Western Watersheds Project and others seeking to restore and protect the West lost a great friend and colleague when Ray Corning of Lander, Wyo., died Saturday, Sept. 13.

Ray's work to restore the Green Mountain Common allotment in central Wyoming was legendary.

He attended RangeNet 2002 and the Greenfire Revival last year. He requested that one of his memorial charities be WWP.

Raymond V. Corning died Sept. 13 after a 10-month battle with esophageal cancer.

He was born April 15, 1934 in Casper, Wyo., the son of Charles Lester and Hilda Elizabeth (Goodrow) Corning. He graduated from Haxtun High School in Haxtun, Colorado and obtained both bachelor's (fisheries science) and master's (zoology) degrees at Colorado State University. He married Mary Ann Reichardt on June 20, 1964. Together they raised three children and recently celebrated their 39th anniversary.

During his professional career, Raymond worked for Idaho Fish and Game, Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries, the Bureau of Land Management in Washington D.C., and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage, Alaska.

After his retirement in 1994, he remained passionate about the protection of Wyoming's water resources as an active "interested person" for the Green Mountain, Atlantic City, Granite Mountain and Silver Creek Common Grazing allotments. He was an avid hunter. His other hobbies included photography and genealogy.

Raymond was a dedicated family man survived by his mother, his wife and their three children: R. Vincent Corning, Jr. and his wife Colleen (Carswell) Corning of Soquel, Calif.; Caroline Renee (Corning) Creager, her husband Robert Stuart Creager and their children Christopher Robert and Michael James Raymond of Berthoud, Colo.; and Muriel Elizabeth (Corning) Wheeler, her husband Jim Wheeler, stepson Nathan, and their daughters Zoe Elizabeth and Aiko Anne of Geneva, Ill.

In addition to his second family Raymond is survived by two sons from his first marriage: David Vincent Corning, of Estes Park, Colo.; and Brett Allen Corning, his wife Kim Louise (Renzelman) and daughters Brittney Diane and Shelby Nicole of Arvada, Colo.