The Central Coast has a long history of conservation achievements, borne by the vision and determination of local residents who have dedicated their lives to protecting and defending our region’s wild landscapes. As ForestWatch continues their good work, we proudly present the Wilderness Legacy Award each year, honoring the tradition of our conservation heroes.

This year's honoree is Alasdair Coyne, a native of England and Scotland who began working to protect our region's wild places shortly after he first moved to Ojai in 1978. Alasdair was a founding board member of Keep Sespe Wild Committee, and in 1988, he became immediately engaged in seeking formal protection of Sespe Creek under the federal Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. In 1992, due in part to his efforts, the Condor Range and River Protection Act was signed into law, designating 31.5 miles of Sespe Creek from Howard Creek in Rose Valley down to near Devil's Gate north of Fillmore. Alasdair put on a suit and tie and headed to Washington D.C. three times to testify in support of protection of the entire Sespe as a Wild and Scenic River.

Since those busy early days, Keep Sespe Wild has worked, through its newsletter and other activities, to educate the public about endangered species in the watershed, such as the southern steelhead, the arroyo toad and the California condor. For the past twenty years, Alasdair has also organized long-distance hikes along Sespe Creek to manually eradicate tamarisk -- a highly-invasive plant -- from the watershed without the use of herbicides.

Alasdair has also been a national leader in efforts to repeal fees levied for access to Forest Service lands, and is currently working with a coalition of land conservation organizations -- including ForestWatch -- to protect the remainder of Sespe Creek as well as other wilderness-quality lands in the watershed. Alasdair was also the founding president of the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, for the first year or so. In the 1990s he led a successful campaign to defeat a corporate golf course project next to Rancho Matilija. The majority of that property recently became the Ventura River Preserve owned and managed by the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy.

Sespe Creek © Tim Hauf Photography

Previous Honorees

2009: Robert Easton, Jim Mills, and Fred Eissler
for their efforts in establishing the San Rafael Wilderness Area in 1968, the first wilderness area designated after passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964

2010: Dick Smith
a local journalist, author, photographer, and backcountry explorer who devoted his life to protecting our local backcountry and its iconic wildlife, the California Condor

2011: Sally Reid
who worked tirelessly to establish, expand and protect four wilderness areas in the Los Padres National Forest - the Dick Smith, Sespe, Chumash, Matilija, Machesna, San Rafael, and Ventana wildernesses.