Richard Louv
Author

A former columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune and author of seven books, Richard Louv gained wide attention through his acclaimed book, Last Child in the Woods. The book reveals a direct connection between the absence of nature in the lives of today’s wired youth and its negative health and societal impacts, a phenomenon Louv terms “Nature-Deficit Disorder.” Click here for the press release.

The Rockefeller Family
Philanthropists

Dating from John D. Rockefeller Senior (1839-1937), the Rockefeller family has been a major force in conservation over the last century. Over the generations, it has created more than 20 national parks and open spaces, including the Cloisters, Acadia National Park, Forest Hill Park, the Nature Conservancy, and Grand Teton National Park, amongst many others.

Harriet Bullitt
Philanthropist and Environmentalist

Bullitt has devoted her life to preserving and protecting the environment. A former National Audubon Society board member, Bullitt is a strong force behind the Bullitt Foundation, which has funded efforts to save the ancient forests in the Pacific Northwest, rebuild salmon runs, protect and restore wetlands, and clean up nuclear waste.

Edward H. Harte
Philanthropist and former publisher of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times

At the height of his newspaper career, Harte was instrumental in promoting the establishment of Padre Island National Seashore in Texas and developed a reputation as a tireless advocate on behalf of Texas’s environment. A member of National Audubon Society for over three decades, Harte also served as board chair and several terms as a board member.

Mike Dombeck
Biologist, Zoologist

Mike Dombeck dedicated a quarter of a century to managing federal lands and natural resources. His leadership in the Bureau of Land Management and as former chief of the Forest Service impacted nearly 500 million acres. His legacy is one of steadfast stewardship for the land, and he is most noted for significant efforts toward watershed health and restoration, sustainable forest ecosystem management, sound forest roads and roadless area protection.

Chandler "Chan" Robbins
Biologist, "Father of Modern Ornithology"

Through a long and distinguished career as a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Chandler Robbins led the effort to monitor populations of nongame birds. He established the Breeding Bird Survey, a census project which has tracked population trends of birds throughout North America since the 1960s, providing essential data for conservation decisions. Data in the early years of the Survey helped document the effect of DDT; in later years, the survey revealed a decline in the rate of forest-dwelling songbirds in eastern North America.