Remove a 100-year-old dam and the tons of toxic sediments behind it? See a threatened species taken off the Endangered Species List? Set aside a migration corridor hundreds of miles long? Don't hold your breath.
Even though such work is often thankless, we are blessed here in Montana to count many people who selflessly dedicate their lives to making this a cleaner, safer place for us and for future generations. And we needn't wait to thank them.
Last week, the Roundtable held its annual banquet to give awards to three worthy individuals, selected by past award winners.
n John Wardell earned the Roundtable's Burk/Brandborg Award, named for conservation writer Dale Burk and late forest conservationists Ruth and G.M. “Guy” Brandborg, for his tireless insistence that the Milltown Dam on the Clark Fork River had to go. Wardell is head of the Montana office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and was at the center of the years-long, controversial, hard-fought effort to remove the dam and the mining contaminants behind it.
Finally, the dam was removed this year, and the first fish in 100 years swam by shortly afterward. Although much work on the site remains, that's reason enough to celebrate.
n Chris Servheen accepted the Arnold Bolle Conservation Professional Award for his career-long grizzly bear research and management work. An adjunct research associate professor for wildlife conservation at the University of Montana, Servheen is also the United States Fish & Wildlife Service's Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator, and has been for more than 25 years.
Many people credit Servheen with helping to remove grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area from the Endangered Species List, a milestone marked just a little over a year ago. These days, Servheen continues to keep an eye on bear populations while helping other groups work on bear recovery elsewhere.
n Tim Aldrich took home the Don Aldrich Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Award, which is fitting, because he is Don Aldrich's son.
Don Aldrich, a former Missoulian sports reporter, was responsible for creating the award that eventually grew into the Missoula Conservation Roundtable Awards. In 1986, he suggested an Aldrich Award to recognize conservationists should be added to the Ray Rocene Sports Award Banquet because, well, many sports are played outdoors. From there the movement expanded until it was time for the conservation award winners to split off and organize an independent banquet of their own.
Tim Aldrich, a native Missoulian, worked for the U.S. Forest Service for 37 years, then retired to a life of active volunteerism in various groups, from the Regional Fish Wildlife and Parks Citizens Advisory Council to the River Advisory Council, the Open Space Committee to the Hellgate Hunters and Anglers. A little more than a week ago, he was elected president of the Montana Wildlife Federation.
These three individuals have made a tremendous contribution to our environmental health. We join the Missoula Conservation Roundtable in thanking them for all that they've done, and continue to do, for all of us.
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