Anne LaBastille

Anne LaBastille (November 20, 1935 – July 1, 2011)[1] was an American author and ecologist. She was the author of more than a dozen books, including Woodswoman, Beyond Black Bear Lake, Woodswoman III, Woodswoman IIII, Assignment:Wildlife, and Women of the Wilderness. She also wrote more than 150 popular articles and over 25 scientific papers. She received her doctorate degree in Wildlife Ecology from Cornell University in 1969. She also had an M.S. in Wildlife Management from Colorado State University (1961), and a B.S. in Conservation of Natural Resources from Cornell (1955).[2][3] She was honored by the World Wildlife Fund and the Explorers Club for her pioneering work in wildlife ecology both in the United States and in Guatemala. She was a contributing writer to the Sierra Club, and National Geographic as well as many other magazines. LaBastille became a licensed New York State Guide in the 1970s and offered guide services for backpacking and canoe trips into the Adirondacks. She gave wilderness workshops and lectures for over forty years and served on many conservation organizations in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, including 17 years on the Board of Commissioners of the Adirondack Park Agency. She traveled around the world and worked with many non-profit organizations to study and alleviate the destructive effects of acid rain and pollution on lakes and wildlife. LaBastille was also a noted wildlife photographer and her work appeared in many nature publications.

LaBastille was born in Montclair, New Jersey.[4] She died in Plattsburgh, New York.

Contents

Books

LaBastille's most popular books, the Woodswoman Series, were a series of four memoirs spanning four decades of life in the Adirondack Mountains and chronicled her personal relationship with wilderness. Inspired by Henry David Thoreau's Walden, Labastille purchased land on the edge of a mountain lake in the Adirondacks, and built a log cabin in 1965. At the beginning of her first book, Woodswoman (1976), she documented the process of obtaining materials and building the cabin with help from a pair of local carpenters. To avoid cutting old growth forest on the property, she purchased pre-cut logs from a local sawmill and also used store bought lumber to build the floor joists, roof, door frames and window frames. The remainder of Woodswoman then records her adventures living in this log cabin without modern comforts such as electricity, phone or running water, as well as her explorations of the wilderness of the Adirondacks. In her second book, Beyond Black Bear Lake (1987), she described how she built her smaller second cabin, Thoreau II, at a more remote area of her property in order to obtain a more Walden-like experience. This cabin was built with logs cut on site and with the help of a few friends. Construction of this cabin also incorporated many recycled items to keep her costs low. Both the first and second books also explored her friendships, romances, marriages, close bonds to her German Shepherd dogs, the ebb and flow of nature, and her conservation efforts.

Her latter two books in the series, Woodswoman III (1997) and Woodswoman IIII (2003) were published by LaBastille's own publishing company, West of the Wind Publications, Inc. In both volumes, LaBastille included stories illustrating the increasing difficulty of juggling a multifaceted career consisting of freelance writing, academic teaching, and conservation consulting work, with her ever present desire to retreat into the wilderness. In Woodswoman III, LaBastille reported how "logistically" it became more and more difficult to live full time at the remote cabin and keep up with her many endeavors. Therefore, she purchased a farmstead, which had modern conveniences such as phone and electricity, near the western shore of Lake Champlain, but still within the boundaries of the greater Adirondack Park.

Other books by Anne LaBastille included Mama Poc, her account of her efforts to save a species of Giant Grebe indigenous to Lake Atitlan in Guatemala from extinction, as well as The Wilderness World of Anne LaBastille and Jaguar Totem.

LaBastille also authored a series of Ranger Rick children's books published by the National Wildlife Federation: The Opossums (1973), White-Tailed Deer (1973), Wild Bobcats (1973), The Seal Family (1974).

Documerica Project

LaBastille was part of the DOCUMERICA Project developed by the Environmental Protection Agency. From 1971-77, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hired freelance photographers to photograph such things as geographic areas with environmental problems, EPA activities, and everyday outdoor images. The National Archives digitized part of this catalog. Links to 370 of LaBastille's photographs can be found in the Archival Research Catalog (ARC). LaBastille's photos were mostly taken in Upstate New York. They show a variety of subjects, including natural beauty and wildlife, environmental problems, urban sprawl, and everyday life in small towns.

Later life

In her later years, LaBastille began spending less and less time at her beloved mountain retreat. In Woodswoman IIII and in an interview to Cornell Alumni Magazine, LaBastille noted that rising global temperatures had transformed her lakeside property from a year-round home to a seasonal retreat. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, a thick sheet of ice formed on the lake, thus allowing snowshoeing across its surface from late November through late April. But in subsequent years warmer winter temperatures and February rain showers led to thinner lake ice, making trips across the lake treacherous and unpredictable. Without year-round neighbors or a phone in cases of emergency, LaBastille elected to stop spending winters at the cabin. She instead spent more time at her farmstead near Lake Champlain. Nevertheless, she wrote that she kept her mountain cabins as her place for "refuge, quiet, as a peaceful place to write and contemplate...".[5][6] In 2007, she was still living part-time in her lakeside cabin.[7] But in 2008, there were reports that LaBastille had become ill and that she was unable to care for herself at home. Her two cats and dog were put up for adoption.[8] John Davis, Conservation Director for the Adirondack Council, writing about his trip through the Adirondacks in 2008 confirmed, "Dear friend and Park champion for decades, Anne LaBastille is for first time in memory missing a summer at her beloved cabin north of here, due to health concerns.".[9]

Honors

Advisory Council and Consulting Positions

Publications

Books

Scientific Journal Articles

1958-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

Government Publications

Popular Articles and Essays on Wilderness and Ecology

External links

Nature photography

"Documerica Project (1971-1977)". Anne LaBastille, photographer. National Archives. 1977. http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/topics/environment/documerica-photographers.html. Retrieved December 21, 2010. 

