Brian O'Donnell

Brian O’Donnell Wilderness Support Center.

"As the executive director for the Alaska Wilderness League, Brian was instrumental in efforts to block oil companies from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He successfully led AWL’s efforts to defend Alaska’s wilderness from numerous legislative anti-environmental attacks.

"Brian was a lead organizer for the first Wilderness Mentoring Conference in May 1998. Together with Melyssa Watson, and Bart Koehler, Brian started the Wilderness Support Center in late 1998; he is associate director. Brian was a co-founder of the Nevada Wilderness Coalition and the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition.

"In 2000, Brian helped lead the successful effort to protect Nevada’s Black Rock Desert and High Rock Canyon region as wilderness. Brian recently helped secure congressional protection for more than 450,000 acres of wilderness in southern Nevada. He currently works on wilderness campaigns throughout the country including the Nevada wilderness campaign and West Virginia wilderness campaign."

• Conservation Fellow, Rewilding Institute