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, and died at a nursing home in Plattsburgh, New York.^[1] Her full name was Mariette Anne LaBastille. There is some dispute about her date of birth, which is also listed as Nov 23. 1933.^[4] She was married for several years to C.V. “Major” Bowes, 1919-2012 ,^[5] owner of Covewood Lodge on Big Moose Lake.

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, her previous marriage, her 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. She chronicled how pollutants were increasing in her remote lake; her only source of drinking water. In a later chapter, she notes how the bottom of her gravity fed water barrel was polluted with various chemicals, including mercury; a heavy metal she linked to dementia. Therefore, she purchased a farmstead, which had modern conveniences such as phone and electricity, near the western shore of Lake Champlain (Westport), but still within the boundaries of the greater Adirondack Park. She writes in Woodswoman IIII (2003) how her adamant stance against development of the Adirondack Park had created contention and enemies. She received death threats, her remote cabin was broken into and her Westport barn was destroyed by arson fire. She began working on Woodswoman V shortly after Woodwomans IIII was published. She stated how self-publishing was more lucrative, but took away valuable time she needed for writing. She never finished Woodswoman V.

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 Online Public Access catalog (OPA). 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...".^[6][7] In 2007, she was still living part-time in her lakeside cabin.^[8] 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 were put up for adoption.^[9] 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.".^[10]

Honors

• 1974 World Wildlife Fund Gold Medal for Conservation^[11]
• 1984 The Citation of Merit from The Explorers Club.^[12]
• 1986 Outstanding Alumni Award, Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences^[13]
• 1987 Warner College of Natural Resources Honor Alumnus/Alumna Award, Colorado State University^[14]
• 1988 Jade of Chiefs Award from the Outdoor Writers Association of America^[15]
• 1990 Honorary Doctor of Letters from Ripon College, Wisconsin.^[16]
• 1990 Honorary Doctor of Science from State University of New York at Albany^[17]
• 1993 Gold Medal from the Society of Woman Geographers^[18]
• 1994 Roger Tory Peterson Award for National Nature Educator.
• 2001 Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence for the Integration of Arts, Rhetoric and Science at East Tennessee State University.^[19]
• 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award, Adirondack Literary Awards^[20]
• 2008 Howard Zahniser Adirondack Award given by the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks.^[21]
• 2009 Honoree of the National Women's History Month, 2009: Women Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet^[22]

Advisory Council and Consulting Positions

• Member of Board of Commissioners Adirondack Park Agency, 1976 to 1993.^[23]
• Member of Species Survival Commission and Commission on National Parks, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (1981).^[24]
• Member of Atmospheric Alterations Advisory Committee, (1982) U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment .^[25]
• Member of the Transported Air Pollutants Advisory Panel (1983–84), U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment^[26]
• Forum Participant. U.S. Agency for the International Development/El Salvador, Forum Debate: Protecting the Environment, November 1, 1994.^[27]
• Member of International and Senior Board of Advisors for Listening Point Foundation (2007)^[28]
• Program Associate for Island Resources Foundation. Island Resources maintains a floating list of about 80 Program Associates who are available for short-term assignments to support Foundation projects in small tropical islands around the world.^[29]
• Directory of Women in International Natural Resources records the following appointments: Five Contracts with National Geographic, Consultant to the Smithsonian Institution, Consultant to Gulf & Western, Consultant to IUCN, Consultant to USAID, Consultant to World Wildlife Fund, Consultant to E.P.A., Consultant to the Tropical Agricultural Center for Research, Costa Rica. Also served as Staff Ecologist on seven cruises on M.S. ‘’Linblad Explorer’’. Served as Instructor of Wilderness Workshops over three summers for the State University New York and for Skidmore College, New York. Guest Lecturer who has presented lectures to over 200 colleges, organizations and clubs.^[30]

