Bruce S. Kershner was an environmentalist

Environmentalist

An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...

, author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and forest ecologist.

As a child he resided in Staten Island. Bruce Kershner obtained degrees from Binghamton University

Binghamton University

Binghamton University, also formally called State University of New York at Binghamton, , is a public research university in the State of New York. The University is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York system...

 and the University of Connecticut

University of Connecticut

The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...

. He most recently resided in Amherst

Amherst, New York

Amherst is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 122,366. This represents an increase of 5.0% from the 2000 census. The town is named for Jeffrey Amherst, a British Army officer of the colonial period...

 with his wife Helene.

He was a renowned old growth forest

Old growth forest

An old-growth forest is a forest that has attained great age , and thereby exhibits unique ecological features. An old growth forest has also usually reached a climax community...

 authority, and has discovered almost 300 old growth forests in Eastern North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 where previously no one thought they existed. These include the second tallest hardwood forest in Eastern North America, outside of the southern Appalachians, New York State's oldest forest, and the largest assemblage of old growth (the Niagara River corridor) . Kershner has published a dozen books including the Sierra Club Guide to Ancient Forests of the Northeasthttp://www.sierraclub.org/books/catalog/1578050669.asp and Secret Places: Scenic Treasures of Western New York and Southern Ontario.

Bruce Kershner has won numerous awards for his environmental activism. These include 'Environmentalist of the Year' in 1987 and 1988 from the Sierra Club (Niagara Group)

Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...

 and the Adirondack Mountain Club

Adirondack Mountain Club

The Adirondack Mountain Club is a nonprofit organization founded in 1922. It has approximately 35,000 members. The ADK is dedicated to the protection and responsible recreational use of the New York State Forest Preserve, parks, wild lands, and waters; it conducts extensive conservation, and...

, and 'Environmentalist of the Year in New York State' in 1996 from Environmental Advocates of New York.http://ens.alfred.edu/seminardescrip.htm Bruce Kershner was serving as the Conservation Chair for the Buffalo

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

 Audubon Society.

Bruce Kershner led numerous ecological

Ecology

Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

 studies. These have included studies of the Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve

Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve

Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve is a limited access conservation area located in the Town of Cheektowaga in Erie County, New York, USA. An environmental education center is located at the entrance to this area....

, Zoar Valley, Staten Island, Allegany State Park

Allegany State Park

Allegany State Park is a state park in western New York State, located in Cattaraugus County just north of Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. The park is divided into two sections: The Red House Area and the Quaker Run Area. It lies within the Allegheny Highlands forests ecoregion.The Red...

, and the Niagara Gorge

Niagara Gorge

Niagara Gorge is a gorge carved by the Niagara River along the US-Canadian border in New York and Ontario. As Niagara Falls recedes upstream toward Lake Erie, the river has gouged the hard dolomitic limestone of the Niagara escarpment to form the gorge...

. He was working on a research study for legal proceedings associated with the Kortright Hills Community Association in Guelph

Guelph

Guelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

.

Kershner died in February 2007, after battling esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...

 for a year and a half.

Effective September 4, 2008, New York State Governor David Patterson

David Patterson

David Patterson may refer to:*David Patterson , American professor of computer science at UC Berkeley*Dave Patterson , baseball player...

signed into law the Bruce S. Kershner Old-growth Forest Preservation and Protection Act, an amendment to existing environmental law that establishes a first in the nation definition of an Old Growth Forest, compels indefinite protection on state land and encourages acquisition by the state where the definition is satisfied on private land.

External links

• Bio from Alfred University Seminar Series
• NYTimes A Rendezvous with 2 Giant Trees
• NYTimes A High School's Teams Challenge The Mighty Oaks
• Buffalo Audubon Society
• Rogues Gallery of ENTS Members
• http://newyork.sierraclub.org/niagara/brucekershner.html
• Newsday ' 'Enthusiasm Rarely Seen In This Neck Of The Woods - LI Moment Column