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You are here: Home / Archives for Champions

Conservation Champions

Jim Brett

Jim Brett has had a natural resource conservation career for over 48 years. He is recognized by the Department of Environmental Protection as one of the top environmental leaders of Pennsylvania. This is a special honor especially since he is the only living person on this l...

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Dennis Collins

Dennis Collins has many passions and interests in life, but the one dearest to his heart is land protection. His involvement in this field, as an avocation or a vocation, has spanned three decades. In that time, he has crafted deals for the protection of many thousands of ac...

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Ralph “Bud” Cook

Over the past 29 years, Ralph “Bud” Cook of The Nature Conservancy has protected special places from Great Marsh to Goat Hill in Pennsylvania to the Chilean grasslands and the Ecuadoran cloud forest. Beneficiaries of his work include the golden-winged warbler, the river ...

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R. John Dawes

John Dawes has provided Pennsylvania with environmental and conservation leadership for more than 25 years. He not only works in conservation, but also practices it on his Huntingdon County Farm. As Executive Director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds since 1994,...

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Phoebe Driscoll

On a personal, community and national level Phoebe Driscoll has committed her adult life to volunteer activism in protecting the land and environment. Tenacious commitment, unquestioned sincerity, boundless energy, and insightful leadership characterize her efforts as keysto...

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Amos Funk

Mention farmland preservation to anyone in Lancaster County, and the first name that comes to mind is Amos Funk, the County’s “Father of Farmland Preservation”, because of his unrivaled leadership and commitment to farmland preservation throughout his life. Amos was bo...

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Peter Hausmann

Peter Hausmann is passionate about ensuring that future generations have the opportunity to be inspired by nature – not, as he likes to say, “by viewing it on the National Geographic channel, but by experiencing it firsthand.” In fact, his passion is such that he has d...

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Eleanor May Morris

Eleanor May Morris, a pioneer in using conservation easements to save open space, died peacefully at her home in Pughtown on Sunday, September 11, 2011. She was 92 and was the widow of former state Representative Samuel W. Morris. A resident of South Coventry Township for 65...

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William Hart Rufe III

On a community, county, and state level, Judge Rufe has committed his adult life to volunteer activism in protecting the land and environment. Steadfast dedication, unquestioned sincerity, interminable energy and insightful leadership characterize his efforts on behalf of pr...

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Bill Sellers

For 23 years, Bill Sellers directed the Brandywine Conservancy’s Environmental Management Center, during which time the Conservancy placed conservation easements on over 27,000 acres and established state-of-the-art consulting assistance programs. Bill has helped organize ...

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George “Frolic” Weymouth

Artist and conservationist, George A. “Frolic” Weymouth has had a tremendous impact on land preservation, cultural and historic resources, and American art. In 1967, he persuaded friends, F.I. du Pont and William Prickett, to help him buy two parcels of land along the Br...

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Larry Williamson

Larry Williamson truly understands the connection between nature and quality of life.  He has worked hard to assist communities and conservation partners to improve the quality of life for Pennsylvanians. In the last 37 years, we have all benefited from his dedicated servic...

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Barbara Yeaman

In 1995, at the age of 70, Barbara Yeaman organized a group of volunteers to found the Delaware Highlands Conservancy (DHC), a land trust based in Hawley, PA. Barbara knew she would need to make strong strides against the tide of development sweeping across the region. She f...

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John C. Oliver, III

  Through John’s leadership as President of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and as Secretary of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), over 206,000 acres of land were conserved for the benefit of all Pennsylvanians for all time.  These lands...

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Thomas J. Kerr

In his forty-year conservation career,  Thomas “Tom” Kerr has contributed greatly to the conservation of Pennsylvania’s natural resources and worked to energize and mobilize the state’s conservation community. For twenty years, Tom served as President of the Wildlan...

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Troy Firth

For over 45 years, Troy Firth has set himself apart as a responsible and thoughtful pioneer in sustainable forestry. Since 1971, Firth has practiced sustainable forestry as the owner and manager of Firth Maple Products, producing and selling certified organic maple syrup whi...

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Andy Pitz

A key leader and thinker within the conservation community, Pitz has spent his entire professional career working to permanently protect Pennsylvania’s natural resources. From 1986 to 2012, he worked in various capacities for Natural Lands, where he coordinated publi...

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Conservation Champions

  • Jim Brett
  • Dennis Collins
  • Ralph “Bud” Cook
  • R. John Dawes
  • Phoebe Driscoll
  • Amos Funk
  • Peter Hausmann
  • Eleanor May Morris
  • William Hart Rufe III
  • Bill Sellers
  • George “Frolic” Weymouth
  • Larry Williamson
  • Barbara Yeaman

People & Projects

  • Part of Brandywine Battlefield Preserved in Westtown Township

    Part of Brandywine Battlefield Preserved in Westtown Township

    Natural Lands announced on October 26, 2020 the permanent protection of nearly 10 acres of land along the fast-developing Route …Read More »
  • Unlikely Partners BalletX and Natural Lands Make Nature Center Stage

    Unlikely Partners BalletX and Natural Lands Make Nature Center Stage

    What does it look like when the regions oldest and largest land conservation organization and Philadelphia’s Premier Contemporary Ballet Company …Read More »
  • Heritage Conservancy Sets Pioneering Example of Partnership and Preservation with Manoff Market Gardens

    Heritage Conservancy Sets Pioneering Example of Partnership and Preservation with Manoff Market Gardens

    Freda R. Savana for Heritage Conservancy It could be said that Gary and Amy Manoff have farming in their blood. …Read More »
  • Berks Nature Closes on a Conservation Easement of Olivet Blue Mountain Camp

    Berks Nature Closes on a Conservation Easement of Olivet Blue Mountain Camp

    On September 30th, 2020, Berks Nature closed on a conservation easement project in the Schuylkill River Watershed, Kittatinny Ridge and …Read More »
  • Fifteen More Acres Protected Forever!

    Fifteen More Acres Protected Forever!

      Article originally published in September 2020 by Willistown Conservation Trust. The final conservation chapter to the 15-acre Stonehedge Farm …Read More »
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