November 21, 2001 - He's No. 1 in the Hall of FameNovember 21, 2002 • The Suffolk Times
He's No. 1
in the Hall
Stoutenburgh's an
honored volunteer
Gwendolen
Naturalist/environmentalist Paul Stoutenburgh
and 10 other volunteers from all over Long Island
are in the first class inducted into the new Long
Island Volunteer Hall of Fame at a ceremony in
Stony Brook on Sunday.
"The Long Island Volunteer Hall of Fame cele-
brates the humanitarian vision and creates a lasting
tribute to the vision, heart, and steel it takes to
address community needs and undertake noble
causes," said Long Island Volunteer Center execu-
tive director Diana O'Neill in a congratulatory let-
ter to Mr. Stoutenburgh. "We are delighted that a
forum now exists to bring well- deserved respect
and recognition to visionaries like you who cham-
pioned the common good."
Mr. Stoutenburgh and his wife, Barbara, were the
driving force behind the creation of the North Fork
Environmental Council (NFEC), which is celebrat-
ing its 30th anniversary this year.
"All this comes at the expense of time, and I have
to praise my family, particularly Barbara," Mr.
Stoutenburgh said this week. "They took up the
slack while I was away signing petitions, lecturing
and trying to get the world in order. Barbara would
sometimes say, `Paul, you can't change the world,'
but I think you can."
The local environmental advocacy and education
group based in Mattituck has grown to over 1,000
members, and is now staffed by three full -time and
one part -time professional employees and a num-
ber of core volunteers.
"We're so proud of our founding father, and
we — the NFEC and- the whole environmental
community — are very pleased that he has been
recognized with this honor," said Debbie
O'Kane, NFEC executive director. "We've
grown in leaps and bounds, especially in the last
few years."
Thirty years ago, a group of concerned citizens
met at the Stoutenburghs' home to brainstorm
about what they could do to protect wetland
from development, related NFEC past president
Ronnie Wacker in an essay celebrating the
NFEC's anniversary. They joined forces with
another group forming in Mattituck to fight
industrial development in Riverhead. They won
an early battle against the infamous Jamesport
nuclear power plant project, and many causes
and struggles have ensued since then.
of Fame
Barbara and Paul Stoutenburgh at Sunday's Long
Island Volunteer Hall of Fame inductinn raramnn.,
iii
ine NPEC; also has formed the Paul Stouten-
burgh Educational Outreach Fund to help create
educational programs for adults and children on
environmental issues.
Mr. Stoutenburgh al-
so has served as direc- Barbara would
for and vice president sometimes say,
of the Hallockville "Paul, you can't
Museum Farm, was on
the board of the Pe- change the
conic Land Trust, woad," but 1
chaired the North Fork think you can.'
Committee of the
Nature Conservancy, —Paul Stoutenburgh
and served as a trustee
for The Nature Conservancy's Long Island
Chapter. He has received the L.I. Hermit Thrush
Award and the National Oak Leaf Award in
Washington, D.C., as well as the Presidential
Citation for the planing of the nature trails in
Moore's Woods, Greenport. Retired from a career
as a teacher at Greenport School, he also has been
involved in the town and county library systems.
He also served on the Southold Town Board and
three terms on the Board of Trustees, including
one as chairman.
Since 1961, Mr. Stoutenburgh has written the
popular "Focus on Nature" column in the
Times /Review newspapers. And one of his most
widely recognized achievements is the construc-
tion and erection of over 30 osprey platforms all
over the North Fork.