Celebrating Outstanding Women in Conservation

March is Women in History month and the National Wildlife Federation Rocky Mountain Region is celebrating by convening and honoring some of the most influential women in conservation out West: Susan Daggett and Kate Zimmerman.

Susan Daggett is the 2018 Maggie Fox Award Winner/photo courtesy of Sturm College of Law University of Denver

This year is the fourth year we will mark the incredible contributions of female conservation leaders through our Maggie Fox Award.

The role of women in the development of society is of utmost importance. In fact, it is the only thing that determines whether a society is strong and harmonious, or otherwise. Women are the backbone of society.—Sri Sri Shankar

This year’s Maggie Fox Award recipient is Susan Daggett. Daggett is a natural resources and environmental attorney currently serving as the Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver. Daggett has an impressive career working on behalf of the environment on issues as far reaching as energy use and urban green-spaces.

Kate Zimmerman will be remembered for her outstanding contributions to protecting our public lands. Photo credit: John Loughridge, 2007

We are also delighted to recognize the monumental contributions of our colleague, Kate Zimmerman, for her tireless efforts on behalf of public lands. As a direct result of her work for the Federation over the past 20 years, there are literally (no exaggeration) millions of acres of land that belong to all of us that have been protected and better-managed because of Kate’s encyclopedic knowledge of public lands and her unfailing pursuit to protect our nation’s special places.  Throughout her career, she played a critical role in helping to conserve and increase wildlife populations across the west, including mule deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, black footed ferrets, bison, eagles, and, most recently, her unparalleled leadership on sage grouse. For more on Kate, please click here.

The Kate Zimmerman Award will be presented posthumously to Zimmerman and will be awarded in subsequent years to women demonstrating superior leadership and vision around conserving and managing our public lands.

About the Maggie Fox Award:

At the National Wildlife Federation, we recognize the contributions of women across conservation and believe that highlighting women in our environmental story is critically important. In 2015, inspired by the remarkable work of Maggie Fox and in conjunction with our recognition of Women’s History Month, we developed an award to celebrate Fox’s many accomplishments and inspire others.

Fox served as the president and CEO of the Climate Reality Project, the director of the Sierra Club, and worked as an energy and climate consultant with numerous organizations and foundations. Her influence and trailblazing ways are a testament to the power of women in leadership roles in conservation.

Past recipients of the Maggie Fox Award:

2015 Maggie Fox

2016 Alice Madden

2017 Elise and Suzanne Jones

2018 Susan Daggett

It is important to protect wildlife and wild places so that future generations will inherit a conservation legacy that enables the continued enjoyment of our natural world. These women have helped ensure this outcome, and their efforts in conservation will inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

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