyculture/young.htm.  Accessed January 27, 2021.

Lisa Perez Jackson, Environmental Leader, Born (1982)

Lisa Perez Jackson has traveled a largely straight career path—and one that led steadily up to the highest levels of environmental leadership.  And as an African-American woman, she demonstrates that a similar career path is available to anyone with the courage and dedication to take on the challenge.

Lisa Perez Jackson (photo by Eric Vance, US Environmental Protection Agency)

Jackson was born in Philadelphia on February 8, 1962.  She was adopted when two weeks old by Benjamin and Marie Perez, and grew up in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward.  As she grew up in her mostly minority, working-class neighborhood, she experienced that the environment was not neutral—poorer people suffered much more from pollution and environmental neglect than did wealthier people.  She decided to dedicate her career to helping people live better lives.  She loved science and math, and was an excellent student—the valedictorian of her high school graduating class.

That success led to a scholarship to Tulane, where she intended to become a doctor.  But a summer engineering program and her study of the Love Canal disaster convinced her to switch to engineering. As she remembered, “…I came to realize that by protecting our environment I was approaching the same problem from a different angle—by making sure people didn’t get sick in the first place.” She completed chemical engineering degrees from Tulane (BSE in 1983) and Princeton (MS in 1986).

She joined the US Environmental Protection Agency in 1987 as an engineer, working first in Washington, DC, and then New York City.  She worked primarily on the remediation of toxic contaminant sites (Superfund sites), especially in New Jersey.  She worked for the EPA for 19 years, including stints as deputy director and acting director of the Northeast Region’s enforcement division.

She left the EPA in 2006 to become the leader of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.  Along with pollution control, that agency also included historic preservation, state parks and fish and wildlife, giving Jackson much broader responsibility for conservation and environmental sustainability.  

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson meets with President Obama in 2010 in the Oval Office (photo by The White House)

Three years later, President Obama tapped Jackson to become Administrator of the EPA.  She took office in January, 2009, the first African-American and third woman in that role.  She observed, “Serving as EPA Administrator holds a special significance for me.  I didn’t see African-Americans in positions of leadership in government when I was a child.  Being able to serve in this role is a tremendous credit to the bold individuals before me who fought for equality for over a hundred years.”

At EPA, Jackson worked to modernize the nation’s approach to toxic chemicals and raised the environmental performance standards of vehicles.  She led the agency’s response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  Perhaps most important was her leadership of efforts to declare carbon dioxide a pollutant, clearing the way for more direct mitigation of climate change.  She scoffed at the idea that environmental regulation depressed the economy.  She said, “The rules and standards EPA enforces not only protect human health, but inspire innovation in industries seeking to be cleaner and more efficient. These new ideas and processes open doors for new jobs and spur our economy.”  She served as EPA Administrator until 2013.

Jackson visits the Gulf Coast during cleanup after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (photo by US Environmental Protection Agency)

She joined Apple, Inc. after that and now serves as the company’s Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives.  Under her guidance, Apple has achieved 100% renewable power and is working to expand renewable energy use through its supply chain.

Jackson exemplifies how science, technology, education and community action can improve lives.  She sits on the leadership boards for Tulane University and Conservation International, among other groups. But passion, she asserts, is a fundamental necessity for success:  “… The technology might be the spark, but what keeps the flame going is you find your passion and you use technology to advance what you care about.”

References:

Howard-Titlon Memorial Library, Tulane University.  Lis Perez Jackson.  Available at:  https://exhibits.tulane.edu/exhibit/tulanewomen/academicwomen/lisa-perez-jackson/.  Accessed January 26, 2021.

Jackson, Lisa P.  2011.  Lisa Jackson’s Story:  Protecting the Health and the Environment of the American People.  The White House, February 3, 2011.  Available at:  https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/02/03/lisa-jacksons-story-protecting-health-and-environment-american-people.  Accessed January 26, 2021.

Travis, Mary Ann.  2019.  Lisa Jackson, recipient of 2019 Tulane Distinguished Alumni Award, acts on making the world better.  Tulane University.  Available at:  https://news.tulane.edu/news/lisa-jackson-recipient-2019-tulane-distinguished-alumni-award-acts-making-world-better.  Accessed January 26, 2021.

Wilcox-Lee, Naomi.  2017.  Lisa Perez Jackson:  A Life in Balance.  Sheroes of History, October 26, 2017.  Available at:  https://sheroesofhistory.wordpress.com/2017/10/26/lisa-perez-jackson-a-life-in-balance/.  Accessed January 25, 2021.

