awards
Awards
Steward of the Forest
The annual “Steward of the Forest” award is presented to those individuals whose actions have preserved and protected in an exemplary or heroic manner the public forests and the integrity of Creation for religious and spiritual reasons.
Annual award recipients:
2010
Dr. James Hansen > - NASA
2009
Dr. Calvin DeWitt > - Madison, Wisconsin
2008
Carlos Agnesi > - Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Fred Krueger - Santa Rosa, California
2007
Rabbi Warren Stone > - Kensington, Maryland
Thomas Herschelman > - Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin
2006
Allen Johnson > - Dunmore, West Virginia
2005
Rev. Peter Moore-Kochlacs > - San Diego, California
2004
Connie Hanson > - Pasadena, California
Fr. Jacek Orzechowski, OFM > - Durham, North Carolina
2003
Rep. Cynthia McKinney > - Atlanta, Georgia
2002
Hume Davenport > - Chattanooga, Tennessee
Ann Alexander > - Chicago, New York, New York
2001
Chief Michael Dombeck > - USFS, Washington, DC
Dr. Barak Gale > - Seattle, Washington
2000
Dr. Robert Marshall > - Charleston, West Virginia
Rev. Owen Owens > - West Chester, Pennsylvania
Julia “Butterfly” Hill > - Garberville, California
Jim Davidson > - Saint Paul, Minnesota
Dr. Robert Jonas > - Northampton, Massachusetts
1999
Chad Hanson > - Nevada City, CaliforniaVincent Rossi > - Oxford, United Kingdom
1999
Vincent Rossi - Forestville, California
In 1999 Vincent Rossi was tasked with the articulation of an ethic and commentary on what did not yet exist: a Christian theology of forests. Vincent previously authored important articles on Christian responsibility for creation while serving as the executive director of the British Religious Education and Environment Programme (REEP) in London while attending Oxford University. In tackling the challenge of a theology of forests, he developed the first article showing the connections between forests and Christian theology. He is perhaps the first modern author to recognize that whenever the word “tree” is used to represent Christ’s crucifixion in the Epistles, this represents a special kerygmatic moment in the growth of the church. For his ground-breaking research and article, Vincent Rossi was awarded a Steward of the Forest award at the RCFC’s first national Conference on Religion and the Forests which was held at Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia.
2000
Dr. Owen Owens - Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
During several visits to Washington, DC, Reverend Owens steered the RCFC through the political maze of the nation’s capitol. He saw the steps necessary for a new organization to acquire appointments with White House officials, the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, the Secretary of the Interior, the Office of the President of the World Bank, as well as major Congressional figures. His insight and astute diplomacy guided the public policy initiatives of the new religious coalition. For his statesmanship, leadership, and guidance, Owen’s esteemed service is acknowledged with a Year 2000 “Steward of the Forest” award. Reverend Dr. Owens has also served as chair of the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Working Group where he coined the term “eco-justice.” He has also demonstrated how one motivated clergyman can turn a large metropolitan area around when he took on the challenge of cleaning up the polluted streams of Western Pennsylvania around Philadelphia. After ten years of dialogue with the city plus townships, water companies, sewage treatment facilities, farmers and businesses, he led a model campaign of citizen action to clean up Metro Philadelphia’s rivers and streams so that they could once again support a healthy trout fishery. By profession Reverend Owen serves as director for the Environmental and Racial Justice department for the American Baptist Church’s Office of National Ministries, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
2000
Dr. Robert Marshall - Kenna, West Virginia
When the idea of mobilizing religion to conserve forests was still a new proposal, Bob Marshall was the first person to speak in favor of a religious articulation of an ethic of forest conservation. Throughout 1999, Bob Marshall repeatedly sacrificed his time and resources to protect our public forests from private commercial exploitation. He spoke at press conferences; he set up meetings with legislators; he organized local events; he relentlessly taught the importance of care for our public forests. For his initiative and service, a 2000 “Steward of the Forest” award is presented to Bob.
Dr. Marshall is also known in West Virginia for his successful battle with the state’s Department of Natural Resources. He successfully promoted a court challenge that required the State of WV and its agencies to protect its forests from timber companies. Together with his brother Joseph, he obtained enactment of West Virginia’s first public involvement law which allows citizen input on all forest policies.
2000
Julia “Butterfly” Hill - Garberville, CaliforniaIn December, 1997, Julia Hill ascended a 1,000-year-old redwood tree to protect it from logging by Pacific Lumber Company. For over two years she lived atop that tree, despite continued harassment and insults by loggers, inclemencies and extremities of weather, including frostbite and gale force winds, in order to save an ancient giant redwood from the logger’s chainsaw. In saving this tree which she named “Luna,” she demonstrated a love for God’s creation and a commitment to saving the last remnants of intact old growth forests.