Publications

Books

• Bird kingdom of the Mayas. LaBastille-Bowes, Anne. Illustrated by Anita Benarde. Van Nostrand, Princeton, NJ. 1967.
• White-tailed Deer. LaBastille, Anne. National Wildlife Federation, 1973. ISBN 0-912186-00-3
• Wild Bobcats. LaBastille, Anne. National Wildlife Federation, 1973. ISBN 0-912186-07-0
• The Opossums, Ranger Rick's Best Friends. LaBastille, Anne. National Wildlife Federation, 1974. ISBN 0-912186-08-9
• The Seal Family. LaBastille, Anne. National Wildlife Federation 1974. ISBN 0-912186-09-7
• Woodswoman. LaBastille, Anne. E. P. Dutton, New York, 1976. ISBN 0-525-23715-1
• Assignment: Wildlife. LaBastille, Anne. Dutton, New York, 1980. ISBN 0-525-05910-5
• Women and Wilderness. LaBastille, Anne. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1980. ISBN 0-87156-234-0
• Beyond Black Bear Lake. LaBastille, Anne. Norton, New York, 1987. ISBN 0-393-02388-5
• Mama Poc : An ecologist’s account of the extinction of a species. LaBastille, Anne. W.W. Norton, New York. 1990. ISBN 0-393-02830-5
• The Wilderness World of Anne LaBastille. LaBastille, Anne. West of the Wind Publications, Westport, N.Y. 1992. ISBN 0-9632846-0-6
• Birds of the Mayas: Maya Folk Tales : Field guide to birds of the Maya world : Complete check list of birds. Written and illustrated by LaBastille, Anne. West of the Wind Publications, Westport, N.Y. 1993.
• Woodswoman III: Book three of the Woodswoman’s adventures. LaBastille, Anne. West of the Wind Publications, Westport, N.Y. 1997. ISBN 0-9632846-1-4
• Jaguar Totem. LaBastille, Anne. West of the Wind Publications, Westport, N.Y. 1999. ISBN 0-9632846-2-2
• The Extraordinary Adirondack Journey of Clarence Petty : Wilderness guide, pilot, and conservationist. Angus, Christopher; with a foreword by LaBastille, Anne. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, N.Y. 2002. ISBN 0-8156-0741-5
• Woodswoman IIII: Book four of the Woodswoman’s adventures . LaBastille, Anne. West of the Wind Publications, Westport, N.Y. 2003 ISBN 0-9632846-3-0

Scientific Journal Articles

1958-1969

• An Ecological Analysis of Mule Deer Winter Range, Cache la Poudre Canyon, Colorado. LaBastille Bowes, A. (1958) M.S. Thesis, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO.
• Recent census and observations of the Giant Pied-billed Grebe. LaBastille, A. & Bowes, C.V. (1962) Auk 79: 707-709.
• Ecological investigation of the Giant Pied-billed Grebe of Guatemala. LaBastille, A. (1964) Bulletin for the International Committee for Bird Preservation (5).
• An ecological investigation of the Giant Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus gigas Griscom Bull. LaBastille, A. (1965) Brit. Orn. Club 85: 14-19.
• Elimination of fish in the Giant Grebe Refuge, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, using the fish toxicant, antimycin. Powers, J.E. and LaBastille-Bowes, A. (1967) Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 96(2): 210-213
• Biology and conservation of the Quetzal. LaBastille-Bowes, A. & Allen, D.G. (1969) Biological Conservation, 1 (4):297-306.
• The life history, ecology and management of the Giant Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus gigas), Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. LaBastille, A. (1969) Ph.D. Thesis, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N.Y.

1970-1979

• Conservation stamps for Guatemala. LaBastille, A. (1970) Biological Conservation, 3 (1), p. 17
• Behavior and feather structure of the Quetzal. LaBastille, A., Allen, D.G., & Durrell, L.W. (1972) Auk 89: 339-349.
• An ecological survey of the proposed Volcano Baru National Park, Republic of Panama : report of an investigation carried out between 9 February and 9 March 1972 on behalf of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and the World Wildlife Fund for the Departamento de Servicio Forestal y de ’RENARE’, Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia, Panama. LaBastille, Anne. Morges, Switzerland : IUCN, 1973.
• Birds and Mammals of Anegada Island, British Virgin Islands. LaBastille, A. and Richmond, M. (1973) Carib. J. Sci., 13 (1-2).
• Census in April 1972 of the Atitlán Grebe (Podilymbus gigas), Guatemala. LaBastille, A., Ovidio, J. & Bauer, E. (1973). Biological Conservation 5: 62-63.
• Ecologists and their standards. LaBastille, A. (1973) Biological Conservation, 5 (2):145
• Rare, Endangered and Threatened Vertebrate Species of the Atlantic Coastal Plain and Maine Coast. LaBastille, Anne. (1973) Smithsonian Institution, Office of Environmental Science, Washington, DC, 148 pages.
• Effective techniques for developing wildlife reserves in Latin American countries. LaBastille, A. (1973a) Thirty-eight North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference: 89-95.
• Establishment of a Quetzal cloud-forest reserve in Guatemala. LaBastille, A. (1973) Biological Conservation, 5 (1):60
• Ecology and management of the Atitlán Grebe, lake Atitlán, Guatemala. LaBastille, A. (1974) Wildlife Monographs 37: 1-66.
• Use of artificial nest-boxes by Quetzals in Guatemala. LaBastille, A. (1974) Biological Conservation, 6 (1):64.
• First proposed National Park for Panama. LaBastille, A. (1974) Biological Conservation, 6 (2):102.
• The Natural Landmarks Program of the United States. LaBastille, A. (1976). Environmental Conservation, 3(1):31 -32
• Management of the Giant Pied-billed Grebes on lake Atitlán, Guatemala. LaBastille, A. (1978) In: Temple, S. A. (ed): Endangered birds: Management techniques for preserving threatened species. Univ. Wisconsin Press, Madison pp 397–402
• Wildland Conservation in Central America. LaBastille, A. (1978) Wildlands and Watershed Management Unit, Natural Renewable Resources Program. Turrialba, Costa Rica: Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y ensenanza.
• On the need for a system of cloud forest parks in Middle America and the Caribbean. LaBastille, A. & D. J. Pool (1978) Environ. Conserv. 5: 183-190.

