August 08, 2002 - Focus on the StoutenburghsThe News- Review • August 8, 2002
ine btoutenburghs aboard their NFEC lifetime- achievement -award bench during Saturday Ahrens
Saturday's ceremony.
Focus on the
stoutenburi'hs
P.S. We would like to thank every-
one who contributed in any way to tt
North Fork Environmental Council's
30th - anniversary Summer Gala
Celebration in our honor on Aug. 3.
We will remember it always. —
Barbara and Paul
1VFEU celebrates icons
of the environment
CUTCHOGUE — Environmentalists / natur
columnists Paul and Barbara Stoutenburgh were
honored Saturday night in conjunction with the
North Fork Environmental Council's 30th anniver-
sary celebration.
The presentation of what was essentially a lifetime
achievement award was the centerpiece of a gala at
the Nassau Point estate of NFEC stewards Harry and
Janet Hohn. It was .attended by several hundred
members and supporters of the organization, along
with a bevy of elected officials, including State
Senator Kenneth LaValle (R -Port Jefferson), State
Assemblywoman Patricia Acampora (R- Mattituck)
and Southold Town Supervisor Josh Horton.
In his acceptance remarks, Mr. Stoutenburgh said
his wife "has been a backbone" of the NFEC since its
founding 30 years ago, even though, "when we first got
married, she didn't know a sparrow from a blackbird."
Now, however, he added, "I'll stand her up against any-
one" in terms of her environmental expertise.
In addition to helping found the NFEC, the
Stoutenburghs have collaborated on the "Focus on
Nature" column that has appeared in The Suffolk
Times for some 40 years and more recently in The
News- Review. A collection of "Focus on Nature" co-
lumns and excerpts were reprinted in the 30th anniver-
sary journal.
Also Saturday night, the NFEC announced that it
will endow a fund in the Stoutenburghs' names to
promote environmental education in Southold and
Riverhead towns. The couple also was presented with
a wooden bench that will bear their names and will
be installed at an environmentally significant loca-
tion on the North Fork.
Following the presentation, the
NFEC aired a video tape chronicling
its history, from the first fight against a
proposed deepwater port in Northville
to its participation in the recent Blue
Ribbon Commission to Preserve a
Rural Southold. The video was narrat-
ed by actor Stephen Collins, a long-
time summer resident of Cutchogue,
and produced by Mattituck photogra-
pher Rory MacNish.
Hail to the Stoutenburghs
Cutchogue
Dear Tro:
The Noyrth Fork Envionmental
Council gala celebrating the many
environmental accomplishments of
Barbara and Paul Stoutenburgh was
a kind of family reunion of the "tree
huggers." Each of us has a favorite
memory of the Stoutenburghs. I
recall a time when Barbara confront-
ed our local government by showing
up at committee and board meetings
with memo pad in hand to make a
record of the proceedings. The oppo-
sition resorted to last- minute changes
of the agenda, even of the meeting
place, but Barbara was always there
to listen and to record.
I also remember when Paul and I
served on a citizens' committee con-
vened in 1994 by the Nature
Conservancy to advise Louis Bacon
after he had purchased Robins
Island. After our first meeting on the
island, Ann Stevenson Colley, Paul
and I were strolling along the beach
next to the western sand dunes when
he suddenly kicked off his old shoes
and scampered to the top of the
dune. He scooped out grass and sand
with his hands, shoutin down to us
that he had found a midden, a dump-
ing ground or fire pit dug perhaps
centuries earlier by Indians, now
exposed by wind erosion. For Paul, it
was better than finding Captain
Kidd's treasure!
Barbara and Paul share a pro-
found knowledge of nature coupled
with a youthful enthusiasm for pro-
tection of the earth. Our concern is
for this planet, what Adlai Stevenson
called "the little spaceship" on which
we travel together as passengers ...
"all committed for our safety to its
security and peace."
That comment was made 50 years
ago. It's still true. Ask the
Stoutenburghs.
Art Ross