For her sacrifice and courage in defending the need to save the world’s last remaining old growth forests, for her example of selfless service in upholding the need to preserve creation’s integrity, A Steward of the Forest award was presented to Julia in Berkeley, California at the first stop on her national book signing tour.
2000
Jim Davidson - St. Paul, Minnesota
During the RCFC’s first exploration of the religious and spiritual values of forests in 1998, Jim chaired a study committee in Redwood National Park which consisted of participants from many different faith traditions. Over several days his committee began early and worked long into the night to reach consensus on the theology of forest conservation. By relentlessly pressing his committee, by maintaining late nights and by working through all difficulties and challenges, Jim succeeded in leading his team to a clarion theological articulation of the religious values of forests.
Again, in late 1999, Jim set aside the duties of his busy import company and coordinated religious leaders in drafting an ethic of forest products consumption which encourages a reduction in the use of forest products. Jim serves as the CEO of Larand, International, a St. Paul, Minnesota import company. For his continuous service to the cause of forest protection, Jim was awarded a 2000 Steward of the Forest award.
2000
Dr. Robert Jonas, Ed.D. - Northampton, Massachusetts
In 1999 and again in 2000 Dr. Robert Jonas helped initiate the idea of Washington Week when he joined with many other religious leaders to speak to Congressional representatives about the importance of conserving and preserving America’s national forests. He participated in early dialogues with the World Bank and helped persuade Bank officials of the importance of setting aside grant funds to restore the degraded forests in Mexico. Through his efforts at the RCFC’s initial Washington Week programs, he was so moved by the experience that he committed one-third of his busy schedule as a psychologist to forest and land preservation issues. He turned his family’s private forest lands into a model of protection and preservation from commercial exploitation. As director of the Empty Bell Sanctuary in Watertown, Massachusetts (see: www.Emptybell.org), Robert is an author, professional psychotherapist, student of the shakuhachi (Japanese flute), photographer and forester. He also leads spiritual retreats and coordinates an interfaith dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism.
2001
Chief Michael Dombeck, U.S. Forest Service - Washington, DC; Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Michael Dombeck made history as the only person to lead America’s two largest land management agencies, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The New York Times has described him as “the most conservation-minded chief of the Forest Service since Gifford Pinchot.”
As Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Michael Dombeck stopped the logging of old growth and discussed the necessity of saving all remaining old growth trees on national forest lands. In this cause he introduced and supported the National Forest “Roadless Rule” which protected certain wild areas from logging of the old growth still remaining on national forest lands. While this act created a huge uproar among timber logging companies, it preserved a substantial portion of national forest lands. For his courageous stand in protecting and inventorying all remaining old growth forests on national forest land, the RCFC presented Michael Dombeck a 2001 Steward of the Forest award.
In his resignation letter several months later, Chief Dombeck wrote, “The values of old growth, as the public is coming to understand them and as we understand them scientifically, far exceed their value solely for timber....
“I think it would be a feather in the cap of industry to engage in a dialogue to end old-growth harvest and, at the same time, work with mills that are dependent on old growth to develop the technologies to harvest second growth and smaller-diameter material and, frankly, capitalize on the technology and the markets that are out there....
“The mark of a truly wealthy nation is not measured in acres harvested, rivers dammed, oil barrels filled, or mountaintops mined. Our maturity is most ably displayed by demonstrating mastery over ourselves. Our willingness to say, ‘Enough, these ancient forests cannot be improved through commodity timber production’ honors our nation far more than engineering an expensive road to harvest an old-growth stand.”
2001
Dr. Barak Gale, OD - Walnut Creek, California
Dr. Barak Gale left his professional career as an eye doctor to serve as a religious environmental leader and voice for forest protection for both the San Francisco Bay area and the national Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL). From 1997 until the present, Barak labored to save the old growth forests of the West Coast. He first organized Jewish synagogues to help preserve Headwaters Forest in northern California; he then worked within the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life to pass the first formal declarations calling all people of the Jewish faith to protect America’s national forests from logging. As a member of the RCFC steering committee, he has lectured, developed insightful articles and widely promoted the importance of saving what is left of America’s once-great forest legacy. An opthamologist by profession, he says that he can do more to heal the vision of America by working to save its remaining forests than by working to save its citizens’ eyesight.
In a citation delivered by Rabbi Warren Stone at the National Prayer Breakfast for Religion and the Forests at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, the following citation was read:
To Barak Gale, who bound by Jewish spiritual tradition has been an untiring advocate for protecting and preserving the life of the forest, the care of species and has been a true guardian of the earth.
