Richard Bartlett's Speech honoring Gary Swick, the 2008 Bartlett Award winner.

To me, this was the essence of Leopold’s Land Ethic, and in one powerful sentence, expresses the core of what our 2008 Environmental Education Award winner, Gary Swick of Dundee-Crown High School, Carpentersville, Illinois, has accomplished in his incredible 32 years of teaching environmental science.

It’s a good thing, too, that Leopold wrote this line, because otherwise it would take me approximately ten hours to otherwise summarize Gary’s extraordinary achievements, as detailed in the raft of nomination letters received at the National Environmental Education Foundation.  As one lengthy letter stated, he does not “have just one program, he has a movement,” which has resulted in the (environmental) “education of tens of thousands.”

It would be my recommendation that Gary publish his own book, detailing his hundreds of  regional, state and national award-winning initiatives. His title is self evident—“A Kane County Almanac!”  Maybe inspired by Leopold, he even started a student tree planting program 32 year ago: today the now wooded hill stabilizes erosion, and some students plant specimen trees next to where their parents planted! I wouldn’t bet against a “Shack” structure tucked away in those woods!

I’m serious, Gary about the book, because your practical, on the ground  (or water as the case may be) “Leave no child inside” methodologies and pragmatic accomplishments would serve as an inspirational guide to thousands of other EE teachers, and maybe even help them explain and justify their programmatic requests to sometimes reluctant school boards and administrators. Your community camps for at risk students alone, and other work with these students, deserves wide application across our nation.  You might even consider forming an Earth Corps, which would reach beyond our country to the world. Maybe this should be called the “Swick Corps?”

The author Tom Friedman quotes Amory Lovins in his  recent,  provocative book, Hot Flat and Crowded, responding to the question “ What is the single most important thing an environmentalist can do today?” Amory answered with two words—“Pay attention.”

Friedman goes on to say, “At the end of the day, no amount of investing, no amount of clean electrons, no amount of energy efficiency will save the natural world if we are not paying attention to it—if we are not paying attention to all the things that nature gives us for free—clean air, clean water, breathtaking vistas, mountains for skiing, rivers for fishing, oceans for sailing, sunsets for poets  and landscapes for painters…Just because we can’t sell shares in nature doesn’t mean it has no value.”

More than most, Gary understands the esthetic values of nature, as he was a whitewater raft guide in Wyoming for 15 years, and has found stoneflies in streams as far away as Kazakhstan. He pays attention. With a degree in  Natural Resource Management, Gary thought he would become a field scientist. His minor in Outdoor Education drew him into a vision of being Director of a School Forest. However, upon graduation, fate drew him back to suburban Chicago and into a classroom setting---and as they say the rest has made environmental history! And, it would appear that a classroom “setting” in his case most often means some neat place outside!

Gary has taught the value of ecological services, and how to conserve them, through his 3Rs plus One, Recycling, Restoration, Rivers and Renewable energy educational portfolios.

Professionally, Gary has been recognized from local to national levels for his school programs and his work as an individual teacher. Last year, he was honored as Chicagoland’s Outstanding Environmental Science Teacher and crowned Illinois Iron Science Teacher at the Illinois Science Teachers Convention.

As a community member, he was named “Conservationist of the Year.” He is a Citizen Scientist for Riverwatch and Forestwatch, Natural Area Steward and has presented at many state and national conferences.  He is a Director of the Friends of the Fox River Watershed Monitoring Network, which monitors water quality at 108 sites—his students right there beside him learning by doing. He has developed a reputation for bringing his classroom into the local community’s environment, and his students manage solid waste, monitor water quality, and restore natural areas. Those field initiatives often involve younger students and at risk students, but always involve public education and environmental action experiences.

Before presenting the award to Gary, I can’t resist  one more Leopold quote: “Health is the capacity of the land for self-renewal. Conservation is our effort to understand and preserve this capacity.” Without Leopold’s Land Ethic, our lands and waters will lose this vital capacity, and we will have lost that “that is priceless but has no price tag." Without Gary, we would have far fewer committed conservationists who understand and who help us preserve this capacity.

Gary, please join me on stage to receive this award. From what I read, this will barely cover your travel expenses for a year, but knowing what I know about you now, that can be a very effective and productive year for conservation ethics!