Recently the Wilderness Society announced that Brad Smith, our very own map maker, will receive the 2010 “Murie Award.”
Presented annually, the Murie award recognizes a “front-line federal or state land management employee—or any young environmentalists, early in their careers, especially those who are innovative and have taken risks to promote the principles of natural resource conservation.”
TWS president Bill Meadows believes that Brad “fits the description perfectly” and hopes that “this award will encourage him to reach great heights in the wilderness movement.”
As Idaho Conservation League’s conservation associate for public lands, Brad has been very much on the front line, as well as in the trenches, and charging the crest – always confronting the challanges that face public lands in Idaho. For that alone, Brad would deserve the Murie award.
The TWS staffer who nominated Brad wrote that he is “level-headed, passionate, highly effective, and tenacious in his advocacy. He has a kind demeanor and is easy to work with. Besides being very creative, he never gets sidetracked but stays focused on thoroughly accomplishing those tactics/strategies that will realize an on-the-ground win for protecting wilderness in Idaho.”
But we also know Brad as the cartographer who volunteered his spare time to create the Scotchman Peaks Hiking Map! Growing up in Coeur d’Alene, Brad has a fondness and fascination for North Idaho. Brad’s passion for preserving wild lands keeps him going after the workday ends. We are proud to count on him as a volunteer to lead hikes and help us analyze public policy as it relates to the Scotchmans. We believe that Brad’s work as a volunteer represents the higher calling symbolized by the Murie Award.
And, we think that Olaus and Margaret (Murie) would join us in congratulaitng Brad Smith!
