Glacier National Park Stewardship Award
The North Fork Preservation Association (NFPA) has chosen Michael Jamison as this year’s Glacier National Park Stewardship Award recipient.
In announcing the award, Flannery Coats Freund, President of NFPA, said, “Michael Jamison is a passionate, timeless, bold, thoughtful and fearless leader in the world of conservation in a universal sense. He literally knows no boundaries in his efforts. The North Fork wouldn’t be what it is today without him.”
Michael was instrumental in the passage of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act of
- He helped direct conservation planning and funding throughout the Crown of the
Continent. He has worked with park superintendents on a whole host of park issues, on
both sides of the Continental Divide and the border.
He has forged deep relationships with tribal leaders in Blackfeet country and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, whose traditional territory we call home.
“If ever there was someone as yet unsung for their efforts, intelligence, passion, and results for protecting Glacier Park and the North Fork of the Flathead River that person would be Michael,” said Dave Hadden, former colleague and previous award recipient.
Jamison shows up again and again. He thinks creatively. He talks directly with the decision-makers. He thinks several steps ahead of everybody, including those who stand in the way of protecting this place. He brings people along with gentle and assured encouragement.
“I've never seen him get it wrong,” says Hadden. “We're all extremely grateful that his radiance has shown on Glacier and the North Fork,”
“He’s definitely a big-picture thinker. If he can’t find the solution to a problem, his go-to
answer is to make it bigger,” said Sarah Lundstrom, Jamison’s co-worker at NPCA. “His creativity in using leverage is brilliant. He has brought international attention to small regional issues and has moved mountains of problems into a potential solution. He's committed to the Crown — body, mind and spirit. And that commitment runs to the people of the Crown as well.”
Michael Jamison is a longtime Montana resident. He has a graduate degree in
journalism from University of Montana and worked for years at the Pulitzer Prize-winning
Hungry Horse News and as a reporter for the Missoulian for 14 years. He reported on the Glacier National Park region, providing an emphasis on natural resource/policy and science
reporting.
His career contribution to writing about environmental and conservation history and the interaction between people and landscapes has earned him numerous national awards. He is currently the Campaign Director for National Parks Conservation Association’s Crown of the Continent initiative.
The Glacier National Park Stewardship Award is presented by the North Fork
Preservation Association every couple of years to recognize the work of local
conservationists and their commitment to the Crown of the Continent. The award was
founded by Headwaters Montana and was formerly known as The Jack Potter
Stewardship Award.
Former recipients include: Lisa Bates (GNP), Tim Manley (FWP),
Brad Blickhan (GNP), and Dave Hadden (Headwaters MT). If you know someone who
deserves this recognition please let NFPA know by visiting www.gravel.org or by
contacting any of our Board members listed on the website.