Lehigh River

The Wildlands Conservancy this week announced the winners of the 2008 Friend of the Lehigh River Awards: Stephen Baier, Larry Rafes, the late Peter W. Nestor, and the County of Lehigh.

The Friend of the Lehigh River award is Wildlands Conservancy’s annual acknowledgement of individuals, groups, organizations, businesses, institutions, governmental bodies, and others who deserve to be recognized for their commitment to the Lehigh River.

“The preservation and protection of one of the Lehigh Valley’s most vital resources is a collaborative effort among many individuals, organizations, and government bodies. This award allows Wildlands Conservancy to applaud those who make a conscious effort to either protect the Lehigh River or educate others on its importance” says Christopher Kocher, president of Wildlands Conservancy.

The recipients will be honored on June 23, at 4:45 p.m. at Tri-boro Sportmans Club in Northampton, Pa during the 12th annual Lehigh River Sojourn

Stephen Baier’s dedication to environmental involvement started over 30 years ago as a student at Williamsport High School, and, since then, Baier has dedicated his life to environmental education.

Baier is currently a teacher at Emmaus High School and during his tenure has helped develop and implement an Advanced Placement Environmental Science course along with a CP Environmental Science course.

Baier is also the advisor of the Earthwatch Club, which has helped organize clean-ups, stream testing of the Little Lehigh, and recycling at Emmaus High School. He also has led winning teams from the high school at the annual Envirothon event held at Pool Wildlife Sanctuary.

Baier has also involved Emmaus High School as one of the four pilot schools in the Lehigh Valley with the Shad in Schools program, which raised and released American Shad in the river. Baier participates in numerous environmental-awareness activities outside of the classroom including his title as Vice President of Emmaus/Upper Milford Environmental Advisory Council.

Larry Rafes has been actively involved in educating and promoting awareness of the importance of the Lehigh River to numerous Lehigh Valley residents. Rafes has been an integral part of the Lehigh River Sojourn for the past twelve years.

For the past several years, Rafes served as Chairman of the Lehigh River Sojourn Committee and has helped grow the event since its start in 1997. During that time, he has exposed thousands of people to the Lehigh River.

For ten years, Rafes served on Whitehall Township’s Environmental Advisory Council where he assisted with a variety of programs including the implementation of Whitehall’s recycling program.

He also was the Chair of the Whitehall Parkway Committee for five years, guiding the Parkway’s development (a 110-acre passive recreational area). He has volunteered countless hours to a variety of organizations including the Pennsylvania Forest Stewardship Program and Wildlands Conservancy.

Peter W. Nestor was an integral part of connecting people to the Lehigh River and brought about awareness of this once degraded resource.

Nestor’s love for fishing started when he was in his twenties and grew after he returned from World War II and opened a fishing shop in Cementon. This small shop eventually moved to Whitehall and became Nestor’s Sporting Goods.

Nestor’s keen interest in fishing, not only for himself, but also as a form of recreation for people of all ages, drove him to promote the sport vigorously along with his business through special events and films he produced.

In the late sixties, after being convinced that the Lehigh River might again be able to support trout, he came up with the idea of stocking the river with tagged fish. Nestor sponsored a long-running contest to encourage fisherman to return the tags to the store for prizes - ranging from fishing tackle to a grand prize, of an all-inclusive fishing trip to an exclusive fly-in camp in Alaska.

Nestor’s Sporting Goods sponsored the stocking and the Lehigh River Trout contest for over five years. Eventually the stocking of trout in the Lehigh was taken over by the sportsmen’s clubs along the river, most notably the Tri-Boro Sportsman Club in Northampton.

Lehigh County. Despite the rapid growth of the region, the County of Lehigh has made great strides in protecting its natural treasures through fee acquisition, conservation easements, regional planning and stewardship of its existing natural and recreational areas.

Lehigh County has reached out and partnered with Wildlands Conservancy in helping protect the conservation easement on the Leister Farm and has been an integral part of the development of the Trexler Nature Preserve to provide additional recreational opportunities to the community.

Lehigh County has shown leadership and imagination in land acquisition, river-access improvement, community organization, and monetary investment in their pursuit of the protection of natural resources and the improvement of the quality of life in the county. The county has also assisted in acquisition of riverfront property and trail corridors along the river.

Lehigh County’s continuous support of the conservation community, their pro-active approach to land preservation, their strong support of comprehensive planning, their willingness to invest in the preservation of natural resources, and their work to help protect the conservation easement on the Leister farm and the protection of county owned recreational resources make them a worth recipient.

The Honorable Don Cunningham, Lehigh County Executive, and Dr. Percy Dougherty, Chairman of the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners, will be accepting the award on behalf of Lehigh County.

6/20/2008