  |
|
|
Department of Ecology News Release - September 28, 2001
01-171
OLYMPIA - Dave Palmer of Chehalis today was honored with the state's highest environmental award - the Environmental Excellence Award - for his many years of devotion to improving the health of the Chehalis River basin.
Palmer received the accolade from the Department of Ecology (Ecology) at a meeting of the Chehalis Basin Partnership. The partnership includes county, city, tribal and state-agency representatives and others who are working together on collaborative approaches in the Chehalis to reduce flooding and improve fisheries, recreation, water quality and water quantity.
"Dave has been a leader in promoting stewardship of the Chehalis River basin for many years," said Gordon White, who manages Ecology's shorelands program. "He has sought and created opportunities for sharing knowledge and ideas, bringing people together and getting work done on the ground to care for the Chehalis River."
Palmer is the founding member and former chairman of the Chehalis River Council, a citizen group active in improving the health of the upper Chehalis River. His long list of accomplishments and affiliations includes membership on the Grays Harbor Conservation District, the Chehalis Basin Fisheries Task Force, the Governor's Watershed Coordinating Council and the Chehalis Basin Education Consortium, a new group he also helped found.
He is former editor of "Drops of Water," an educational newspaper section that reaches 40,000 readers each month with news and educational items about the Chehalis watershed.
"Dave has made an enormous contribution to the cause of clean water in the Chehalis basin," said Margaret Rader, current chairwoman of the Chehalis River Council and citizen representative on the Chehalis Basin Partnership. "He has been tireless in his efforts to get out the message that the water we have now is all the water there is and it must be treated as a precious resource."
The upper and lower Chehalis and many of its tributaries are on the state's list of polluted waters. Ecology is working with the local community to identify pollution problems, some of which are caused by run-off, unfenced livestock and lack of shade along the river.
Contact: Sandy Howard, public information manager, 360-407-6239Ecology's Web site: http://www.ecy.wa.gov
Chehalis River Council Web site: http://www.crcwater.org/
Chehalis Basin Partnership Web site: http://www.crcwater.org/icbp.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