To Barak, who left his own career for further dedication to serve as a religious environmental leader and voice for the San Francisco Bay area and national area Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life.
To Barak, who has given his moral voice to the Campaign for Forest Conservation helping to bring about wilderness and roadless acts for future generations in America.
To Barak Gale, whose Hebrew name means lighting and serves as a lightning rod to others, leading others in Tu B’Svat Seders honoring trees and the forests and ultimately honoring his Creator.
To Barak, a person a great inner faith and a dear friend and a model of righteousness to us all,
We honor with a 2001 Steward of the Forest Award
2002
Ann Alexander - Chicago, Illinois
In 1998 as the RCFC was struggling to articulate a religious theology and ethic of forestry, Ann Alexander, a New York City attorney and national chair of the evangelical Christian Environmental Council, headed a committee in Redwood National park which sought to define those appropriate actions which religion might provide in defense of America’s forests. Ann and her committee surprised the gathering by proposing an end to commercial logging on public lands. While this conclusion seemed radical, her arguments in support of this perspective were persuasive and she brought the entire gathering of religious representatives into support of this concept. In subsequent years this position has spread widely and has become by far the dominant perspective among religious organizations on forest policy. In gratitude for her pioneering efforts in articulating the rationale for an end to commercial logging on all public lands, the RCFC awarded Ann with a 2002 Steward of the Forest award.
2002
Hume Davenport - Chattanooga, Tennessee
Hume Davenport is a commercial pilot who usually runs an air taxi service, ferrying customers around the country. In 1996 he founded SouthWings to lend his skills to the protection of the southeast’s forest and natural environment and generally to provide aviation services to environmental causes. The passengers in his unique air service are community leaders – politicians, journalists, scientists, sometimes religious figures and occasionally celebrities people who can affect public policy and shape public opinion. "Our motto," declared Davenport, “is ‘Let's fly people who can make a difference.’” And make a difference he has. Even hard-bitten journalists sometimes weep when they see the effects of irresponsible logging and other examples of environmental devastation from the air. The result of his efforts is what might be called an environmental air force, as his SouthWings organization has flown representatives from more than 450 organizations over imperiled areas of the southeastern states, including a special gathering of the RCFC to return to the Cradle of Forestry and articulate a new vision of forestry for the 21st century. For this important service to forest conservation, Hume Davenport was awarded a 2002 Steward of the Forest award.
2003
Rep. Cynthia McKinney - Atlanta, Georgia
In 1998 Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia) together with Congressman Jim Leach (R-Iowa) introduced pioneering legislation that called for the end to commercial logging on the national forests. She worked hard for this bill in the face of criticism and intense opposition from the timber industry. Her proposed legislation collected over 100 co-sponsors in the 106th Congress and remains a model for legislation. Even though this bill did not pass, it set an important precedent by proposing the end of the use of our national forests for commercial logging. For courage and bravery in face of industry criticisms, and for her efforts to push this ground-breaking legislation, a Steward of the Forest award was presented to Cynthia McKinney inside the Canon House Office building.
2004
Connie Hanson - Pasadena, CA
Connie and Dave Hanson had no idea America's National Forests were being commercially logged and destroyed until their sons Kirk and Chad returned from hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from Mexico all the way to Canada. When Chad showed pictures of the clearcuts and massive devastation that they repeatedly encountered, they were shocked and spurred into action. Following Chad’s lead, the whole family joined the Sierra Club and became charter members of the Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation (where Connie remains a board member). In addition, she put forth a vigorous effort to obtain Congressional co-sponsors for the original National Forest Protection and Restoration Act, and served on the Sierra Club's national “End Commercial Logging on Public Lands” Campaign Committee.
Connie’s greatest contribution to environmental protection is the establishment of a prayer circle which she and daughter Amy began in 1997, called Christians Caring for Creation Prayer Network (CCCPN). Over many years it has now grown into a vigorous nationwide prayer network, enlisting hundreds of churches and individuals to pray for the protection and preservation of God's creation as well as the people and projects that are working for creation protection and restoration. Connie was presented with a 2004 Steward of the Forest award by Reverend Owen Owens during the National Prayer Breakfast for Forest Conservation at the Willard Hotel in Washington DC.
2004
Fr. Jacek Orzechowski, OFM - Durham, North Carolina
Fr. Jacek Orzecholwski is a Franciscan friar and priest who takes the example of Saint Francis seriously. As a seminarian he attended an early Washington Week program and after ordination continued with the work of the Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation. To engage his fellow Franciscans in awareness of the seriousness of forest conservation issues, he issued a challenge to his brothers to develop a formal declaration to alert Roman Catholics of the need to preserve and protect our remaining public forests.
