Opelika resident to be recognized at the Capitol

By William White

Published: May 11, 2008

An Opelikan is one of seven citizens being recognized near our nation’s Capitol Tuesday for their “on-the-ground wetland conservation efforts and decades-long dedication to protecting these important natural resources.”

Presented by the Environmental Law Institute, the 2008 National Wetlands Awards for “Education and Outreach” will be presented to Caroline Dean of Opelika, who will be 90 in July and taking her first flight in an airplane to receive the award.

“I never minded getting on an airplane, but the opportunity never presented itself,” Dean said in an interview this week. She will fly to Washington Monday for a series of related events given before and after the awards ceremony.

Dean said that a bulldozer pushing up pitcher plants on the side of dirt road started her plant preservation efforts.

In a letter related to her preservation efforts, she wrote: “One day, in Mobile, Alabama, I saw some pitcher plants being destroyed by road construction machinery. I rescued them and brought them home and built an artificial bog to preserve them. Many people came to see this bog and learned about pitch-plants and the importance of taking care of them.

“Eventually, I was able to build nine more artificial bogs with rescued wetland plants, and use these to demonstrate and teach to hundreds of people who come every year to see my bogs and garden ... ”
Those rescued pitcher plants got her into bog, but her interest in plants was sparked years earlier by the loan of a book.

“Somebody gave me a book,” she said. “I was interested in it and started to study.”

While raising four sons, tending a large garden and belonging to a lot of things kept her busy during the day, hours after her late husband, Baker Dean, was asleep were hers to devote to her study of plants.

“He always fell asleep real quickly. I would get up when he was really sound asleep. I would come right in here (the sofa in her living room) and study.”

The description of her award includes:

“For over 40 years, Ms. Dean has dedicated herself to advocating for and educating others about native flora and wildflowers in the Southeastern U.S., especially those found in wetlands. She has contributed an extensive collection of photographs and descriptions to the Auburn University botanical archives and led rescue efforts to save plants from impending development.

“Ms. Dean frequently shares her expertise and enthusiasm in presentations to garden clubs, Cooperative Extension audiences, and Teachers’ Conservation Workshops and maintains a highly regarded website about Alabama wildflowers that has received nearly 100,000 visitors since 1995. Her continued efforts are particularly remarkable as she approaches her ninetieth birthday in summer 2008.”

The 2008 National Wetlands Awards will be presented during a ceremony from 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, in the Cannon House Office Building Caucus Room in Washington, D.C. She was nominated for the award by George W. Bengtson, associate dean emeritus, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences at Auburn University.

Dean said she will use the five minutes she has to speak during the ceremony to say, “Thank You,” to all the different people for all they have done for her.

“A lot of people have worked hard,” she said.

Dean said her education efforts have been to help people recognize the wildflowers and take care of them.

“I teach the children to recognize the wildflowers and how to take care of them. It is important to know which ones to preserve.”

The winners were selected by a 15-member committee and along with Dean include: Mildred Majoros of Miami Beach, Fla., for “Conservation and Restoration”; John Dorney of Raleigh, N.C., for “State, Tribal and Local Program Development”; Valer and Josiah Austin of Pearce, Ariz., for “Landowner Stewardship” and Raymond Semlitsch of Columbis, Mo., for “Science Research.”

Along with the ELI, the program sponsors include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service.

Anyone interested in Dean’s collection of photographs and information related to Alabama’s wildflowers can visit http://www.auburn.edu~deancar on the Web.