Let’s talk Nature and Culture!

Some people like to say that if you spend all your time outdoors, playing in nature, then you have no culture.  But as a friend once responded to that criticism: “We have lots of culture.  We raise fish, that’s aquaculture!  And we grow trees, that’s silviculture!”

But nature and culture also blend in the true meaning of culture—the pursuit of the arts, music, painting, and literature.  November is a great month to emphasize this, because several outstanding examples occurred in nature.

November 1, for example, is the day on which renowned photographer Ansel Adams snapped his most famous photograph—“Moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico.” (learn more about the photograph here)  That photo is a perfect example of Adams’ quote about his photography:  “Sometimes I do get to place just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.” (learn more about Ansel Adams here).

Ansel Adams

The month ends with the birthday of another lover of nature, Mark Twain, born on November 30.  Mark Twain’s writings are inexorably intertwined with nature, as were most of his life’s adventures.  He reveled in the coming and going of nature’s rhythms, saying, “To one in sympathy with nature, each season, in its turn, seems the loveliest.” (learn more about Mark Twain here).

November 22 is a special day for nature’s music as well.  On the day, Ferde Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite premiered in 1931.  This musical piece is the apex of Grofe’s many tributes to nature in his compositions.  His inspiration was a camping trip at the canyon when he experienced the slow awakening of the landscape at dawn. (learn about Grofe’s work here). 

Poetry finds its way into November’s recognition with the birthday of William Cullen Bryant on the 3rd in 1794.  Bryant is the ultimate “romantic poet,” finding inspiration in the beauty of nature.  He walked many miles every day, letting nature absorb his senses and thoughts.  His paean To a Waterfowl is generally considered the most beautiful poem ever written. (learn more about Bryant here).

Although not listed in the calendar, November 9th is National Visit an Art Museum Day.  So, if the weather leaves you housebound some day this month, why not head to your local art museum and look for nature there.  You’ll be sure to find it!

Henry Mosby, Wild Turkey Biologist, Born (1913)

Wild Turkey populations now thrive in 49 of the 50 states in the United States.  But a century ago, over-hunting and habitat destruction drove the species to near-extinction.  The credit for recovering this extraordinary species goes to someone else just as extrarodinary—Professor Henry S. Mosby.

Henry S. Mosby (photo courtesy of The Wildlife Society)

Henry Sackett Mosby was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on October 28, 1913 (died 1984).  He spent most of his life in his beloved home state.  He earned degrees from Hampden Sydney College (B.S.) and the University of Michigan (M.S.).  He took a job as a field biologist with the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries in 1939.  He completed his doctorate, also from the University of Michigan, in 1941, while working on his favorite species—the Wild Turkey—in Virginia.  His dissertation became a book, co-written with C. O. Handley, The Wild Turkey in Virginia, published in 1943; it remains a classic in the field. 

Mosby served as an army meteorologist in Europe during World War II, and on his discharge, returned to Virginia to take up work again as a wildlife biologist through.  In 1947, he joined the faculty of the department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (known now as Virginia Tech).  He retired in 1977 as head of the department.

The Wild Turkey owes its current widespread abundance to the work of Henry Mosby (photo by Malcolm)

His dissertation research, along with his later years of continued investigation, served as the basis for the restoration of the Wild Turkey first in the southeastern U.S. and then throughout the nation.  Today the species now occupies virtually all suitable habitat throughout its range and is hunted in 49 states (Alaska is the only state without Wild Turkey hunting). In recognition of his role in the bird’s recovery, the National Wild Turkey Federation created the Henry S. Mosby Award, given annually to a wildlife professional whose efforts toward Wild Turkey sustainability mirror those of Mosby

Mosby was influential in the development of the wildlife profession during the mid-20th Century.  He was a charter member of The Wildlife Society, the principal scientific organization for wildlife professionals.  He edited The Wildlife Society News (now The Bulletin) for seven years.  He originated and then edited the first two editions of Game Investigation Techniques, issued in 1960 and 1963; the book, now in its eighth edition, continues to be the primary techniques handbook in the wildlife profession. Mosby was elected president of The Wildlife Society in 1965.

As important as Henry Mosby was to the restoration of the Wild Turkey, he was equally important to his students and colleagues at Virginia Tech.  During his career, he advised 54 M.S. and 7 Ph.D. students, participated in Boy Scout activities across generations, and led religious groups both on and off campus.  I was privileged to fill his position after his retirement in 1977; I felt his uplifting presence every day as I sat in his office, typed on his rickety manual typewriter and heard the stories of his warm gentlemanly spirit.  As Bird McGinnes, his faculty colleague and eulogist, wrote, “Although he was a recognized national authority on the wild turkey, and the turkey was his favorite subject for hunting and conversation, Henry’s deepest love was for the young people who came to him to learn.”

