On the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, we remember the women who fought for the right to vote and those who have made good on their promise
Dear Readers,
Last October our daughter, Elaine, took Jurgen and I to the old Lorton Prison in Lorton, Virginia. It’s the place where in 1917 suffragists were jailed for picketing the White House demanding women be granted the right to vote.
In the prison (officially called the Occoquan Workhouse), the women went on a hunger strike. Guards, the National Park Service writes, “force-fed them by holding them down and shoving tubes up their noses or down their throats, pumping raw eggs into their bodies.” Some of the women were beaten by guards, who then refused to call for doctors.
The prison closed in the late 1990s. It’s now an art center for the Washington D.C. area; and it’s on the Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.
But in 1917, when women picketed in the streets for the right to vote, it was a dismal and violent place.
Elaine took us to one of the long, brick prison buildings. One cell is kept as a replica of that time. In it, mannequins show a guard force-feeding a woman tied to a chair.
August 18, 2020, marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing and protecting women’s constitutional right to vote. Since our visit to the Lorton Prison, I’ve thought a lot about those women and how grateful I am for their steadfast courage.
This has led me to think about the women dedicated to making our environment better. Over the last several weeks I asked you, our readers, to send me names of women now working or volunteering in the environmental field.
As is true for all such lists, this one represents a small percentage of entries that should or could be on it.
We are grateful for the work of every person on this list, and that of countless other women working to make our world a better place to live, now and for future generations.
Susan Hess, Publisher
COLETTE ADKINS
Center for Biological Diversity
Carnivore Conservation Director, Senior Attorney
JOCELYN AKINS
Cascade Carnivore Project, Founder
FRANCES AMBROSE FISHER
Friends of the Columbia Gorge
Lead Trust Associate
JENNIFER ANDERS
Northwest Power and Conservation, Montana
PAT ARNOLD
Friends of the White Salmon River
President
SARAH ARNOLD
Volunteer: Washington Native Plant Society,
University of Washington, Rare Care plant surveys
SUE BAKER
Environmental Education Association of Oregon
Volunteer: Gorge Ecology Outdoors
Reducing garden pesticides
LISA BERANEK
Trout Unlimited
Leadership Development Manager
STEFANIE BERGH
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
ERIN BLACK
U.S. Forest Service
Mt. Adams District
District Ranger
KAREN BLACK JENKINS
Mt. Adams Resource Stewards Board
Volunteer: White Salmon Tree City
Master Gardener
EMILE BLIVINS
Xerces Society
Northwest Ecological Research Institute
Endangered Species Conservation Biologist
Freshwater Mussel Lead
CHRISTIE BRADLEY
Columbia Riverkeeper
Volunteer: Master Gardner
KAT BRIGHAM
Umatilla Tribal Council Chair
BECKY BRUN
Sense of Place lectures Co-founder
JEANETTE BURKHARDT
Yakama Nation
Watershed Planner
ARLENE BURNS
City of Mosier, Oregon Mayor
Member: Climate Change Mayors
MARY BUSHMAN
Columbia Land Trust
East Cascades Oak Partnership Coordinator
STEPHANIE CABALLERO
U.S. Forest Service
Mt. Adams District, District Fish Biologist
SARAH CALLAGHAN
U.S. Forest Service
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
Botanist-Invasive Plant Coordinator
JANE CAMERO
Columbia Riverkeeper, Volunteer
YESENIA CASTRO
CultureSeed
Outdoor Leadership Ambassador
KATE CONLEY
Columbia Land Trust, Natural Area Manager
RACHEL COOK
National Council for Air & Stream Improvement
Senior Research Scientist, Large Ungulate Ecology
LINDSEY CORNELIUS
Columbia Land Trust
Natural Area Manager
KRISTIN CURRIN
Humble Root Farm & Nursery, Founder and Co-owner
JEAN CYPHER
Rowena Wildlife Clinic, Founder and Veterinarian
ALIX DANIELSEN
Hood River Soil & Water Conservation District
Restoration and Outreach Project Manager
EMILY JANE DAVIS
Oregon State University
Oregon Collaborative Forest Stewardship
ELLEN DONOGHUE
Columbia Gorge Climate Network, Advisory Board
LORETTA DUKE
U.S. Forest Service
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
Assistant Fire Management Officer
DONNA ENZ
Washington Department of Natural Resources,
Natural Area Preserves (park weed control)
Volunteer: University of Washington Rare Care surveys
LORRI EPSTEIN
Columbia Riverkeeper, Water Quality Director
JANET ESSLEY
