Western Watersheds would like to celebrate the life of long time WWP supporter and environmental champion, Brad Crowder. Brad passed away recently after a short battle with cancer.

Brad loved wild places, backpacking and campfires with friends, the Canyon Country of southern Utah, missed his dog who passed before Brad, loved his parrots and was so sad and disgusted at the place the current Administration has taken us. He was full of humor and caring for our wild friends and worked exhaustively under adverse conditions to protect them. Those of us who knew Brad will miss him deeply as will those he worked to protect.

Brad worked in the NEPA division of EPA, providing insightful and valuable comments on many projects on Forest Service and BLM lands which were pointed out to him by WWP staff and others as especially egregious. Brad was reprimanded for providing these comments which pointed out the flaws in these projects. He filed a grievance, was denied arbitration and subsequently felt compelled to transfer out of the NEPA division. He knew the frustration and futility of having a job the purpose of which is to protect the environment and yet was prevented from doing so. Friends and colleagues of Brad know that he was instrumental in letting journalists and environmentalists know about Republican attempts to bypass Congress in the attempt to gut the Endangered Species Act. During the past two years, Brad talked about retiring and leaving EPA and the politics that were driving bad decisions, yet he hung in there, unwilling to give up.

Brad was that most rare being - an ethical person who was willing to stand up for science and the environment against political pressure and threats to his job. Our society would be so much better off if we had leaders who had a mere speck of Brad’s courage and integrity.

To be able glance inside a valued individual is sometimes a way in which our understanding and appreciation of the person can be brought to bear. Debbie Crowder offers this quote from George Bernard Shaw as capturing the way in which Brad approached life.

“This is the true joy in life: The being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. The being a force of nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.”
~George Bernard Shaw

We miss you Brad and we thank you for all that you have done.