The result was not only a strong statement declaring the responsibility of Franciscans to advocate for the protection of old growth and an end to commercial logging of the national forests, but also a call to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, and for Franciscan in particular to look to their tradition which challenges us to a healing and reconciliation with all creation. In his elaboration on this need, Fr. Jacek recalled that Saint Francis of Assisi forbade his followers to cut down a whole tree so that it might grow up again and that with great gladness he exhorted the forests to love God and serve Him joyfully. His awareness of the profound interconnectedness and kinship with the creation led St. Francis to experience all life as embraced by a loving God. With all this in mind, he successfully urged his Franciscans and all people to take up a discipline of using only recycled waste paper, to reduce consumption of wood products, to purchase paper that is either 100% recycled or made with post-consumer recycled paper, and to pray for wisdom concerning the value of forests.
His work has spread widely. The Catholic Bishops of Mexico, in part inspired by his reminder of the example of Jesus Christ, passed a strong statement on forest policy after reading of the Franciscan declaration on forest conservation. For this inspired work, Fr. Jacek was awarded a 2004 Steward of the Forest award.
2005
Rev. Peter Moore-Kochlacs - San Diego, California
The Reverend Peter Moore-Kochlacs pastors a United Methodist Church in the suburbs of San Diego, California. The United Methodist Church nationally receives donations from Collins Pine Company for clergy retirement and overseas missions of roughly $3 million annually. Nevertheless Rev. Peter proposed an official church statement that called for the end of commercial logging and the end to all cutting of old growth trees. To develop the credentials necessary to address forest conservation issues, he went back to college and obtained a forestry degree. During his studies he authored an influential paper, entitled "Valuing the National Forests: From a Religious, Environmental and Economic Perspective." This analysis of the impact of commercial logging on National Forests encouraged the passage of strong forest protection legislation by the Southern California district of the United Methodist Church. This forest protection resolution has since reverberated across and America and become a template for resolutions from other United Methodist Judicatories. Other church offices and religious groups have used this paper in an effort to bring an end to commercial logging in our U.S. National Forests and to understand the rationale for protecting America's remaining old growth forests. Reverend Peter was presented with a Steward of the Forest award inside the California State Capitol in Sacramento during a program to protect that state's last remaining old growth forests.
2006
Allen Johnson - Dunmore, West Virginia
After graduating from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1998 Allen Johnson assisted the Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation in developing its national statement on forest protection. His insight was instrumental in proposing justice for forest workers by inserting a call for the retraining of any forest worker who might be displaced by an end to commercial logging of the national forests. Under this stipulation any timber company employee would receive retraining education in forest restoration and repair.
Additionally Allen helped to produce a landmark statement on the spiritual values of the Lost Cove-Harper Creek wild area in Western North Carolina in conjunction with Appalachian Voices, a regional environmental organization. As a direct result of that statement and the reflections that followed Allen, together with Bob Marshall, founded Christians for the Mountains in 2005. This new organization works to end mountaintop removal as a method of coal extraction in his home state of West Virginia as well as addresses such other issues and measures as would protect the forests and wild lands of the Appalachian mountain region.
2007
Thomas Herschelman - Sheboygan Falls, WisconsinDuring the late 1950s and early 1960s environmentalists sought to identify the many values of wilderness, including their spiritual values. After the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964, this emphasis seemed to fade away. Tom Herschelman sought to change this. He worked to organize explorations to articulate the spiritual values in areas of the Upper Midwest including the Trap Hills in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the areas surrounding the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of Minnesota. He assisted in programs in other portions of the nation and to better prepare himself to address these matters he returned to college to earn a masters degree in theology. For his organizing labors, for his persistence in promoting respect, care and expansion for America’s wild lands, for his work within his local United Church of Christ congregation to develop a regional statement on forest protection, for his steady work in Washington to bring the spiritual values of wilderness and the national forests to the attention of legislators, Tom received a steward of the forest award at the prayer breakfast held in the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.
2007
Rabbi Warren Stone - Kensington, MD
Rabbi Warren Stone has been a strong advocate for Jewish involvement with the environment ever since his participation in the 1997 UN Climate Change Kyoto Protocol. As chair of the environmental committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis he persuaded his fellow rabbis to pass strong statements on the importance of protecting America's remaining public forests. Rabbi Stone emphasized that all people share a sacred obligation to the Creator, to Creation, and to future generations to safeguard and protect Earth's ecosystems. We are all to serve as protectors and defenders of God's magnificent creations, ensuring safe passage of all creatures from one era to the next by protecting their habitats. Rabbi Stone emphasized that in a world where matters of faith seem so frequently and so tragically to divide us, there is no issue that aligns us more deeply than our shared and sacred responsibility to this tiny planet. “Let us protect our forests and natural resources for generations to come, said Rabbi Stone in his acceptance remarks.
