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Eco-City Alexandria

Fifth Annual Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award

Danielle Fidler Named Winner of This Year’s Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award Presentation to be Made Saturday at Alexandria Earth Day 2013

(APRIL 19, 2013 – ALEXANDRIA, VA) Alexandria Renew Enterprises and the City of Alexandria Environmental Policy Commission announced today that Danielle Fidler is the winner of this year’s Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award. The award will be presented at Alexandria’s Earth Day 2013 celebration on Saturday, April 20 at Ben Brenman Park. A tree will also be planted in Fidler’s honor. Alexandria Renew Enterprises is the former Alexandria Sanitation Authority.

The award is named in honor of the late Ellen Pickering and her lifelong dedication to City preservation and conservation. She helped create the Mount Vernon Trail between Alexandria and Washington and urged the adoption of the City’s Open Space Plan. Pickering also implemented the planting of 1,000 resident-donated cherry trees during her tenure as Chair of the Alexandria Beautification Commission. She was a member of the Alexandria Sanitation Authority’s Board of Directors and also served on the City Council and numerous boards and commissions.

“Ms. Fidler represents the environmental stewardship, leadership and dedication exemplified by Ms. Pickering’s decades of service to the City she loved so much, and to which she gave so much,” said Alexandria Renew Enterprises CEO Karen Pallansch.  Due to term limits, Fidler recently left the Alexandria Environmental Policy Commission after serving 10 years as member, vice chair and chair.

Despite being a busy environmental attorney, Fidler still found the time to develop and drive to completion the landmark Eco-City Alexandria Charter and Environmental Action Plan. “Like Ms. Pickering, Danielle has never shied away from the tough issues and was focused on results. And like Ms. Pickering, she was a tireless and tenacious champion of open spaces and planting trees. Ms. Fidler was, and continues to be, a pivotal force and advocate of a green and vibrant Alexandria,” said Pallansch.

“I believe that Ms. Pickering would be very pleased with the selection of Danielle Fidler as the winner of this year’s award.  Ms. Fidler exemplifies the same passion that Ms. Pickering brought to protecting our fragile environment while enriching the City’s beauty and the lives of its residents,” Pallansch said.  

About Ellen Pickering

  • The award is named in honor of Frances Ellen Pickering's lifelong dedication to preservation and conservation in the City of Alexandria. Mrs. Pickering was a long-time City activist who first gained recognition for her lobbying efforts more than 31 years ago that ultimately helped to create the Mount Vernon Trail between Alexandria and Washington, DC.

  • An active preservationist and conservationist, she was deeply committed to preserving and enhancing the City's waterfront. She urged the adoption of the City's Open Space Plan, lobbied to preserve Founder's Park and protect it from high-rise development, and implemented the planting of 1,000 citizen-donated cherry trees during her tenure as chair of the Alexandria Beautification Commission.

  • Mrs. Pickering was elected to City Council as an independent, serving for one term between 1976 and 1979. She also served on numerous City boards and commissions, including the Alexandria Beautification Commission, the Alexandria Sanitation Authority, the Ad Hoc Committee on Potomac Yard, the Potomac Greens Task Force, and the Open Space Steering Committee. She also chaired the Northern Virginia Conservation Council for many years. She won two Salute to Women Awards from the City's Commission on Women; she was also an active member of the League of Women Voters and the Alexandria chapter of the American Association of University Women.

Previous Award Winners