We are pleased to announce the 2012 Harvey Weil honorees are:
Conservationist of the Year:
Karen J. Hixon
Karen Hixon is one of the true unsung heroes of wildlife and marine conservation. Karen was born and grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and she graduated from the Santa Catalina School in Monterey, California. She went on to attend Smith College in Maine where she received her B.A. Degree in Art History in 1973.
Karen was appointed to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission in 2007 and continues to serve that worthwhile organization. Presently, Karen also serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, as Board Chair of the San Antonio Museum of Art, and as Trustee Emeritus of St. Mary’s Hall in San Antonio. Karen also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Peregrine Fund in Boise, Idaho, on the Texas Advisory Board for Trust for Public Land, and on the Advisory Board for Mitchell Lake Audubon Center in San Antonio. Karen has also served on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, on the San Antonio Zoological Society as a Docent and Docent Chair, on the Board of Trustees of Santa Catalina School, and on the Board of the Texas Nature Conservancy. Karen and her husband Tim have resided in San Antonio for more than 30 years, and have devoted much of their time and resources to civic and charitable causes. The Hixons like to spend their summers in Idaho at their ranch. Karen and Tim are members of the Idaho Nature Conservancy and are very involved with the new Rangeland Institute at the University of Idaho.
In August of 2011, the Ecological Society of America presented its fourth annual Regional Policy Award to Karen Hixon. This prestigious award recognizes a regional or local policymaker who has an outstanding record of forming her political decision-making with ecological science.
For years Karen Hixon has worked to preserve our natural resources for the benefit of local communities, and has demonstrated an unswerving commitment to conservation. Karen was also named as a 2008 winner of the Trust for Public Land’s “Texas Land and People Award,” which honors individuals and organizations whose work helps to create a stronger culture of land conservation in Texas communities.
For her lifetime of service to the causes of wildlife conservation, the Friends of Harvey Weil Steering Committee are proud to honor Karen Hixon as this year’s winner of the Rotary Club of Corpus Christi Harvey Weil Sportsman Conservationist Award. Karen truly is…a Lady for All Seasons.
Professional Conservationist of the Year:
David Sikes
Count him among sportsmen easily seduced by pristine natural beauty.
Because most of his professional fieldwork involves fishing and hunting, time spent pursuing fish and game has aided this seduction, while allowing him to study, embrace, even immerse in myriad wilderness venues of South Texas and beyond. Along with an intense appreciation for wildlife and its habitat this level of involvement has enhanced his sense of perspective, which he counts among the blessings of his life and profession.
Ultimately, this humble understanding of the natural world has helped shaped him as a conservationist. How could it not? According to David, “Conservation is the lifeblood of fishing and hunting. Without it, I too would wither and die, along with the habitats I enjoy.”
David wrote for several small Texas newspapers before joining the Corpus Christi Caller-Times staff in 1996. In 1998, he took over for Caller-Times Outdoors writer Buddy Gough. His twice weekly outdoors column cover hunting, fishing, paddling, scuba diving, camping, conservation, Texas Parks & Wildlife news, state and federal legislative issues surrounding outdoor recreation and conservation.
Conservation issues he has embraced include the promotion of freshwater inflows into Texas bays and estuaries, seagrass protection throughout coastal Texas and specifically within the Redfish Bay State Scientific Area, reopening of Cedar Bayou and defending Texas Parks & Wildlife’s Coastal Fisheries management strategies.
He has been involved with a variety of conservation organizations such as the Coastal Bend Bays Foundation, Images for Conservation Fund Pro Tour of Nature Photography and is on the board of directors of the Coastal Bend Wildlife Photo Contest.
