Shasta Environmental Alliance has selected five excellent and deserving individuals for their work in protecting our natural environment in the Sacramento River Watershed. Shasta Environmental Alliance First Annual Environmental Champion Awards presentation held on November 22 drew about 100 people to honor Peggy Rebol, Doug Craig, Larry Jordan, Julie Kierstead and Rize Oliveira for their work in protecting our environment. As this was our first event, we were happy with the turnout in which several people thought there were 120 or more people. We kept it simple, just buying finger foods, coffee, lemonade and tea. Essentially no waste except for unbleached brown napkins and the catered food that came in plastic, which was recycled.
Our honorees:
Peggy Rebol, Doug Craig and Larry Jordan: General Environmental Awards
Julie Kierstead Nelson: Governmental agency environmentalist Award
Rize Oliveira: High School Student Award
Peggy Rebol was selected on the basis of her work on many environmental issues, especially for helping establish, organize and run the Whole Earth and Watershed Festival for the last 14 years as well as her work educating children about our environment. She is also an active participant in North State Climate Action among many other activities.
Doug Craig was selected for his many years educating the public about the threat of climate change through many articles, letters to the editor and producing radio programs interviewing many experts in the field. He has also organized public forums, films and spoken to many groups about the threats of climate change. Currently he is working with North State Climate Action and produces a radio program on KKRN.
Larry Jordan has worked with Wintu Audubon to protect our native birds and to educate the public about their importance in our environment. He has also established a population of burrowing owls at Tuscan Preserve, in Butte County, with the help of volunteers he organized. He is webmaster of the Wintu Audubon website, leads many bird walks, set up many monitored songbird nest boxes and gives talks on birds using his excellent photographs of birds he has taken over the years.
Julie Kierstead Nelson is a U.S.F.S. Botanist, a specialist in the sub-alpine areas in and around Mt. Shasta, Mt. Eddy and the Trinity Alps. She is a coauthor of two books on native plants in our area. She has also been instrumental in discovering and/or describing five rare plants in our area including: Shasta maidenhair fern, Shasta fawn lily, Shasta huckleberry, The Eddy’s stonecrop and her latest, a recently discovered and as yet officially unnamed species of Phacelia.
Rize Oliviera is the winner of our high school student category. Recently Rize produced and hosted a Small World Radio show to coincide with the UN Climate Action Summit (September 2019). The show is about Student Climate Activists. Rize is currently one of the four hosts of theone-minute Public Service Announcement EXTINCTION DIARIES which is archived on Pacifica radio and immediately began airing on 5 stations. She is an A student at Foothill High School and participated in track at the Junior Olympics.
Each awardee was given a framed award from SEA and then Mayor Julie Winter, who was unable to attend, arranged for and signed certificates of accomplishments from the City of Redding for all of those honored. Kim Niemer, Director of Redding Community Services, introduced Peggy Rebol and presented her with the Mayor’s award as Kim has worked with Peggy on the Whole Earth and Watershed Festival over many years.
Rize Oliveira was unable to attend the ceremony, but pre-recorded her acceptance speech.
This was a fun event and we received many words of appreciation for organizing it and how much people enjoyed the event. We collected $600 in donations with about $450 in expenses.