References:

McGinnes, Burd S.  1965.  Henry Sackett Mosby, 1913-1984.  Wildlife Society Bulletin, 1391):97-98. 

Put down that cellphone—and pick up a book!  October is National Book Month, a time to celebrate the joys of reading and the role that books and other published materials play in our lives.  And books about the environment have been just as important as books in other fields.  Here are a few that are highlighted on this website.

Perhaps the most influential, at least in recent times, has been Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.  Published on September 27, 1962, Silent Spring is credited with spawning the modern environmental movement and has been declared one of the most important books of all time.  In her book, Carson exposed the dangers of widespread spraying of pesticides, linking their inappropriate use to human disease and deaths of wildlife (learn more about the book here).

When it comes to speaking for the environment, no one has done it better than the Lorax.  Dr. Seuss’s classic, The Lorax, was published on August 12, 1971.  Often thought of as an anti-logging book, Seuss always claimed he wasn’t against cutting trees (after all, he said, he made his living selling books made out of trees), but just against greed and overuse.  And that’s the true nature of conservation—wise use based on sustainability (learn more about the book here).

Perhaps the most important environmental book of all time, however, might be Charles Darwin’s 1859 work, On the Origin of Species (published on November 24).  Darwin’s lifelong study of variation in nature demonstrated that living things changed through time, adapting to their environments.  The book was hugely controversial at the time, seen as an affront to biblical teachings about creation.  The Origin of Species established the basis for the science of ecology and our understanding of the nature and importance of biodiversity (learn more about the book here).

Another crucial book of our time was the 1987 volume, Our Common Future.  The book, published on March 20, was the report of what has become known as the Brundtland Commission, the first truly comprehensive study of what is needed to conserve the earth’s environment while supporting the quality of human life.  The study and the book were led by Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Norwegian prime minister.  The book contains the definition of sustainability now used throughout the world, that we should live to meet “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (learn more about the book here))

To see more of my favorite conservation books, please look at the entry for April 23, which is World Book Day (read about it here).  And you might want to take a look at my recent book—Nature’s Allies, 8 Conservationists Who Changed Our World.  

And a little caveat in closing.  National Book Month was started by the National Book Foundation in 2003, but that group no longer recognizes the celebration.  So, who cares, read a book, many books, anyhow!

Emmeline Moore, Pioneering Fisheries Scientist, Born (1872)

“I had to be all things to all fishes.”  So said one of the most important women fisheries scientists of the early 20th Century, Dr. Emmeline Moore.  She was, indeed, important to fish, given that she directed one of the world’s most extensive surveys of fishes and other aquatic organisms at a time when such work, by men or women, was in its infancy.

Emmeline Moore

Emmeline Moore was born on April 29, 1872, in Batavia, New York (died 1963).  Her family—a large one of immigrant parents and nine children—lived on a farm.  She particularly explored the edges of the farm that bordered wetlands of the Tonawanda Creek.  “I used to go the swamps every Sunday.  I remember seeing my first cardinal flowers and ferns there.”  

Her schooling and early career were interspersed during the first two decades of the new century.  She graduated from high school in 1895 and became a public school teacher as the century changed; later she earned university degrees at Cornell and Wellesley, then taught biology in high school and for a year at a college in South Africa; she earned her doctorate from Cornell and then taught at Vassar College for several years.  She was originally attracted to botany, but gradually began to link plants and fish production. 

Her fisheries career began in earnest during World War I.  While teaching at Vassar, she spent summers working for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries at the federal fish hatchery in Fairport, Iowa, where she studied how to improve fish culture in support of the war effort.  Her 1920 publication “Some Plants of Importance in Pondfish Culture” represented an early perspective on the ecological inter-relations of trophic levels and her realization that comprehensive knowledge of the biota of a waterbody was necessary to understand its fish production capability.

Drawing of Potametan by Emmeline Moore (courtesy of University of Washington Freshwater and Marine Image Bank)

After the war, she was hired by the New York Department of Conservation as a botanist and later fish culture specialist for a survey of Lake George.  Soon her organizational and management skills became apparent, and in 1926 she was appointed Director of the Biology Survey for the state.  Her primary task was to continue and expand the survey of Lake George to the entire watershed of the lake, covering  scores of lakes and hundreds of square miles.  From 1926 to 1939, she directed the survey, hiring, training and overseeing dozens of seasonal field workers and producing 17 reports of findings.  She was known to “rule with an iron hand,” but also as a dignified “lady with great understanding.”  She hired students for her field crews who often went on to careers in conservation fields.  Her comprehensive survey of the Lake George watershed was the largest in the world at the time and probably still ranks among the top.

