Defender of the Trust Award

Since 1993, the Mono Lake Committee has honored individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to champion Mono Lake. Recipients include:

2009: Richard Roos-Collins
Richard Roos-Collins was California Trout's lead attorney from October 1991 to the present. His courteous yet formidable courtroom appearances helped win many victories for the Mono Basin.

2007: Jim Canaday
California State Water Resources Control Board staff member Jim Canaday was assigned to the Mono Lake case in the early 1990s and guided the hearings, decisions, and implementation through 2007 with integrity and professionalism, always with the public trust in mind.


2006: Andrea Mead Lawrence
Andrea Mead Lawrence moved to Mammoth Lakes in 1968, and from the outset she has been dedicated to finding the path between protecting the Eastern Sierra environment and protecting the communities of people who live and work in the region. Andrea served 16 years on the Mono County Board of Supervisors, and throughout her service to the people and environment of Mono County she has been a wise friend of Mono Lake and the Mono Basin. Andrea most recently headed a new organization, the Andrea Lawrence Institute for Mountains and Rivers, and served on the Mono Lake Committee Board of Directors until her passing in 2009.

2005: Richard Riordan
Mayor Riordan was elected the 39th mayor of Los Angeles in June 1993, arriving in the office at an important time for the Mono Lake Committee. The very next year, he, the City Council, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) Commission had to make a decision whether or not to appeal the State Water Resources Control Board's decision that ordered DWP to re-water Mono Basin streams and wetlands for fish and wildlife and raise the lake level to an ecologically sound level. Fortunately for Mono Lake, the City's decision was to accept the Water Board order.

2004: Dennis Tito
Dennis Tito, Founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wilshire Associates, Inc., and former Chairman of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Commission, received the 2004 Mono Lake Committee Defender of the Trust Award. This award is in recognition of his skill in working with the City of Los Angeles, the City Council of Los Angeles, and his fellow Commissioners to gain their acceptance of the 1994 State Water Resource Control Board order that DWP share its water with Mono Lake. It was important to have someone within the Department of Water and Power agree that the legal battles should end and conservation and restoration should begin. Mr. Tito's pioneering role as the first space tourist parallels his willingness to pioneer a new relationship between DWP and the Mono Lake Committee.

2003: Sally Gaines
Sally was born in 1952 with the last name Judy, a fourth generation Californian and raised in Menlo Park, California. She earned a B.S. degree from UC Davis in Environmental Planning and Management, specializing in Environmental Interpretation. During her college years she met David Gaines and joined him and his birding friends to see Mono Lake for the first time in 1974. In 1976 Sally was part of the undergraduate research team that conducted the first ecological study of Mono Lake, where they proved how much would be lost if Mono Lake dried up. In 1978, Sally and Dave moved to Lee Vining as founders and volunteer staff of the fledgling Mono Lake Committee. Sally and David had a daughter in 1983 and a son 2 years later. Sally has lived in Mammoth since 1996. Sally continues to provide invaluable guidance to the Mono Lake Committee as a member of its Board of Directors.

2002, joint award winners:

Rick Lehman
As a Congressman, Rick Lehman pushed legislation to create the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area and later made sure that federal air pollution laws covered dust storms at Mono Lake. Through the Scenic Area, millions of people learned about the importance of Mono Lake to the nation and the world. He currently serves on our Board of Directors.

Phil Isenberg
As a California Assemblyman, Phil Isenberg co-authored the Environmental Water Act of 1989 (AB 444), offering $60 million in funding to help Los Angeles develop new water supplies to replace the Mono Basin diversions. By providing funding for the development of replacement water supplies, the State initiated a problem solving approach that not only ensured Los Angeles would have reliable, adequate water supplies, but also assured that Mono Lake's protection would not harm the San Francisco Bay Delta or any other place. 

2001: joint award winners:

Stan Eller
Mono County Assistant District Attorney in 1984. In keeping with Fish and Game Code Section 5937, he sent two sheriff's deputies to warn the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power not to touch the valve that would turn off Rush Creek, thus raising the legal importance of that code and defending the Public Trust at Rush Creek.

California Trout
A conservation group which took leadership in the legal battle to enforce on Rush Creek the Fish and Game Code 5937, which forbids dewatering creeks below dams. Their partnership with the Mono Lake Committee and the National Audubon Society achieved legal victories that led to the landmark Mono Lake decision of the State Water Resources Control Board in 1994.

2000: George Miller
California Congressman, who championed federal legislation for water conservation and water recycling, helping to convince Los Angeles' political leaders that there would still be water for the city if Mono Lake was protected.

1999: Zev Yaroslavsky
Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky was one of the first leaders within the City of Los Angeles to advocate for Mono Lake's preservation. Serving on the Los Angeles City Council from 1975-1993, he also played a critical role in helping secure Federal and State funds for retrofitting low-flow toilets, water recycling, and other conservation programs to replace the water being used now to restore Mono Lake and Mono Basin streams and wetlands.

1998: Ruth Galanter
Los Angeles City Councilwoman since 1987. Galanter was instrumental in negotiations between the Department of Water and Power and the Mono Lake Committee, resulting in the successful application of state and federal funding to find replacement water sources for Mono Basin diversions. She has also crafted ordinances to install ultra-low-flush toilets in all new construction projects, and in all homes and apartments before resale.

1997: Martha Davis
Executive director of the Mono Lake Committee from 1984-1996. Davis came to the Committee in 1983 as the legislative representative and became executive director within a few months. Under her direction the Mono Lake Committee made tremendous strides in both the courtroom and in the legislature. She currently serves on our Board of Directors.

1995, joint award winners:

Bruce Dodge
Attorney with Morrison and Foerster of San Francisco. Dodge has been the Committee's lead attorney since the inception of the Mono Lake litigation, and was the one to convince Morrison and Foerster to work on the Mono Lake case on a pro bono basis.

Jan Stevens
Senior Assistant for the Land Law section of the California Attorney General's office and expert on the Public Trust Doctrine, who convinced the State Lands Commission and the Department of Parks and Recreation to become a party to Mono Lake litigation, participate in the preliminary injunction, and take an active role in the State Water Resources Control Board hearings.

1994: George Peyton
Attorney, former director of the National Audubon Society. Peyton rallied National Audubon Society (NAS) behind the original Public Trust Lawsuit in 1979, and convinced NAS to continue its involvement in the Mono Lake cause.

1993: Harold Gilliam
Author, environmental writer for the San Francisco Examiner. Gilliam's article, "The Destruction of Mono Lake Is on Schedule" appeared in the paper's Sunday edition in March, 1979, and was one of the first articles to draw attention to Mono Lake's plight.