Eugene Rogers Environment Award
The prestigious Eugene Rogers Environment Award is presented annually by the Wilderness Committee and the United Nations Association--Vancouver Branch to an outstanding B.C. citizen working to protect the environment.
This award was established in 1992 in honor of Eugene Rogers, a conservationist who worked tirelessly prior to his sudden death to protect the Stein Valley, the Fraser River and B.C.'s wild salmon and steelhead. In the early 1980's he inspired Joe Foy, now WCWC's well-known campaign director, to become an active environmentalist and fight to save the Stein.
In past years the following conservationists have received the Eugene Rogers Award:
1992 - Terry Jacks for his work against pulp mill pollution;
1993 - Joe Martin for his work to protect Clayoquot Sound;
1994 - Doug Radies and Ocean Hellman for their work to preserve the Cariboo Mountains Wilderness;
1995 - Danny Gerak for his work to preserve the Boise and Pitt River Valleys;
1996 - Maureen Fraser for here work to protect Clayoquot Sound and help sustain its communities.
In more recent years:
John Clarke, 1997 winner, stands beside the beautiful Eugene Rogers Commemorative Plaque, holding his personal award.
1997 - John Clarke, for his outstanding efforts to preserve the Stoltmann Wilderness. John Clarke is an almost legendary Coast Mountain explorer, photographer and wilderness educator. He is the co-founder, along with Vancouver artist Nancy Bleck and Squamish Nation Chief Councillor Bill Williams, of the Witness Program--a series of camp-outs, gatherings and art exhibits designed to inform people about the Stoltmann Wilderness and Squamish Nation Culture. John also travels from school to school with an awe-inspiring slide show presentation explaining how little is left and the need to preserve the remaining wilderness areas of the Coast Mountain Range.
1998 - Marion Parker, for his tireless work over many decades to educate people regarding the need to preserve Earth's rare, ancient trees. Marion, a dendrochronologist (tree-ring expert), authorized a number of special research reports that documented the tremendous ages of trees within some of the wilderness areas were were proposing for protection. He also was an expert in documenting First Nations' CMT's (Culturally Modified Trees). These special trees, usually cedars, were stripped of some bark or had a plank split off without killing the tree, in some cases centuries ago. In 1994, Marion joined a WCWC-Ahousaht First Nations joint expedition into the Ursus River Valley in Clayoquot Sound and helped date some of the CMTs that are part of the rich cultural heritage there.
The late Marion Parker, 1998 award winner, poses beside a 'thousand-year-old" tree he dated while conducting WCWC research near Carmanah Valley. Photo taken in the late 80s.
Marion's work helped preserve such special places as Gwaii Haanas National Park and the Stein Valley Heritage Park Reserve, Carmanah/Walbran Provincial Park and the Stein Valley Provincial Heritage Park. Marion also discovered the stump of a yellow cedar tree, cut down by loggers on the Sunshine Coast in the 1980s. By using a microscope to count the rings Marion was able to prove the tree to have been 1,835 years old when it was cut down--making it the oldest known tree in Canada. Marion felt it should have be a crime to cut down any tree over 1,000 years old.
Sadly, Marion Parker passed away on July 13, 1999--a month short of his 65th birthday. His family, friends and colleagues in the conservation community sorely miss him. His work lives on in his written reports, in the wilderness areas that his efforts helped preserve and in the people who continue to see his dream of full protection for Canada's ancient trees realized.
Will Koop, 1999 award winner, admires a big, old Douglas Fire tree in Greater Vancouver's lower Seymour Conservation Reserve.
1999-Will Koop - for his groundbreaking and watershed-saving work over the past ten years to get logging permanently banned in the watersheds that supply Greater Vancouver's drinking water. Will, an excellent and thorough researcher, systematically sifted through historical files, forestry records and water quality reports to put together an ironclad argument that proved that recent logging, which started in the 1970s, has damaged the Greater Vancouver drinking water supply. For years he has attended nearly every Greater Vancouver Area Water Board meeting, making the case for a logging ban.
Five years ago, due in large part to his efforts, logging was halted in Vancouver's drinking watersheds. But the resumption of logging continued to be a threat. In 1999, the Great Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) changed the terms of reference for management of the watersheds, putting water quality first. The GVRD now seeks to modify an agreement with the B.C. Forest Ministry that requires the watersheds be managed as a multiple use area--a tree farm where a 5 year logging plan is required. As a result of Will's efforts we are very close to achieving a permanent ban on logging in Greater Vancouver's drinking watersheds.