Among the many firsts recorder by Moore, she was elected president of the American Fisheries Society for 1927-1928—the first woman to hold that position.  Another fifty years passed before the second woman held the presidency.  Throughout her career, she was an avid participant in the American Fisheries Society, the oldest and premier scientific and professional organization for fisheries (established in 1870).  

Moore also believed that science must be communicated effectively to the public.  She assured that the reports of the New York Biological Survey were well illustrated with artistic and scientifically accurate drawings of fish and other organisms.  She wrote for and spoke frequently to the general public, reasoning that scientists and managers needed “to get over to the public the idea that a research job is necessary to get facts before coming out with a recommendation for improved management of the resources.”

Dr. Emmeline Moore has achieved a revered place in fisheries history.  The New York Department of Conservation named a research vessel, the Emmeline-M, in her honor in 1956.  In 2009, the American Fisheries Society created the Emmeline Moore Award, given annually to a person committed to expanding diversity in the field of fisheries.  She was “all things to all fishes” a century ago, and she continues to inspire us today.

References:

Balon, E. K., Michael N. Bruton, and David L. G.Noakes.  2012.  Women in ichthyology:  an anthology in honor of ET,Ro and Genie.  Available at:  https://books.google.ca/books?id=d6bzCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA22#v=onepage&q&f=false.  Accessed September 16. 2020.

Zatkos, Lauren, and 11 others.  2020.  AFS Roosts: Emmeline Moore, All Things to All Fishes.  Fisheries 45(8) 435-443.

In Praise of Public Lands

In the U.S., we celebrate the fourth Saturday of September as National Public Lands Day.  It is a day designated for volunteers to come out to help spruce up their favorite places.  It has been a rousing success since it began in 1994; in the most recent year, more than 100,000 people put in half a million hours of free labor (learn more about National Public Lands Day here).

Of course, it is difficult to call it labor when we get to spend the day in nature, even if we are carrying a shovel or trash bag along with our binoculars.  In the U.S. especially, but around the world, we are blessed with lands that belong to all of us and are accessible to all of us.  This conservation calendar tells the story of 45 special places that were created on various dates of the year, along with many other events that relate to those special places.  

But several September dates hold special significance for public lands.  Perhaps the most consequential is September 5, when in 1978 the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated the first set of World Heritage Sites.  On that date, the first dozen sites were selected, including two in the U.S.—Yellowstone and Mesa Verde National Parks.  From those first few, the World Heritage list has grown to nearly 1100 properties around the world chosen for either their natural or cultural heritage, or both (learn more about UNESCO here).

In the U.S., the Wilderness Act became law on September 3, 1964 (learn more here).  Although the idea of “wilderness” had been around for a long time (Aldo Leopold was the first to propose the idea), this law assured that much of the remaining undeveloped federal lands would be set aside for that purpose only—being undeveloped.  And one of the leaders in accomplishing the Wilderness Act, Edgar Wayburn, was born on September 17 (more about him here).

September also holds the birthdays for several individual areas that illustrate the length and breadth of our great public public lands.  In the West, Canyonlands National Parks was established on September 12, 1964 (learn more here).  And one year later and on the other side of the continent Assateague Island National Seashore was established (September 21, 1965) (learn more here).

The novelist Wallace Stegner perhaps said it best when he declared that our national parks were “America’s Best Idea.”  But truly, our great national parks are only one part of the range of public lands—from city parks to distant wilderness areas to marine sanctuaries, all these make our lives so much better.  On public lands day and every other day.

Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue!

            With apologies to all the other fine people of all the other fine countries of the world, I’ve got to say that the United States of America is the greatest country ever.  And July proves it.  Not just the Fourth of July, when one of the great documents of freedom—the Declaration of Independence—was signed, but on lots of other July dates for lots of other reasons related to conservation and our environment.

First Duck Stamp

            Consider July 1, the birthday of the Duck Stamp.  On that date in 1934, the U.S. government initiated a tool that would become a standard for conservation worldwide.  The Duck Stamp is a federal license that waterfowl hunters need to buy every year.  The first one cost just $1, but over the intervening 85 years, the price has risen to $25.  Here’s the remarkable thing—98% of all the money raised by Duck Stamp sales go directly to conservation, funding the purchase, maintenance and improvement of National Wildlife Refuges (this efficient program is overseen by one remarkable federal employee, Suzanne Fellows).  I’d say this could only happen in America, but many countries have joined the U.S. in issuing their own versions of duck stamps (learn more about the Duck Stamp here).

