Posted on 08/03/2004 7:00:57 AM PDT by CedarDave
Mary Wiper, the leader of the Sierra Club in New Mexico, died Sunday after being struck by lightning while hiking with friends in Breckenridge, Colo.
"This accident— it's just about as random as anything nature can serve up," said Lawson LeGate, the senior Southwest region representative for the Sierra Club and Wiper's boss. Wiper, 28, and two others were struck during a thunderstorm. The other two regained consciousness but were unable to revive Wiper.
Wiper took over last May as Sierra Club's associate field representative for the Southwest. She oversaw projects in New Mexico, including the Sierra Club's participation in campaigns against oil and gas drilling at Otero Mesa and coal mining at the Zuni Salt Lake.
She was widely respected in the state's environmental community and remembered Monday as dedicated, thoughtful and always upbeat. A public memorial service is planned for 7 p.m. today at La Posada de Albuquerque.
"Mary was a warm, wonderful, caring person," said Stephen Capra, executive director of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. "The whole situation is a tragedy and an enormous loss to the conservation community in New Mexico."
Jeanne Bassett, executive director of the New Mexico Public Interest Research Group, agreed. "Mary had only been in the state a short time and had already made tremendous contributions through her work to protect New Mexico's health and environment," she said.
Wiper was hiking with a group of friends from college and the Montana Sierra Club northeast of Breckenridge on Sunday. She and two others had split off from the main group when a thunderstorm hit about 3 p.m., said LeGate. The three hikers were in a stand of trees but not huddled under one tree, he said. "They were struck by lightning, all thrown to the ground, all unconscious," LeGate said. "Mary just never recovered."
When the two other hikers regained consciousness after an uncertain amount of time, one had a broken wrist and directed the other in CPR to try to revive Wiper, he said. They were unable to help her and got to a phone to call emergency personnel, but it was too late. The Summit County coroner planned an autopsy, LeGate said.
Wiper began working in the fall of 1999 for the Sierra Club in Montana, where she organized a successful campaign against oil drilling in eastern Montana's Weatherman Draw, a small valley with Indian petroglyphs, before moving to Albuquerque. LeGate said she was passionate about that issue and had a "deep and abiding interest" in working with Native American tribes on cultural issues.
"She's going to leave a big space in our hearts on a personal level, and she'll leave a hole in our organization that'll be hard to fill," he said. Wiper is survived by her mother, Sandra, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; her father, Ray, of Bowbells, N.D.; a sister, Ann Gerber, of Los Angeles; and a brother, Robert, of Minneapolis. A funeral will be held Saturday in her hometown of Bowbells.
Copyright 2004 Albuquerque Journal
PING
Nature is good. Lightening is Bad?
I think they should name an oil well in her honor.
Yikes! My daughter was hiking/camping in that area last weekend.
It seems mother nature is fond of irony.
John F'n Kerry would make lightning illegal. Also mountain lions, thirst, broken legs and everything else that kills environmentalists.
I am sorry for her familily's loss but it still is a lesson on how nature works.
Just mentioned this to a friend in an IM. He said "if there had been an oil derrick there, it would have attracted the lightning, prevented her from getting hit, and saved her life".
Reminds me of that granola pro-bear anti-human guy who was killed by a bear last year.
I'm sure I wouldn't have liked her if I'd met her, but prayers for her and her loved ones.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
More likely a grove of trees.
Unless you believe in a higher source.
Howard Bogess of the Crow Tribe and Mary Wiper, conservation organizer for the Montana Chapter.
It would seem that Ms. Wiper recieved the ultimate ZOT!
More extreme irony on a day that seems to be producing more than its share of ironies.
Another result of Bush's ditching Kyoto: More lightning. Shark attacks are up, too. Man-eating cockroaches.....Dem convention was infested...
"You have failed me for the last time." - Gaea.
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