This award is named in memory of the civic leader and president of Curtice-Burns Foods, who served for many years as a CEI Board member, treasurer and vice-president and as the first chair of CEI’s Environmental Quality Award Committee.
Each year the Hugh E. Cumming Environmental Quality Award is presented to a deserving individual, group or organization that has made a significant contribution to environmental protection, improvement or education in the Rochester-Genesee-Finger Lakes region.
Over the last few years a number of worthy citizens and organizations have been honored with the Hugh E. Cumming award.
EDWARD DOHERTY was honored with the 2006 Hugh E. Cumming Environmental Quality Award in recognition of lifetime achievement dedicated to improving environmental quality in the City of Rochester, Monroe County and the counties that border the City watershed around Hemlock and Canadice Lakes.
As Commissioner of Environmental Services for the City of Rochester for nearly 20 years, he exemplified what it means to be a public servant. Among his many successful initiatives, he provided leadership for remediation and re-utilization of brownfields to enhance economic development of the city; protection of drinking water sources through stewardship of the city-owned Canadice and Hemlock Lake watersheds; initiation of the first curbside recycling program in the county, saving energy, landfill space, and the need for new raw materials; and the development and maintenance of trails to provide public access for city residents to the waterfront connecting the Genesee River, Erie Canal and Lake Ontario.
GEORGE THOMAS -
Beginning in 1997, George Thomas, a professional engineer, provided the leadership for the first local America Recycles Day, a consortium of agencies, schools, and private businesses which focused their efforts to reflect the national campaign to divert materials from the waste stream for reuse in new products. The work of the committee has now expanded to cover a generous portion of the counties in western New York. Last year over 10,000 recycling pledge cards were collected, a clear measure of the increased awareness about recycling that benefits us all.
ANDREA HYATT -
As Director of the Health and Science Department of Rush-Henrietta High School, Andrea Hyatt has developed a unique community partnership with Henrietta Pride and other community resources to develop a wetlands preservation curriculum and program that involves students in a community related project. The students will learn to understand the benefits of wetlands and take an active role in protecting and restoring wetland habitats. Andrea has provided the vision and leadership to solicit in-kind commitments and funding to support the project which will be a step toward the town’s goal to become a sustainable community.
ROCHESTER’S CORNERSTONE GROUP LTD. - A wetlands mitigation bank was constructed in the Town of Chili by a private company, Rochester’s Cornerstone Group, to provide future developers an option for meeting their state and federal wetland permitting requirements when development plans unavoidably impact wetlands. The wetland mitigation bank is the first of its kind in New York State and serves to create, restore or enhance wetlands, acting as a “bank” of credits for future wetland impacts.
the 2005 Award went to ALISON CLARK for her vision, energy, passion and heart that for over 35 years has provided leadership for bio-regional sustainable agriculture and ecologically sound regional land use and development. Alison Clark is the co-founder of Rochester Roots, Genesee Valley Community Supported Agriculture, Center for Sustainable Living, New York State Agriculture Working Group and New York State Small Scale Food Processors Association. She is also an active member of the Federation of Monroe County Environmentalists and the Rochester Landscape Technicians Program. She is a legend in the environmental and social justice communities, as her work has ranged from teaching inner-city children about gardening and food systems, to organizing community supported agriculture projects and small-scale organic farming, to forging coalitions among state wide organizations in support of locally grown sustainable agriculture and food systems.
The 2004 Award went to FLORENCE MULLER; NATURE CONSERVANCY CENTRAL AND WESTERN
NY CHAPTER; FINGER LAKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT; NYS DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION, REGION 8.
Nominated for their collaborative efforts to protect the southern
Honeoye Lake watershed, this project demonstrates how an individual, a
private land conservation organization, an education institution, and a
state agency can successfully work together over several years to create
one of the most unique environmental, educational and recreational
resources in the Rochester-Genesee-Finger Lakes region. The donation,
acquisition, and protection of this 2,300 acre jewel began in 1998 and
continues today. Through fee purchase and conservation easements
which prevent development or subdivision of the property, the Muller
Conservation Field Station, operated by Finger Lakes Community
College, is a focal point for environmental education and the Camp
Muller Boy Scout Camp tradition will continue under stewardship of the
Nature Conservancy. The remaining 2100 acres are now held and
managed by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and
include fields, wetlands, forested slopes and wildlife habitat that will be
managed to protect water quality and ecosystem values and services.
The 2003 Award winner BOB BECHTOLD is the president of Harbec Plastics in Ontario, New York, a manufacturer of customized plastic parts for industrial clients. Bob has made his personal commitment to environmental protection into an economically feasible, steadily growing green enterprise. A wind turbine produces 25% of the company’s electrical needs while eliminating the annual addition of 375 tons of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. 80% of the vehicle fleet is electric, hybrid, or alternate fuel powered. A recently built “green warehouse” follows national standards for sustainable building and architecture. Scrap plastic materials are re-used or re-processed into plastic lumber and other products which benefit the environment. Harbec Plastics applies co-generation (combined heat and power) to further reduce energy costs by use of compressed natural gas to run microturbine generators to produce electricity. The engine exhaust provides heat and air conditioning. Perhaps most important, Bechtold works hard to educate others about the eco-economic advantages of clean energy. His business is a model of sustainable development in practice, demonstrating that good environmental management makes good economic sense.
The 2002 Award went to FINGER LAKES-LAKE ONTARIO WATERSHED PROTECTION ALLIANCE (FL-LOWPA). FL-LOWPA is an organization of representatives of agencies in 25 counties comprising the Lake Ontario Basin which individually have responsibility for coordination and implementatioin of projects to protect the Lake Basin’s environment. This alliance of counties to coordinate watershed management efforts across jurisdictional boundaries is unique among local governmental agencies in New York State and perhaps the nation. FL-LOWPA projects are supported by funds appropriated from the state’s Environmental Protection Fund; however all county projects originate and are implemented by agencies along priorities identified locally and with local support. Because of the cooperative arrangement embedded in the alliance of counties, funding from state and federal sources to address local needs has been obtained. The alliance has developed relationships among the counties for which there is no other mechanism to address environmental protection and watershed management across local jurisdictions. Few of these projects and programs, e.g., erosion or nutrient control, surveying and monitoring of lakes and streams, attention to invasive species, and assessments of progress, could have been developed without the collaborative efforts of the member county agencies. Nor would local resources in most counties be adequate to support or develop these programs which often require multi-year efforts. FL-LOWPA is making the most effective use of public funds to advance Basin-wide management and protect water resources across the region.