Helen Engle (née Harris;[1] February 18, 1926 – March 11, 2019) was an American conservationist and activist, focusing on wildlife around Puget Sound in the northwest United States.[2] She co-founded various environmental organisations, including the Tahoma Audubon Society, the Washington Environmental council, Washington Wilderness Coalition, The Arboretum Foundation, Nisqually Land Trust, and Citizens for a Healthy Bay in Tacoma.[3][1] Engle had traveled the world, including to Antarctica, to observe birds.[4]
Helen Engle | |
|---|---|
| Born | Helen Harris February 18, 1926 Tacoma, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | March 11, 2019 (aged 93) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Puget Sound |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Conservation |
Biography edit
Engle was born in Tacoma on February 18, 1926, and grew up in Oakville where she lived on the family homestead.[1] She was studying nursing during World War II at the University of Puget Sound.[1] She married Stan Engle in 1947.[1] After the birth of her third child, she quit nursing and in the 1950s, she and Stan joined The Mountaineers.[1] Becoming familiar with hiking through The Mountaineers helped her see how the natural land around her was being lost to logging and pollution.[1] In 1969, after she and a friend, Thelma Gilmur, learned about a plan to develop Nisqually Delta, they organized the Tahoma Audubon Society.[1] Eventually, Engle would go on to serve on the board of the National Audubon Society.[5] Gilmur and Engle also created the Washington Environmental Council.[1] As part of the Tahoma Audubon Society, she and the group protested land development in 1976.[6] Gilmur, Bob Ramsey and Engle created Snake Lake Park, which was renamed the Tacoma Nature Center in 1979.[7] Engle and Gilmur also created China Lake Park.[1] In 1990, Engle led a sit-in at Congressman Norm Dicks' office because he supported logging salvage.[8]
Engle died in her home at University Place on March 11, 2019, due to renal failure.[1]
Awards edit
- Thomas O. Wimmer Environmental Excellent Award in 1991 by the Washington Ecological Commission.[2]
- Helen Engle Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 by the Cascade Land Conservatory.[9]
- Warren G. Magnuson Sound Legacy Award in 2011 by People for Puget Sound.[2]
- Received an honorary Doctor of Science degree in 2011 from the University of Puget Sound (with Thelma Gilmur).[2]
- Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 from the National Audubon Society[10]
- Posthumously awarded The Mountaineers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019 by The Mountaineers.[3]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sailor, Craig (March 13, 2019). "A Mighty Oak Has Fallen - Helen Engle, a Giant of Conservation, Has Died". News Tribune. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Fogel, Elise (February 2, 2012). "Engle, Helen (b. 1926)". History Link. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
- ^ a b "Remembering Mountaineer and Conservationist Helen Engle". The Mountaineers. March 14, 2019.
- ^ Davis, Don (May 27, 2009). "In Search of Birds". Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. Retrieved April 16, 2019 – via EBSCOhost.
- ^ Starbuck, Susan (2002). Hazel Wolf: Fighting the Establishment. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 185. ISBN 9780295803470.
- ^ "Forest Purchase Hit". The Daily News. February 27, 1976. Retrieved April 17, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "History". Metro Parks Tacoma. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
- ^ Arntz, Dee (2015). Extraordinary Women Conservationists of Washington: Mothers of Nature. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press. ISBN 9781625852830.
- ^ The News Tribune, December 3, 2004
- ^ "Audubon Washington Remembers Helen Engle". National Audubon Society March 13, 2019