For his insight, persistence and leadership in the stewarding of God's good earth and its forests, Rabbi Warren Stone was awarded a "Steward of the Forest" award at a meeting in the Washington DC chapel of the National Council of Churches.
2008
Carlos Agnesi - Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
By day Carlos Agnesi was a businessman, running Lloyd’s of Mexico, his country’s largest commercial insurance company. By night and on weekends he promoted the care and protection of Mexico’s forests. As the national chairman of the environmental affairs committee for the Interreligious Council of Mexico (Consejo Intereligioso de Mexico), he began to provide for the ecological training of Mexico’s clergy in 1998 by raising the funds to transport key individuals to the Au Sable Institute in Michigan. Carlos subsequently convened Mexico’s first national religious festival for protection of the environment which he held with hundreds of officials from the Catholic Church outside of Mexico City on the Feast of Saint Francis. He next organized ecological training for the Mexican Conference of Catholic Bishops and as an unexpected consequence this resulted in their promulgation of a pastoral letter on the seriousness of forest conservation. The bishops declared that saving Mexico’s forests was “a life and death issue” for the campesinos of central Mexico. Carlos also helped to spearhead RCFC’s dialogues with The World Bank in Washington DC that resulted in grants and non-repayable loans for the restoration of Mexico’s forests in the states of Michoacan and Oaxaca (totalling US $91 million). Carlos also serves as an environmental consultant for Mexican President Felipe Calderon and personally pushed for the Pro-Arbol reforestation program that has planted over 250 million trees in 2007 and that will plant another 280 million trees during 2008, giving reforestation jobs to thousands of workers in poor rural communities. For his long service in the care and keeping of the Lord’s good forests, Carlos Agnesi received a "Steward of the Forest" award at the RCFC’s 2008 National Prayer Breakfast.
2009
Dr. Calvin DeWitt - Madison, Wisconsin
Cal DeWitt began his career as a professor of wetland ecology at the University of Wisconsin. In 1979 he saw the need for a Christian institute that would bridge environmental science with religious principles so that a clearer understanding of ethical responsibility to God for the care of creation might spread into the churches of America and beyond. Out of this inspiration, the Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies emerged as the first academic institution to promote the study and practice of Christian environmental concern.
While serving as the Au Sable Institute’s founding president, Cal lent his skills and enthusiasm to other organizations including the United Nation’s Environmental Programme where he served as a religious advisor and the World Council of Churches where he served as a science advisor. Cal DeWitt also traveled the nation and the world lecturing and advocating for religious responsibility for the environment and developing additional campuses and partners for The Au Sable Institute. In addition he served a variety of organizations, bringing his insights to numerous publications and sharing his eloquence with audiences around the world. For his tireless service, for building a network of academic and activist institutions that serve the cause of creation care, for his generosity and enthusiasm in serving God and creation care, we extend our thanks and gratitude to Calvin DeWitt as we extend to him this 2009 Steward of God’s Creation award.
2010
Dr. James Hansen - NASA
Dr. James Hansen serves as the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. As early as 1981, he and scientists from the Goddard Space Institute observed that rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide would lead to global warming sooner than previously predicted. While most climatologists presumed that warmer temperatures might become apparent by 2020, Hansen delivered startling testimony before a 1988 Senate committee and declared that the effects of global climate change were already being observed.
He subsequently predicted that it would be difficult to convince politicians and the public to respond in an appropriate manner. That insight proved accurate over two administrations as his insights were distorted and denied during both the Clinton and Bush Administrations. He continued to speak out, despite official efforts to censor and silence his observations on the seriousness of climate change.
Hansen has also been outspoken regarding the serious long term effects of continued burning of coal because of the greenhouse gases that result. In West Virginia he protested the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining. Even after he was arrested, he still emphasized to those present, “We have to phase out coal emissions in the next 20 years.”
As Dr. Hansen has pushed far beyond the boundaries of the conventional role of scientists, he has placed his reputation and convictions on the line, even though it has brought him scorn, criticism and arrest. For his outspokenness, for his courage and perseverance in defense of the common good and a stable climate into the future, we are proud to present Dr. Hansen with our 2010 Steward of God’s Creation award.