References

  1. ^ Anne LaBastille, Advocate, Author and ‘Woodswoman’ of Adirondacks, Dies at 75. Dennis Hevesi. New York Times, New York City, N.Y., Jul 9, 2011. Retrieved 11 Dec 2011
  2. ^ : Guide to the Anne LaBastille Papers,1963-2000, Biographical Note, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library 2004, Retrieved December 20, 2010
  3. ^ : Cornell News: Anne Labastille, Press Release April 22, 1999, Retrieved December 20, 2010
  4. ^ Anne LaBastille, Advocate, Author and ‘Woodswoman’ of Adirondacks, Dies at 75. Dennis Hevesi. New York Times, New York City, N.Y., Jul 9, 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011
  5. ^ Woodswoman IIII LaBastille, A. (2003) West of the Wind, Westport, N.Y.
  6. ^ :A Walk in the Woods, Anne LaBastille's Adirondack Life Sharon Tragaskise, Cornell Alumni Magazine Online, Vol 107(1), July/Aug 2004. retrieved December 23, 2010
  7. ^ : Woodswoman still craves solitude. Michael Virtanen. Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y., December 17, 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2009
  8. ^ :Home Needed For Anne LaBastille's Cats John Warren, Adirondack Almanac, July 21, 2008, Retrieved July 29, 2009
  9. ^ :Bob Marshall Great Wilderness: Diary of a Trip, PrimalNature.org, September 2008 John David, Director of Conservation of the Adirondack Council, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2010
  10. ^ :The Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal, WWF Gold Medal, List of Past Recipients World Wildlife Fund, Panda.org. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  11. ^ :The Explorers Club, Citation of Merit, List of Recipients, Retrieved December 21, 2010
  12. ^ :Outstanding Alumni Awards: Past Recipients Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  13. ^ :Distinguished Alumni Awards: Past Recipients Warner College of Natural Resources Honor Alumnus/Alumna Award, Colorado State University, Fort Collins,CO. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  14. ^ :Tony Dean Outdoors, Conservation Issues Report on Outdoor Writers Association of America Annual Meeting in 2001 and Jade of Chiefs Award, Tony Dean's Blog, 2001. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  15. ^ : Honorary Degree Recipients and Commencement Themes, 2010, Ripon College, Ripon, WI. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  16. ^ :SUNY Honorary Degrees University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
  17. ^ :Awards of The Society of Woman Geographers and Their Recipients ISWG.org, Washington, D.C. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
  18. ^ : Ecologist and nature writer Anne LaBastille named to Basler Chair, East Tennessee State University Press Release August 7, 2001, Retrieved December 20, 2010
  19. ^ :Best Adirondack books of 2007 honored Adirondack Center for Writing’s third annual Adirondack Literary Award winners, Adirondack Daily Enterprise Newspaper article written June 18, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
  20. ^ : Alumni Notes Fall 2008, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Award presented at the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks, Tupper Lake, N.Y. in August 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2010
  21. ^ :Women's History Month The National Women's History Project, Santa Rosa, CA. Retrieved December 29, 2010
  22. ^ : Biographical entry for Dr. Anne LaBastille on P. 177 of ‘’World Who is Who and Does What in Environment and Conservation’’ (1997) Edited by Polunin, N., Compiled by Curme, L.M. First Published in United Kingdom by Earthscan Publications Limited in Collaboration with the Foundation for Environmental Conservation, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997. ISBN 1-85383-377-0
  23. ^ :15th Session of the General Assembly of IUCN and 15th IUCN Technical Meeting, Christchurch, New Zealand, October 11-23, 1981 Proceedings published 1983, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland
  24. ^ : OTA Annual Report to the Congress for 1982 U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Washington, D.C., March 1983, Retrieved December 22, 2010
  25. ^ : ‘’Acid Rain and the Transported Air Pollutants: Implications for Public Policy’’ U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, OTA-O-204, Washington, D.C., June 1984. Retrieved December 22, 2010
  26. ^ : ‘’Final Report on the Democratic and Electoral Processes Project’’ U.S. Agency for International Development/El Salvador, San Salvador, El Salvador], prepared by Creative Associates International, Inc, Washington, D.C. Retrieved December 22, 2010
  27. ^ :The View from Listening Point, Newsletter Vol 9, No.2, Listening Point Foundation, Ely, Minnesota. Retrieved December 26, 2010
  28. ^ : ‘Island Resources Foundation List of Program Associates, Island Resources Foundation, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Retrieved December 22, 2010
  29. ^ :‘’Directory of Women in International Resources’’ Editors Stock, M., Force, J.E., Ehrenreich, D. Sponsored by The Agency for International Development (USAID), Women in Development (WIN) and the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Science, University of Idaho. Published by University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, 1983. Retrieved December 22, 2010