ODNR Awards Conservation Honors

Columbus’ Tom Stockdale presented with Cardinal Award

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) honored Tom Stockdale and other leading conservationists who have made outstanding contributions to the protection and enjoyment of the state's natural resources.

ODNR Director Sean D. Logan presented Stockdale with the agency’s Cardinal Award for Conservation for his efforts to generate interest in the outdoors and promote resource conservation. The Cardinal Award honors individuals and organizations that demonstrate exceptional awareness and concern for ideals reflected in the department’s mission statement: to ensure a balance between the wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all.

“Tom Stockdale has spent years introducing young people to the outdoors and his efforts have brought some of Ohio’s best and brightest into the conservation field,” said Director Logan. “Throughout his career as an OSU extension agent, Stockdale has led programs that have allowed Ohioans to become better stewards of the land and he is truly deserving of this award.”

A graduate and professor of The Ohio State University, Stockdale has utilized his master’s in zoology to teach young Ohioans about the state’s natural resources. While teaching at OSU, he earned two service-to-student awards, and many of his students have pursued careers in natural resource management.

Stockdale was an OSU extension agent for 28 years. He facilitated programs that taught thousands of Ohioans about pond management and pesticide application techniques.

In 1988, he joined the Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve Advisory Council and was also a consultant for the ODNR Soil and Water Conservation’s Citizens Lake Improvement Program. Recently, the property Stockdale grew up on in Huron was protected as part of the East Sandusky Bay Preserve. His family was influential in the conservation of the land.

ODNR also presented Cardinal Awards to Doug Adams of Camden, D’Arcy Egan of Marblehead and Larry Rosche of Kent.
During the awards ceremony, which was held at ODNR headquarters in Columbus, Helen Black of Cincinnati, the late Judge Guy B. Findley of Elyria, Tim Gerber of Worthington and Dean Sheldon Jr. of Greenwich were inducted into the Ohio Natural Resources Hall of Fame.

The Ohio Natural Resources Hall of Fame recognizes a lifetime devoted to the preservation, protection and wise management of Ohio's natural resources. 145 individuals have been accorded the honor, including the legendary Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman), Ohio-born explorer John Wesley Powell, botanist Lucy Braun and conservationist/novelist Louis Bromfield.