Nature Done Wright

  Hawk Mountain offered several noteworthy non-raptor attractions this weekend. and three of them were related figuratively or literally to the sanctuary's founder, Rosalie Edge.  

   On Saturday morning, Dyana Furmansky spoke about her compelling new biography, "Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy," which has been almost two decades in the making.

   Rosalie Edge, it turns out, not only established Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and made the mountain off-limits to hunters, but she campaigned tirelessly for America's open spaces and natural resources when the established conservation groups, including National Audubon, were at best spineless and at worst totally co-opted.

   Introducing Furmansky was Deborah Edge (left), Rosalie's granddaughter. Deborah graciously wrote the foreword to "Hawk Mountain," the new coffee table book I did with photographer Kevin Watson. 

   After Furmansky spoke, Hawk Mountain volunteer Joanne Kintner (below) did an excellent impersonation of the somewhat imperious Rosalie Edge, whose uncompromising approach to protecting the natural world — from Hawk Mountain to the wetlands of Louisiana to the old-growth forests of California — paved the way for the modern conservation movement.  

  I recently read "Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy," published by the University of Georgia Press, and I highly recommend it. What so many conservationists  take for granted was the result a long and hard-fought battle — and an effort that continues today.

   TOMORROW: Broadwing Charlie, who showed me the way to Hawk Mountain.