Lorna Smith awarded the 2022 Eleanor Stopps Environmental Leadership Award

Port Townsend Marine Science Center honors longtime environmental activist

Lorna Smith, recipient of the 2022 Eleanor Stopps Environmental Leadership Award

The Port Townsend Marine Science Center has selected Lorna Smith as the recipient of the 2022 Eleanor Stopps Environmental Leadership Award. The award was announced at the annual PTMSC Stewardship Breakfast Fundraiser, held at Fort Worden State Park on Oct. 5.

Lorna (Campion) Smith started her environmental career in 1978 as a volunteer for Seattle Audubon, when she became involved in the dam proposed for the Skagit River system at Copper Creek. Her analysis revealed the environmental impacts the dam would inflict on the river, the salmon and the bald eagles that rely on them. She recommended that Seattle Audubon register its opposition to the project. The ensuing groundswell of opposition eventually halted the dam’s construction.

Smith went on to become the conservation chair and a vice president for the organization. In her role, one effort in particular affected the Olympic Peninsula and its citizens: the creation of a wildlife refuge for Protection Island, home to 70% of the seabirds that nest in Washington state's inland waters.

Smith closely coordinated with Eleanor Stopps and together the formidable duo established an extensive grassroots campaign. Working with with U.S. Reps. Mike Lowry and Don Bonker, a bill was drafted to establish the Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge. In time, the entire Washington delegation supported the legislation and ultimately the effort proved successful, resulting in one of the few federally protected marine refuges established by an Act of Congress at that time.

Smith also became involved in the campaign to halt construction of the Northern Tier Pipeline involving a proposed oil export terminal in Port Angeles. The plan called for an underwater pipeline spanning the Salish Sea (including up and over Whidbey Island) to a terminus on the mainland. The pipeline’s safety technology was called into question, as well as the environmental review process.

Smith helped mobilize an army of like-minded organizations and letter writers from the Olympic Peninsula and the greater Seattle area, and persistent grassroots opposition grew. A lawsuit to halt the pipeline on environmental grounds was undertaken and eventually the project was abandoned.

Smith's environmental and political career has spanned decades. She has served as the executive director of the nonprofit Western Wildlife Outreach, as a board member of the Washington Environmental Council and the Olympic Forest Coalition, and as a volunteer for Jefferson Land Trust and Jefferson County Conservation Futures Committee. She was appointed by Governor Inslee to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission in 2020 and is currently a member of the Jefferson County Planning Commission.

“It is the highest honor I can think of, to be the recipient of the Eleanor Stopps Environmental Leadership Award,” Smith said. “Knowing Eleanor and working so closely with her makes the award particularly meaningful to me. We were a great team and achieved what many thought would never happen, when Congress decreed Protection Island a National Wildlife Refuge.

“Eleanor was, and remains my hero for her tirelessness, cheerfulness and unshakeable faith in achieving permanent protection for the tens of thousands of seabirds who nest on Protection Island,” Smith said.

About the Eleanor Stopps Environmental Leadership Award

Eleanor Stopps

From the 1960s through the 1990s, Eleanor Stopps was an active member of the Pacific Northwest conservation community. She founded the Admiralty Audubon Chapter and was a primary driver behind the establishment of the Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge in 1982. Today it is a critical habitat link in the preservation of the entire Salish Sea ecosystem, providing breeding grounds for pigeon guillemots and rhinoceros auklets, bald eagles and peregrine falcons, harbor seals and elephant seals, and myriad other species.

Stopps died in April 2012 at the age of 92.

The leadership award created in her memory is presented annually to a citizen(s) of the North Olympic Peninsula (Jefferson and Clallam counties) who has led a successful resource conservation effort that benefits the North Olympic Peninsula and its residents directly; acted as a community catalyst for programs, initiatives or ventures that demonstrate a commitment to the future of the earth and its biodiversity; become a model for future leaders in business and education; or has been an exemplary citizen or policy maker who has implemented decisions that, though they may entail risks, have helped our communities take the next step towards environmental sustainability.

The PTMSC has sponsored this annual award since 2009.