CVPS seeks nominees for Zetterstrom award

To honor her lasting legacy and continuing environmental work by Vermonters, Central Vermont Public Service is seeking nominations for the 2012 CVPS-Zetterstrom Environmental Award, named for famed osprey advocate Meeri Zetterstrom.

The CVPS-Zetterstrom Environmental Award was presented for the first time in 2010 and is presented annually to one person, business, group or non-profit to honor a significant contribution to Vermont’s environment.  It will be accompanied by a $2,500 donation to the winner’s environmental cause.

Zetterstrom inspired CVPS and countless Vermonters through her dogged efforts to protect and restore Vermont’s osprey population.

“There are few Vermonters more devoted to wildlife and Vermont’s great outdoors than was Meeri Zetterstrom,” said CVPS spokesman Steve Costello, who worked with her on osprey conservation for years.  “Meeri’s exuberance and single-minded focus on osprey restoration were contagious.  Once you spent time with Meeri, you couldn’t help but fall in love with ospreys.”

Zetterstrom played a central role in restoring ospreys at Lake Arrowhead, a CVPS hydro facility that straddles the border of Milton and Georgia, and Vermont as a whole.  Her requests – and demands – for assistance from the Department of Fish and Wildlife and CVPS prompted a long-running effort to educate Vermonters about the birds and help them expand their range in the Green Mountain State.

With a bird’s-eye view of the lake, Zetterstrom was among the first to notice when ospreys returned to fish Arrowhead’s waters after their near extinction.  Starting in 1988, the state and CVPS began cooperating to assist the ospreys, creating artificial nesting platforms, buffer zones and educational materials to give the birds a fighting chance.

A decade later, the first osprey chick in memory hatched and fledged at Lake Arrowhead, and seven years later, the birds’ revival allowed their removal from the Vermont Endangered species list.  Zetterstrom received much of the credit.

“Few people can hope to accomplish what Meeri Zetterstrom did, but the award allows us to recognize those people and organizations that take among the most meaningful steps,” CVPS president and CEO Larry Reilly said.  “In recognizing them, we also honor Meeri’s legacy in the longer term.”

Past winners include Sally Laughlin, a leading wildlife advocate and scientist whose work was instrumental in restoring three species of endangered birds in Vermont, and Michael Smith, the founder and driving force behind Rutland’s Pine Hill Park.

Nominations for the CVPS-Zetterstrom Environmental Award will be accepted through March 15, and the winner will be announced in the spring.  The winner is chosen by a panel of CVPS employees with responsibilities related to land management, resource protection, community relations and education and environmental compliance.

Nominations may be made by the nominee or by any other entity and should demonstrate a commitment of the nominee to benefit Vermont, its land, air or water, wildlife or the enjoyment of the outdoors by others. This may be through educational efforts, environmental stewardship, resource rehabilitation, protection or preservation or conservation.

The award, though it may be presented to a business or larger organization, is intended to support environmental protection and inspire individuals to benefit Vermont’s environment.  Vermonters of any age may be nominated.  For a nomination application and more information, visit www.cvps.com/osprey.