Colleen McCrory (1949/1950 – July 1, 2007) was a Canadian environmental activist. She was born in

New Denver, British Columbia New Denver is at the mouth of Carpenter Creek, on the east shore of Slocan Lake, in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The village is west of Kaslo on Highway 31A, and southeast of Nakusp and northeast of Slocan on ...

by the light of a Coleman lantern to Patrick and Mabel McCrory. She was raised in New Denver BC, with 8 brother's and sisters. She had three children, Sean, Rory, and Shea. McCrory founded the Valhalla Wilderness Society, a

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

environmental group, in 1975.Canadian Press via CANOE "Environmentalist Colleen McCrory dead at 57" July 3, 2007
McCrory funded her campaign at first through a small clothing store in New Denver. However, a three-year boycott by loggers forced her out of business in 1985 and forced her deep into debt. She was awarded the Governor-General's Conservation Award in 1983 and the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

's Fred M. Packard Award in 1988. In 1992, she was named to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Global 500 Roll of Honour The Global 500 Roll of Honour was an award given from 1987 to 2003 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognized the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world. A successor system of UNEP ...

and awarded a

Goldman Environmental Prize The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists, one from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. ...

. She ran as a candidate for the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

in the 2001 British Columbia provincial elections. McCrory's efforts helped lead to the creation of: *

Valhalla Provincial Park Valhalla Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It was established on March 3, 1983, in the mountains above the Western shores of Slocan Lake, in the west Kootenays. The park consists of most of the Valhalla Ranges of ...

in the Kootenay region of British Columbia *

Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area, and Haida Heritage Site, usually referred to simply as Gwaii Haanas (), is located in southernmost Haida Gwaii (formerly known as Queen Charlotte Islands), off the mainland of ...

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; hai, X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay / , literally "Islands of the Haida people") is an archipelago located between off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Hecat ...

Goat Range Provincial Park Goat Range Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. The park was established to protect unique species such as the (protected) Gerrard Rainbow Trout (the largest in the world-up to 50 lb) and the distinct color group of ...

in the

Selkirk Mountains The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia which are part of a larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. They begin at Mica Pe ...

Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary Khutzeeymateen Provincial Park, also known as Khutzeymateen/K'tzim-A-Deen Grizzly Sanctuary, is a Class A provincial park located in the North Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. The park, within the purview of BC Parks, was established o ...

and the Spirit Bear Conservancy in the

Great Bear Rainforest The Great Bear Rainforest is a temperate rain forest on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada comprising 6.4 million hectares. It is part of the larger Pacific temperate rainforest ecoregion, which is the largest coastal temperate rainfo ...

on the central coast of British Columbia McCrory died of a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

at home in

Silverton, British Columbia Silverton is a village about south of New Denver in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The former steamboat landing is at the mouth of Silverton Creek on the eastern shore of Slocan Lake. The locality, on BC Highway 6 a ...

in 2007, aged 57.

References

External links

"Prominent B.C. eco warrior dies at 57"
CBC British Columbia

''Time''.
Entry from ''Canadian Who's Who''
Canadian environmentalists Canadian women environmentalists People from the Regional District of Central Kootenay Deaths from brain cancer in Canada 20th-century births 2007 deaths Year of birth uncertain Date of birth missing Goldman Environmental Prize awardees {{Canada-activist-stub