Organizer of the National Forest Reform Network and founder of three state and local conservation organizations, he has dedicated much of his career to the preservation of nature's wild places, especially our native forests. With conviction, determination and perseverance, he has been a leader in campaigning against indiscriminate and uncontrolled clearcutting. An attorney and the author of three books about forests, he has drafted federal forest legislation such as the 1984 East Texas Wilderness Act. To save the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker, he successfully took the U.S. Forest Service to court to stop clearcutting in 200,000 acres of East Teas forests. Believing that without natural diversity humanity may not survive, he has exerted leadership reflecting a deep love and reverence for plants, trees, prairies, hill country and wetlands and for the wildlife that depend on them. In recognition of his insight and vision and his courageous leadership and distinguished service, we are pleased to confer upon him, an alumnus of our University, the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.