Barbara Yeaman

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Barbara (Sturgeon) Yeaman (born December 16, 1924) is the founder[1][2] of Delaware Highlands Conservancy, an accredited[3] land trust serving Pike and Wayne counties, in Pennsylvania, and Sullivan and Delaware counties, in New York.

Early life and education

Yeaman was born on December 16, 1924 near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During World War II, she earned her pilot’s license to qualify for the Women Air Force Service Pilots.[4] Yeaman later earned a degree in Environmental Studies at the University of California at Irvine.

Career

In her early career, Yeaman worked as a Public Education Consultant and Water Conservation Coordinator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C.[5]

She moved to the Upper Delaware River region in the early 1980s and became involved with the Citizens Advisory Council that helped to establish the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River under the auspices of the National Park Service. This was during a time of intense controversy over private property rights in the region. Outbreaks of violence and arson occurred within the community during this process.[6][7][8]

This intense experience as well as a cancer diagnosis is what led Yeaman to seek new preservation tools, such as conservation easements, to protect land along the Upper Delaware River; and it is ultimately what sparked her to found the Delaware Highlands Conservancy. “I was waiting for someone else to do it. But that didn’t happen. I made a list of what was important to me, and starting a land trust was on the top of that list. I knew it could work,” Yeaman has said.[9]

Delaware Highlands Conservancy

Yeaman founded the conservancy in 1994 at the age of 70.[4] Since that time, the conservancy has worked with private landowners using a tool called a conservation easement to protect more than 14,000 acres[10] along the Upper Delaware River, which in 2010 was named Most Endangered River in the United States by American Rivers,[11] a national conservation organization based in Washington, DC. The headwaters of the Upper Delaware River provide drinking water for New York City and Philadelphia.[12]

Awards

Yeaman has been honored with the following awards for her land conservation efforts:

  • 2003 Environmental Partnership Award by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council[9]
  • 2007 Ralph W. Abele Conservation Heritage Award from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which is "the highest recognition the PFBC provides to a person who has distinguished themselves in the cause of conservation."[13][14]

References

  1. ^ "A Land Worth Protecting: The Barbara Yeaman Story". Vimeo. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  2. ^ "Eagle lookout on Route 97 renamed for Conservancy's founder". recordonline.com. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  3. ^ "Find A Land Trust Land Trust Alliance". findalandtrust.org. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  4. ^ a b "Barbara Yeaman: Legacy of a Lifetime - Conserveland". Conserveland. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  5. ^ Proceedings of the National Water Conservation Conference on Publicly Supplied Potable Water: April 14-15, 1981, Denver, CO. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards. 1982-01-01.
  6. ^ "History - Upper Delaware Council, Inc". Upper Delaware Council, Inc. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  7. ^ "1987 public letters". writing.tomrue.net. Retrieved 2016-03-13.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ Peterson, Iver (1988-02-28). "Builders Battle 'Takings' of Property". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  9. ^ a b "A Living Legacy: Delaware Highlands Conservancy founder Barbara Yeaman". Our Country Home. 9 March 2011. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  10. ^ "PA Environment Digest - Crisci Associates". www.paenvironmentdigest.com. Archived from the original on 2015-08-05. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  11. ^ writer), By Steve McConnell (Staff. "Upper Delaware River named most endangered river in the United States". thetimes-tribune.com. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  12. ^ Kauffman, Gerald J. (October 11, 2011). "Socioeconomic Value of the Delaware River Basin in DE, NJ, NY and PA" (PDF). State of New Jersey Official Website. Delaware River Basin Commission. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  13. ^ "Conservationist wins award". www.riverreporter.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  14. ^ "2007 Abele Award Winner - Barbara Yeaman". fishandboat.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
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