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The Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award
The 2012 Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award was presented to the Alexandria Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) by Alexandria Renew Enterprises (formerly Alexandria Sanitation Authority) and the City of Alexandria Environmental Policy Commission at the 2012 Alexandria Earth Day celebration.
BPAC was launched in February 2011 to support a force of active citizens who enjoy bicycling and walking in the City of Alexandria. This all-volunteer group has supported local bicycle and pedestrian initiatives that include the installation of bike racks on DASH buses and the inclusion of bicycle networks in small area plans. BPAC is currently encouraging city planners to use the latest “best practices” for bicycling and walking. In October 2011, BPAC launched a series of monthly community bike rides focused on “utility cycling,” or using Alexandria’s bike network for shopping, socializing and commuting in daily life. BPAC also encouraged the City to bring the already-popular Capital Bikeshare to Alexandria.
BPAC recently recruited and trained bicycle and rider volunteer “counters.” Their data suggests that the Mount Vernon Trail, which runs from Roosevelt Island to Mount Vernon, moves about one million people through Alexandria each year.
A tree was planted at the Alexandria Earth Day event to honor the work of the Alexandria Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and Mrs. Pickering.
The Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award is named in honor of Frances Ellen Pickering’s lifelong dedication to preservation and conservation in the City of Alexandria. She was a member of the Alexandria Sanitation Authority Board of Directors, and also served on the City Council and numerous City boards and commissions.
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
The City of Alexandria Environmental Policy Commission and the Alexandria Sanitation Authority awarded the first Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award in 2009.
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