1980-1989

• The Guatemalan Giant Grebe: Is there any hope? LaBastille, A. (1983) International Foundation for the Conservation of Birds, North Hollywood, California. pp. 485–493 In: Proceedings of the Jean Delacour/ ICBP Symposium on breeding birds in captivity.
• Drastic decline in Guatemala’s Giant Pied-billed Grebe population. LaBastille, A. (1984) Envir. Conserv. 11: 346-348.

1990-1999

• The Giant Grebes of Atitlán. A Chronicle of extinction. LaBastille, A. (1992) Living Bird Quarterly 11: 10-15.
• Los zambullidores gigantes de Atitlan. LaBastille, A. (1996) Boletin SAO Vol 7(12):44-50.

Government Publications

• Adirondack Park: Objectives and Guidelines for Planning and Review: Originally done in April 1977 additions in some sections and updated through April 1991. Edited and Approved by Adirondack Park Agency, Board of Commissioners: Robert F. Flacke, Whitman Daniels, Anne Labastille, Peter S. Paine, Jr., Mary F. Prime, John W. Stock, Donald Wadsworth, and Jay Wells. Adirondack Park Agency, Ray Brook, N.Y., 1991.

Popular Articles and Essays on Wilderness and Ecology

• Quetzal, Fabulous Bird of Maya Land. LaBastille-Bowes, A. & Allen, D.G. (1969). National Geographic, 135(1): 141-150
• Canachagala and the Erie Canal. LaBastille, A. (1972) Adirondack Life, Spring Issue: 34-35.
• The Adirondack Museum. LaBastille, A. (1972) Adirondack Life, Summer Issue: 13-17.
• Canoeing through time: The Eckford Chain. LaBastille, A. (1972) Adirondack Life, Fall Issue: 36-39, 41-43.
• Vampire, black sheep of the bat family. LaBastille, A. (1973) Vampire. International Wildlife 3(2): 42-49.
• Blacky's back in town: Incidents with black bears. LaBastille, A. (1975) Adirondack Life, Winter: 17-19, 52-54.
• My backyard, the Adirondacks. LaBastille, A. (1975) National Geographic, 147 (5):616-623
• A question of Quetzals. LaBastille, A. (1976) Animal Kingdom, 79: 18-24
• Across the Adirondacks. LaBastille, A. (1977), Backpacker Magazine, 21(June):32-38
• On the Trail of Wisconsin's Ice Age. LaBastille, A. (1977) National Geographic, 152(2)
• One woman's Adirondacks: Photographs by Anne LaBastille. Adirondack Life 8.1(1977): 32-37.
• The endangered loon. LaBastille, A. (1977) Adirondack Life, May–June Issue: 34-38.
• Chapel in the woods. LaBastille, A. (1977) Adirondack Life. Nov-Dec Issue: 24-26.
• Backpacking Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail. LaBastille, A. (1979) Backpacker Magazine, 7(2):42-45
• The best dam builder around. LaBastille, A. (1979) National Wildlife 17:26-33
• Death from the Sky. LaBastille, A. (1979) Outdoor Life, 163(2): 100-103
• Facets of wildland conservation in Central America. La Bastille, A. (1979) Parks, 4(3): 1-5.
• The killing rains. Labastille, A., (1979) Garden Journal, New York 3(3): 9-13
• Acid rain. How great a menace?. LaBastille, A. (1981) National Geographic, 160:652-681
• Paradise Gained: A new country creates its first national park. Labastille, A. (1982) Animal Kingdom 85(4):18-23
• Goodbye, Giant Grebe?. LaBastille, A. (1983) Natural History 92: 64-72
• Eight women in the wild. Labastille, A. (1983) International wildlife, 13(Jan./Feb): 36-43
• The Rites of Passage. LaBastille, A. (1983), In: The Wonder of Birds, National Geographic Society, Washington: 1983. ISBN 0-87044-470-0
• International Acid Test. LaBastille, A. (1986) Sierra, 71(3): 51-54
• And now they are gone. LaBastille, A. (1990) International Wildlife 20 : 18-23
• The park of sacred spaces. LaBastille, A. (1992) The Conservationist 46: 4-7
• Fishing in the Sky. LaBastille, A. (1992) In: New Essays on Walden, Edited by Sayre, R.F. Press Syndicate of The University of Cambridge, New York, N.Y. ISBN 0-521-42482-8
• Birds of the Maya: a chain of disasters in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. LaBastille, A. (1994) Geographical Magazine 66:19-22
• Too Late for the Giant Grebe LaBastille, A. (1996) Wild Earth 6(3):63

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anne LaBastille.

• "Documerica Project (1971-1977)". Anne LaBastille, photographer. National Archives. 1977. Retrieved December 21, 2010. 

Authority control WorldCat VIAF: 92012132 LCCN: n80002263 ISNI: 0000 0001 1685 8069