Chapter's ICO volunteer Shirley Hickman to receive national Sierra Club Award

Angeles Chapter member Shirley Hickman of Los Angeles will be presented with the Madelyn Pyeatt Award from national Sierra Club for her 25 years of work with the Chapter’s Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO) program for 25 years. That program will receive $500 in recognition of Hickman’s award and commitment to taking urban youth into the wilds..

The complete list of national award winners:

A woman who has spent a lifetime fighting for environmental justice in a historic African-American community in Mississippi, a photographer who has documented the environmental impact of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and a park ranger who was shot while trying to protect wildlife in the Congo’s Virunga National Park are among the people who will be receiving national awards from the Sierra Club this year. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in San Francisco on Friday, Nov. 21.

The Club’s top award, the John Muir Award, is going to author and conservationist Terry Tempest Williams. Williams was featured in Ken Burns’ 2009 PBS series “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” and her prose was featured in the documentary “Forever Wild: Celebrating America’s Wilderness.” Her writing also has appeared in SIERRA magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Orion magazine and numerous anthologies worldwide as a crucial voice for ecological consciousness and social change.

“Terry has been an eloquent voice for wilderness, while  also sounding the alarm on issues ranging from nuclear contamination and reckless oil and gas development on public lands to attacks on our democracy,” said Sierra Club President David Scott. “As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act this year, it is entirely fitting that she should receive the Sierra Club’s highest award.”

Another top award, the William E. Colby Award, is going to Fran Caffee of Aurora, Ill. Caffee has provided leadership to the Sierra Club at the local, state and national levels for 30 years.

Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison is receiving the Edgar Wayburn Award, which honors outstanding service to the environment by a person in government. Ellison has been at the forefront of initiatives to reducing carbon pollution from power plants, extend the Federal wind energy production tax credit, and cut federal subsidies to big oil companies.

Two other public officials – Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky and New York Assemblyman Robert Sweeney –  are receiving the Distinguished Service Award, which honors persons in public service for strong and consistent commitment to conservation. Despite being from a coal-mining state, Yarmuth has fought for strong federal standards to prevent toxic mine waste from being dumped in nearby streams and valleys. Sweeney has served in the New York State Assembly since 1988 and has served as Chair of the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee since 2007.

Rose Johnson of Gulfport, Miss., is receiving a new award called the Robert Bullard Environmental Justice Award, which is named after Dr. Robert Bullard, who is often referred to as the “Father of Environmental Justice.” Johnson has spent years trying to preserve and protect Turkey Creek, a 13-mile stream where she was baptized as a child. She is prominently featured in the award-winning film “Come Hell or High Water: The Battle For Turkey Creek,” which was released this year.

The Ansel Adams Award, which honors excellence in conservation photography, is going to Krista Schlyer of Mount Rainier, Md. Schlyer has used her photography to raise awareness about the devastating ecological effects of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Her 2012 book, Continental Divide: Wildlife, People and the Border Wall, received the National Outdoor Book Award and the “Best of the Best” of university presses by the American Library Association.

The David R. Brower Award, which recognizes excellence in environmental journalism, is going to Ron Seely of Madison, Wis. Seely spent 20 years covering science and the environment for the Wisconsin State Journal.

The William O. Douglas Award, which recognizes individuals who have made outstanding use of the legal/judicial process to achieve environmental goals, is going to Jim Pew, an attorney from Washington, D.C., who has filed a series of lawsuits that have forced the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fully implement the provisions of the Clean Air Act.

The EarthCare Award, which honors an individual, organization, or agency that has made a unique contribution to international environmental protection and conservation is going to Wolfgang Burhenne of Bonn, Germany, who has been a pioneer in the field of international environmental law.

The Raymond Sherwin International Award, which honors extraordinary volunteer service toward international conservation, is going to Janice Meier of Gaithersburg, Md. Meier has represented the Sierra Club at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change talks and serves as co-leader of a working group that provides advice to UNFCCC participants on environmentally sound climate technologies.

The Chico Mendes Award, which honors individuals or non-governmental organizations outside the United States who have exhibited extraordinary courage and leadership in the universal struggle to protect the environment, is going to Emmanuel de Mérode and the rangers who have given their lives trying to protect the wildlife in the Congo’s Virunga National Park. In the past 10 years, more than 140 rangers from the park have been killed on the job. De Mérode himself was shot and seriously wounded as he drove through the park in April 2014.

Other awards that will be presented include the following:

Communication Award (honors the best use of communications by a Sierra Club group, chapter or other entity to further the Club’s mission): the Sierra Club Borderlands Team.

Denny and Ida Wilcher Award (recognizes excellence in fundraising and/or membership development): The John Muir Chapter Fundraising Committee.

Joseph Barbosa Award (recognizes Sierra Club members under the age of 30): Cara Cooper of Lexington, Ky., and Natalie Lucas of Flagstaff, Ariz. Cooper has been a member of the Sierra Student Coalition Executive Committee and currently works as an organizer with the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition. Lucas also has been active with the Sierra Student Coalition and served as director of the Office of Sustainability at the University of Arizona. Both will receive $500 to further their conservation work.

Madelyn Pyeatt Award (recognizes work with youth): Shirley Hickman of Los Angeles, Calif. Hickman has worked with Angeles Chapter’s Inner City Outings program for 25 years. That program will receive $500 in recognition of Hickman’s award.

Oliver Kehrlein Award (for outstanding service to the Sierra Club’s outings program): Arthur Kuehne of Dallas, Texas. Kuehne has led a variety of trips to destinations across the country, including weekend and extended backpacking, hiking, paddling, biking and even walking trips.

Special Achievement Awards (for a single act of importance dedicated to conservation or the Sierra Club): Stephen Lee Montgomery of Waipahu, Hawaii. Montgomery was instrumental in helping the United States land the 2016 quadrennial World Conservation Congress of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, an event that is expected to bring together more than 6,000 delegates from throughout the world to focus on pressing conservation issues.

Special Service Awards (for strong and consistent commitment to conservation over an extended period of time): Russ Maddox of Seward, Alaska, David O’Leary of Silver Spring, Md., and Michael Williams of Santa Fe, N.M. Maddox helped stop a proposed coal-fired power plant in Seward, has helped the Sierra Club initiate litigation against a coal-export facility and has helped lead an ongoing legal effort to clean up the coal dust problem plaguing Seward. O’Leary has held a variety of leadership positions in the Sierra Club’s Maryland Chapter and Williams is a national authority on clean air issues.

Susan Miller Award (honors administrative contributions to Sierra Club groups, chapters and regional entities): Ron Haines of Lantana, Fla., and Arthur Feinstein of San Francisco, Calif. Haines has been an active member of the Sierra Club’s Florida Chapter for more than 20 years and Feinstein has provided valuable leadership to the Club’s San Francisco Bay Chapter.

Walter Starr Award (honors continuing work by a former member of the Sierra Club Board of Directors): Sue Merrow of Colchester, Conn. Merrow served three terms on the Board of Directors, including a year as Club President in 1990-1991. Since completing her service on the Board, she has been active on a variety of  national teams and committees that are aimed at building leadership capacity and improving organizational effectiveness.

For more information on the Sierra Club awards program, visit www. sierraclub.org/awards