2010 Latornell Pioneer Don Ross

The Conservation Pioneer Award honours individuals who have contributed significantly to the conservation movement in Ontario. These prestigious awards are presented annually to deserving individuals at the A.D. Latornell Conservation Symposium.

This award is designed to recognize individuals who have demonstrated life-long, outstanding contributions to the field of conservation. They are recognized for their innovation, leadership and dedication to the conservation field. Either through their personal activities and/or leadership, they have gone beyond the call of duty or responsibility to an employer, client or their community.

These individuals have helped to celebrate and inspire innovation in the conservation field and have made a difference in their area of expertise. Nominees have encouraged and motivated others to take similar leadership roles towards conservation work.

Nominations are reviewed and evaluated by a special sub-committee of the Latornell Steering Committee.

www.latornell.ca/pioneer




Don Ross
Nominating Agency: Directors, advisors, staff and volunteers of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve

Don RossDon Ross has been involved in conservation issues from a variety of approaches and positions for over 40 years. The success of these many initiatives has produced tangible benefits for the conservation community in general and for Eastern Ontario in particular. From his beginnings as Chief Naturalist with Parks Canada, through his time as a sporting goods retailer where he promoted sustainable and passive recreation such as windsurfing and canoeing, Don was very respectful of our natural environment. He is also a master woodworker who has restored homes and watercraft using a conscientious low energy approach.

A biologist and former chief naturalist with the St. Lawrence National Park, Don is currently the Executive Director of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve (FABR). The Frontenac Arch is an 80-kilometre-wide bridge of the Canadian Shield that connects Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario with the Adirondack Mountains in New York State. Due to the wide variety of biodiversity found here, including many species at risk, the Arch was designated a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2002. Don spearheaded the successful nomination of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve to UNESCO.

Outside of his work with the Arch, Don is also a very active volunteer. As a founding board member and negotiator/ landowner liaison for the Thousand Islands Watershed Land Trust, Don has protected a number of important sites for land and water conservation. On behalf of the Land Trust he has acted as lead negotiator on a number of very significant acquisitions. Don has also completed shoreline assessments on over 700 area properties making numerous recommendations for improved riparian management -- most of which have already been implemented. Each of these projects promotes and creates an awareness of land and water conservation either as a recommendation or action/outcome.

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Nonprofits & Activism

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