Cultural Cartography of Migratory Bird’s Annual Journey
Artist
CHUTI FIEDLER
U.S. Forest Service
Mt. Hood National Forest
Fisheries & Wildlife Biologist
CAROLINA FISTER
CultureSeed, Executive Director
BETH FLAKE
Volunteer:
Land Steward: Friends of the Columbia Gorge,
Master Gardener, Master Naturalist
CATHY FLICK
Wildlife Biologist
Volunteer: Institute for Bird Populations-MAPS Program
Breeding Bird Survey USGS
SHEILA FORD RICHMOND
Volunteer: Willow Ponds Wildlife Habitat Area, Artist
LAUREN GOLDBERG
Columbia Riverkeeper
Legal and Program Director
ANN GROSS
Underwood Conservation District
Financial/Administrative Manager
KAREN HADLEY
Volunteer: Bat research, wildlife studies
ELAINE HARVEY
Yakama Nation Fisheries, Fisheries Biologist
MARLA HARVEY
Mid-Columbia Economic Development District
Energy Coordinator
HEATHER HENDRIXSON
Hood River Soil & Water Conservation District
District Manager
CATHY HIGGINS
New Buildings Institute, Research Director
AMBER JOHNSON
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
Habitat Biologist
CHERIE KEARNEY
Columbia Land Trust
Forest Conservation Director
ALEXIA KELLY
Electric Capital Management
Founder & CEO
SUE KUSCH
Washington Native Plant Society, President
AMANDA LAWRENCE
Sense of Place lectures, Co-founder
CARLY LEMON
Underwood Conservation District
Engineer in training
CALLEY LOVETT
Rowena Wildlife Clinic
JOY MARKGRAF
White Salmon Library
Volunteer: Wild About Nature lecture series
KATE MCBRIDE
City of Hood River, Mayor
Leadership on climate policies
MERRITT MITCHELL-WAJEEH
Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group
Lower Yakima River Project Manager
MARGARET NEUMAN
Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group
Executive Director
BONNIE NEW
Oregon League of Conservation Voters
Leadership politics and environment, Volunteer
KATIE PIERSON
Wasco County Soil & Water Conservation District
Conservation Liason/Farmbill Biologist
EMILY PLATT
U.S. Forest Service
Regional Office, Region 6
DEZ RAMIREZ
Columbia Land Trust, Engagement Manager
CultureSeed, President
MONICA REID
Kestral Consulting Verifiers, Founder
KALAMA REUTER
Native plant expert
BARBARA ROBINSON
Native plant expert
MARIA ROBLEZ
U.S. Forest Service
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Wildfire
MICHELINA ROTH
Gorge Sustainable Investing, Co-founder
ANDREA RUCHTY
U.S. Forest Service
Mt. Adams District, Botanist/Lichenologist
MIKO RUHLEN
Wildlife biologist, Bird expert
KATIE SANTINA
U.S. Forest Service
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
SUSAN SAUL
Washington DNR, Natural Area Preserves
Wildlife Biologist
Volunteer: University of Washington Rare Care surveys
Washington Trail Association
KRIS SCHAEDEL
Hood River Soil & Water Conservation District
Conservation Specialist
SILVAN SHAWE
Thrive Hood River, Community Engagement Director
SHEILA SLETMOE
Horizon Christian School, Teacher: Environmental projects
CINDY SOLIZ
Skamania County, Noxious Weed Control
Partnership Specialist
MARY LOU SOSCIA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Columbia River Coordinator
ELIZABETH STANEK
Suksdorfia Native Plant Society, Columbia Riverkeeper
Artist, teacher, Volunteer: Rare Care surveys
HEATHER STATEN
Thrive Hood River, Executive Director
LINDA STEIDER
Volunteer: Winter Raptor survey
Pika Survey, Burrowing Owl Project, Photographer
EMILY STEVENSON
Skamania County, Noxious Weed Control
Program Coordinator
BETS STOVER
The Nature Conservancy
Volunteer: Habitat restoration
CYNDI STRID
Columbia Gorge Climate Action Network
Artist, Teacher
KRISTA THIE HOYT
Twin Oaks Construction & Metalworks, Founder
Columbia Gorge Climate Action Network
Volunteer: Botanist, trail builder
CINDY THIEMAN
Hood River Soil & Water Conservation District
Watershed Coordinator
JAN THOMAS
Underwood Conservation District
Watershed Resource Technician
TOVA TILLINGHAST
Underwood Conservation District
District Manager
RENEE TKACH
Friends of the Columbia Gorge
Gorge Towns to Trails Project Manager
SUSAN VAN LEUVEN
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Klickitat Wildlife Area Manager
REBECCA WASSELL
Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group
Yakima Basin Program Director
CARLY WICKHEM
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Assistant Wildlife Biologist, District 9
SARA WOODS
Friends of the Columbia Gorge
Land Trust Stewardship Coordinator
KRYSTYNA WOLNIAKOWSKI
Columbia River Gorge Commission
Executive Director
CAROLYN WRIGHT
Volunteer: Washington Department of Natural Resources, Natural Area Plants
Master Gardener, University of Washington Rare Care surveys
