GRAYLING – For nearly 20 years, Grayling resident Karen Harrison has devoted her life toward the protection and betterment of the Au Sable and Upper Manistee rivers, all without making a cent.
For her quiet leadership, her passion and her jack-of-all-trades expertise, Harrison will be awarded the 2021 Petoskey Prize for Environmental Leadership by the Michigan Environmental Council, a coalition of nearly 80 organizations that drives the state’s environmental agenda.
Harrison will accept the Petoskey Prize at the Environmental Council’s 23rd Annual Environmental Awards Celebration, hosted from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19 at Gordon Hall in Dexter. Tickets and sponsorships can be purchased at environmentalcouncil.org.
The Petoskey Prize is the state’s premiere recognition of an environmental, grassroots volunteer. It comes with a $5,000 gift to the Environmental Council member organization that nominates the winner.
Harrison was nominated by Grayling’s Mason-Griffith Chapter of Michigan Trout Unlimited, the founding chapter of the national Trout Unlimited organization, composed of 387 local groups. She’ll join Bob Andrus and Rusty Gates, past regional recipients.
Bryan Burroughs, executive director of Michigan Trout Unlimited, noted the Mason-Griffith Chapter is among the organization’s most active and impactful groups, and that is largely due to Harrison’s eight years (and counting) as president.
In this role, she revitalized the chapter; led and took part in river restoration projects; raised $1 million in support of conservation; and helped people of all ages fall in love with the Au Sable and Upper Manistee rivers by teaching them fly fishing.
Harrison’s success in preserving her hometown rivers is also seen through her partnership with other local organizations. She served in leadership positions on Anglers of the Au Sable, Fly Fishers International’s Great Lakes Council and the Frederic Township Planning Commission.
“Karen doesn’t draw attention to herself, avoids and never places herself in the limelight, and never even allows her team to fully understand just how much she does to make things work,” said Burroughs. “She just keeps all focus on the work at hand and how our natural resources will be better if we keep doing more and more. It’s all about the work, the benefits to our watersheds, our fish and the people who take part in it.”
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