            July 14 is a day when we can celebrate one of our great African-American leaders, George Washington Carver.  On that date, in 1943, the National Park Service created a National Monument to honor Carver.  Carver was born a slave during the Civil War in Missouri, and as a boy could scarcely read.  But he persevered, learning to read so well that he earned two degrees from Iowa State University.  He went on to found the agriculture program at the Tuskegee Institute and developed more than 300 products using peanuts and 100 more using sweet potatoes.  Most importantly, he spread his knowledge to the rural people of Alabama, whatever their color or creed (learn more about Carver here).

George Washington Carver at Tuskegee Institute

            On July 4 itself, we can celebrate another great U.S. innovation, the one that watches over the George Washington Carver National Monument—our system of national parks.  Stephen Mather, the Founding Director of the National Park Service, was born on July 4, 1867.  For 25 years, Mather led the new agency, expanding the number and geographic distribution of parks, but most importantly equipping them with professional staff and needed funding.  Our national parks are often called “America’s Greatest Idea”—another idea that has been replicated across the globe (learn more about Mather here).

             I’ll close this patriotic listing by noting the July birthday of a person who illustrates another feature of the American spirit.  She is Maria Martin, born on July 6, 1796.  I doubt if you’ve ever heard of her.  You’ve heard a lot about her colleague—one John James Audubon—but Martin isn’t remembered much today.  Yet she was one of America’s great early naturalists and illustrators, painting backgrounds for Audubon’s birds and assembling her own works on insects, flowers, and reptiles.  She is a great example of the love of nature that resides in so many Americans, leading them to volunteer their “time, talent and treasure” to conserve and sustain our environment, whether they get noticed or no (learn more about Mather here).

Maria Martin, early naturalist and illustrator

            This calendar celebrates only a few of the innumerable Americans who have committed to making our world a better place.  The great progress that we have made in sustaining our earth, especially over the last century, shows what we can do when we all do our part, working in our common interest.  In little ways and big ways.  With our hands and with our hearts.  Women do it, African-Americans do it, Muslims do it, we all do it. Sustainability isn’t about politics, about us versus them, about winners and losers.  It is about doing what is right, for people everywhere and especially those who haven’t been born yet.  And, doggone it, we do it great!  Three cheers for the UNITED States of America!

This Month in Conservation

March 1
Yellowstone National Park Established (1872)
March 2
Theodore Geisel, or Dr. Seuss, Born (1904)
March 3
World Wildlife Day and Creation of CITES (1973)
March 3
Isle Royale National Park Authorized (1931)
March 4
Hot Springs National Park Established (1921)
March 5
Lynn Margulis, Evolutionary Biologist, Born (1938)
March 6
Martha Burton Williamson, Pioneering Malacologist, Born (1843)
March 7
Luther Burbank Born (1849)
March 8
Everett Horton Patents the Telescoping Fishing Rod (1887)
March 9
The Turbot War Begins (1995)
March 10
Cape Lookout National Seashore Established (1966)
March 11
Save the Redwoods League Founded (1918)
March 12
Girl Scouts Founded (1912)
March 12
Charles Young, First African American National Park Superintendent, Born (1864)
March 13
National Elephant Day, Thailand
March 14
First National Wildlife Refuge Created (1903)
March 15
Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, Born (1874)
March 16
Amoco Cadiz Runs Aground (1978)
March 17
St. Patrick and Ireland’s Snakes
March 18
Nation’s First Wildlife Refuge Created (1870)
March 19
When the Swallows Return to Capistrano
March 20
“Our Common Future” Published (1987)
March 21
International Day of Forests
March 22
World Water Day
March 23
Sitka National Historical Park Created (1910)
March 24
John Wesley Powell, Western Explorer, Born (1834)
March 25
Norman Borlaug, Father of the Green Revolution, Born (1914)
March 26
Marjorie Harris Carr, Pioneering Florida Conservationist, Born (1915)
March 26
Kruger National Park Established (1898)
March 27
Trans-Alaska Pipeline Begun (1975)
March 28
Joseph Bazalgette, London’s Sewer King, Born (1819)
March 29
Niagara Falls Stops Flowing (1848)
March 30
The United States Buys Alaska (1867)
March 31
Al Gore, Environmental Activist and U.S. Vice President, Born (1948)
January February March April May June July August September October November December