Photo courtesy of Vermont Center for Eco Studies
Sara learning about turtle hatchlings with Steve Parren
Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Steve Parren with Sara Zahendra.
RUTLAND | Green Mountain Power honored longtime Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Steve Parren with one of the state’s top environmental awards last week, the GMP-Zetterstrom Award. Parren has helped save multiple endangered species, raised funds for non-game wildlife conservation and volunteered hundreds of hours on his own time to help turtles and amphibians.
Making the honor even more special for Parren, the award coincides with the 100th anniversary of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the GMP-Zetterstrom Award is named for a woman Parren once collaborated with to save endangered ospreys.
“I am humbled. To receive an award named for Meeri Zetterstrom, one of the most determined and selfless environmentalists I have known, is incredibly meaningful to me,” Parren said.
Zetterstrom’s advocacy earned her the nickname Grandma Osprey, and the GMP-Zetterstrom Environmental Award is given annually to one person, business, group or non-profit that has made a significant contribution to Vermont’s environment. The award is accompanied by a $2,500 donation to the winner’s environmental cause, in this case the Vermont Nongame Wildlife Fund. Zetterstrom lived in a cabin with a bird’s-eye view of Lake Arrowhead. She died in 2010.
Rutland GMP Vice President Steve Costello, who worked on osprey protection with Zetterstrom and Parren for years, said this year’s award presentation brought the project full circle.
“Meeri and Steve both brought incredible passion to wildlife conservation,” Costello said.
Past Zetterstrom Award recipients include Sally Laughlin, a scientist whose work was instrumental in restoring three species of endangered birds in Vermont; Michael Smith, the founder of Rutland’s Pine Hill Park; Margaret Fowle, who led Vermont’s peregrine falcon restoration program; the Lake Champlain Committee, which works to protect and improve Lake Champlain; Kelly Stettner, who founded the Black River Action Team in southern Vermont; Roy Pilcher, founder of the Rutland County Chapter of Audubon; Lake Champlain International, a nonprofit working to protect, restore and revitalize Lake Champlain and its communities; and Marty Illick of the Lewis Creek Association.
