Lorne Scott
(b.1947)
Lorne Scott has shown the 'power of one'. Starting as a youth, he has been a leader and a visionary in preserving the natural heritage of Saskatchewan.
While growing up on a farm near Indian Head, Scott developed a keen appreciation of wildlife. He began building nest boxes for bluebirds at the age of 15. The boxes have a small opening that keeps an introduced species, European starlings, from taking over bluebird nests. Eventually the boxes he placed along roadways formed a network of Bluebird trails extending across Saskatchewan and linking with trails in Alberta and Manitoba. For this and other conservation work, Scott received the annual Conservation Award from the Saskatchewan Natural History Society in 1969 and the Governor General's Conservation Award in 1981.
In 1967, he began work at the Saskatchewan Museum of Natural History and then in 1975 moved to the Wascana Centre Authority, where he served as Park Naturalist until 1991.
In 1975, Scott began his own farming operation at Indian Head and has continued farming, along with all his other conservation work. This has allowed him to build understanding between farmers and naturalists.
Scott developed a keen interest in nature photography in the 1970s and began to use his photographs to help young people connect with nature. School groups, girl guides and boy scouts from across the province have all benefited from Scott's presentations and field trips. Scott received a Canadian Merit Award and the B.M. Melason Award for his role in environmental education.
Scott was the first chairman of the Canadian Council of the Whooping Crane Conservation Association. In 1987, he received an Honour Award from the Association for his efforts to preserve the whooping crane and other endangered species, such as the Burrowing Owl
Scott served as president of Nature Saskatchewan from 1980 through 1982. During his term he participated in the creation of Saskatchewan's Heritage Marsh program.
Scott's most public campaign to conserve the natural environment was his work as president of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation and director of Stop Rafferty-Alameda Project (SCRAP). His efforts, and those of many others, paid off on April 10, 1989, when the Federal Court of Canada quashed the federal license because a full environmental review of the project was not conducted.
For his work with SCRAP and other personal commitments to conservation, Scott was awarded the prestigious Roland Michener Conservation Award, from the Canadian Wildlife Federation.
Other honours quickly followed. Scott was featured in Outdoor Canada magazine as one of the country's top environmentalists and in 1990 he received the Canadian Nature Federation's top honour, the Douglas H. Pimlott Conservation Award.
In 1991, Scott entered politics with a strong drive to advance the issues surrounding agriculture and the environment. As a member of the Government Environment and Resource Caucus committee, he saw the addition of 1.5 million acres of Crown land added to the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act. In 1995, he was appointed Minister of Environment and Resource Management. In this role he led the development of the Representative Areas Network to preserve critical natural areas in all of Saskatchewan's 11 ecoregions.
Scott made the transfer back to the non-profit sector as Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, a position he held until 2003. He is currently (2005) voluntary Conservation Director with Nature Saskatchewan and Chair of the Saskatchewan Region of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
As a naturalist, farmer and environmental leader Lorne Scott has made an outstanding contribution to advancements in conservation in Saskatchewan.
Submitted by Gary W. Seib, Member Services Director, Nature Saskatchewan.