WASHINGTON (February 1, 2008) — Herb Field, a veteran editorial writer and columnist for The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has been named the tenth winner of the Aldo Leopold Award for Distinguished Editorial Writing.

Herb Field, 2008 recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award for Distinguished Editorial Writing.

The Wilderness Society presents the award annually to an editorial writer who has produced editorials forcefully making the case for protecting America’s remaining wildlands. The honor is named for the author of A Sand County Almanac, one of the seminal works in the literature of conservation. Leopold, who wrote a number of influential books and essays, was a founder of The Wilderness Society in 1935.

“Herb Field has provided a strong voice for conservation for decades,” said Wilderness Society President William H. Meadows. “He is deeply committed to protecting America’s wilderness and wildlife and has written persuasively about the Arctic Refuge, forest roadless areas, wilderness, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and other subjects. 

“Aldo Leopold is probably most famous for his advocacy of a land ethic,” Meadows observed. “As set forth in A Sand County Almanac, the land ethic basically involves seeing the land and all that is tied to it not as something to be conquered but as something to be protected. Humans and the land are both part of a larger community. We don’t ‘own’ land any more than we ‘own’ other people, and once that comes to be understood, our species will treat the natural world with respect. For years, Herb Field has helped foster a land ethic among his readership.”

A U.S. Army veteran, Field signed on as a cub reporter with the Catskill Daily Mail in 1968. He worked his way up to editor of the paper, winning several awards at what was the second-smallest daily in New York. In 1977 he became an editorial writer and columnist at The Patriot-News, and has been there ever since, winning numerous state and national awards.

Field’s environmental advocacy runs from local and state efforts to preserve open space to keeping the Arctic Refuge free from oil development. After the 1979 nuclear accident at nearby Three Mile Island, he gave voice to local concerns about the partial meltdown of the reactor.  Field, 65, lives in rural Perry County with his wife, Ann. They have four children (Nina, Adrian, Jason, and Bradley) and six grandchildren.

He will receive his award February 6 at a Wilderness Society reception in the U.S. House of Representatives. Besides presenting Field with a plaque, The Wilderness Society is donating $1,000 in his name to the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy. Prior winners of the Leopold Award are Don MacGillis of The Boston Globe, Gary Moseman of The Great Falls Tribune, Tom Toles of The Washington Post, Penelope Purdy of The Denver Post, Ron Meador of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, John Diaz of the San Francisco Chronicle, Jay Bookman of the Atlanta Constitution, Robb Brady of the Idaho Falls Post-Register, and Martha Ezzard of the Atlanta Journal.

At the February 6 event, The Wilderness Society also will present the Ansel Adams Award to Congressman Norman Dicks (D-WA).

The Wilderness Society, which has more than 325,000 members and supporters, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of America’s wilderness and wildlife through public education, scientific and economic analysis, and advocacy. Its goal is to ensure that future generations can enjoy the clean air and water, beauty, wildlife, and opportunity for spiritual renewal provided by the pristine forests, rivers, deserts, and mountains owned by all Americans.