Earle A. Chiles Awards (1984-2015)
“Honoring outstanding contributions in the High Desert resource management.”
The Earle A. Chiles Award was presented annually from 1984 to 2015 by the High Desert Museum in recognition of significant contributions in promoting the thoughtful management of the High Desert region’s natural resources, or for the resolution of conflicts involving these resources. The Award was established in 1983 in honor of Earle A. Chiles—Oregonian, businessman and philanthropist. It was funded by the Chiles Foundation of Portland, Oregon. Nominations were accepted in a wide variety of fields, including biology, history, land management, citizen action, law, art, literature and media. The Museum’s Earle A. Chiles Center on the Spirit of the West was named for this remarkable man.
Chiles Award Winners
MORLAN NELSON
1984 Winner
For designing modifications to power poles to prevent electrocution of and to provide nesting habitat for birds of prey.
DR. JACK WARD THOMAS
1985 Winner
For developing systems for managing wildlife habitat while meeting increasing demands for forest production.
DR. FREDERIC H. WAGNER
1986 Winner
For establishing an understanding of Western predator-prey relationships and for employing a balanced interdisciplinary approach to wide-ranging problems in resource management.
DR. WILLIAM S. PLATTS
1987 Winner
For his career-long work in developing the science of riparian management and integrating in into wildlife and range management
WAYNE ELMORE
1988 Winner
For accomplishments in site-specific riparian research and management, including the fostering of cooperation among interest groups.
WILLIAM F. STEERS
1989 Winner
For his “individual tree management” approach to industrial forestry which promotes harvesting while at the same time maintains the biological integrity and diversity of the forest resource.
DR. STEPHEN TRIMBLE
1990 Winner
For contributing to a greater understanding and appreciation of the biogeography of the Great Basin through his book, The Sagebrush Ocean: A Natural History of the Great Basin.
LEOTINE “TINA” NAPPE
1991 Winner
For leadership in achieving a solution to historic water conflicts in western Nevada that provides for the purchase of water for wetlands and wildlife habitat.
DR. CHARLES R. GOODMAN
1992 Winner
For authoritative scientific research leading to a greater understanding and improved management of inland, deep-water ecosystems in the American West.
RAYMOND E. KRAUSS
1993 Winner
For the application of environmentally sound management principles to the mining and extraction of mineral resources.
FRANK W. BOHMAN
1994 Winner
For exemplary stewardship practices to restore and sustain the health of degraded private ranchlands in north-central Utah.
DR. C. MELVIN AIKENS
1995 Winner
For three decades of research and scholarly activities in environmental archaeology resulting in enhanced appreciation of the scope of ecological change and its effects on over 11,000 years of human adaptive strategies in the High Desert.
DR. MAURICE HORNOCKER
1996 Winner
For pioneering studies in the predator-prey relationships and distribution patterns in cougar populations in the West and their successful application to wildlife management strategies worldwide.
DONALD M. KERR
1997 Winner
For exemplary efforts to broaden the knowledge and understanding of the natural and cultural history of the Intermountain West through founding the High Desert Museum and serving as its leader for 21 years.
JEFF D. BLACKWOOD & DR. THOMAS M. QUIGLEY
1998 Winners
For envisioning and leading a significant long-term change in land management philosophies through their work on the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project.
DR. K. NORMAN JOHNSON
1999 Winner
For creating a climate of scientific consensus leading to broadly accepted plans and strategies for managing the region’s natural resources in perpetuity.
SARA VICKERMAN
2000 Winner
For vision and leadership in creating the Oregon Biodiversity Project, a science-based Project, a science-based collaborative effort to develop a long-term biodiversity conservation strategy.
WILLIAM “BILL” CANNON
2001 Winner
For lifelong work in the preservation of natural, archaeological and historic resources of the Great Basin.
STEPHEN DOW BECKHAM, PH.D.
2002 Winner
For lifelong contributions to the understanding and preservation of the history, cultures, and archaeological resources of the High Desert.
CHARLES F. WILKINSON, J.D.
2003 Winner
For scholarship and interpretation of law, history, and society in the American West, for influencing public understanding of water-related issues, and for effective mediation of complex natural resource management issues.
CECIL D. ANDRUS
2004 Winner
For promoting non-partisan discource, forging industry and conservation community collaborations to resolve controversial natural resource issues, and for three decades of public leadership as a “common sense conservationist.”
DR. CATHERINE S. FOWLER
2005 Winner
For career-long work in preserving Native languages, cultures and lifeways, and in promoting public understanding of the cultural heritage of the Paiute and Great Basin Indigenous people.
WILLIAM KITTREDGE
2006 Winner
For illuminating the changing culture, landscapes, personalities and possibilities of the Intermountain West.
LILLIAN PITT
2007 Winner
For creating images that sustain ancient Columbia Plateau cultures and beliefs, and promoting harmony within people, communities and nature.
DR. WILLIAM J. RIPPLE
2008 Winner
For pioneering new methods of interpreting predator, prey, and plant relationships in High Desert ecosystems, and improving ecosystems management.
DR. DENNIS L. JENKINS
2009 Winner
For over two decades of research contributing to our understanding of human ecology and cultural history in the Northern Great Basin.
MR. J. MARTIN GOEBEL
2010 Winner
For helping communities restore and maintain ecological health, balance diverse interests and promote economic opportunities in the region.
DR. PATRICIA “PATTY” LIMERICK
2011 Winner
For scholarship and public history forums that challenge popular mythologies about the West and reveal the essential commercial and scientific foundations of American Western history.
DR. REBECCA DOBKINS
2012 Winner
For promoting Native American cultures and art to generate greater public understanding of High Desert Native communities.
DR. THOMAS J. CONNOLLY
2013 Winner
For his archaeological work illuminating High Desert Native American cultural history while promoting a collaborative effort to protect cultural resources in the region.
SOPHIE SHEPPARD
2014 Winner
For her work in understanding, promoting, and celebrating the idea of place and sustainability in the rural High Desert.
THE HONORABLE OWEN M. PANNER
2015 Winner
For his enduring advocacy for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and preserving the cultural heritage of the High Desert.
