Brock Evans’ impressive career as a leader in the environmental movement began in the mid-1960s. After earning his B.A. from Princeton, Brock spent two years in the U.S. Marine Corps and then earned his law degree at the University of Michigan while serving in the reserve of the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1963, Brock moved to Seattle and worked in a private law practice until, three years later, while hiking in one of his favorite areas, he encountered signs indicating that the ancient trees there were about to be logged. Infuriated by the impending loss of this forest, he left his private law practice and dedicated himself full-time to fighting environmental destruction, and for this, we are all eternally grateful.

Building upon his new-found mission, Brock quickly became heavily active in Washington’s state and regional environmental issues, establishing himself as one of the primary community organizers and lobbyists during the crucial years when legislation was being formulated to establish North Cascades National Park. His efforts also provided renewed strength for campaigns to gain wilderness protection for other unprotected regions in the Cascades.

In 1973, Brock was named Director of the Sierra Club’s Washington, D.C. office. Preserving Hell’s Canyon was one of the major issues during his time at the Sierra Club. Private and public utility companies had wanted to dam this 100 mile stretch of Idaho’s Snake River for over two decades, but had been unable to do so because of disputes about who would build and control the dam. Brock set a historic precedent by filing the first environmental lawsuit in the Northwest against the dams and, along with other environmentalists, successfully lobbied for – and drafted – the federal legislation that prevented any dam construction. In the early 1980s, Brock became the National Audubon Society’s Vice-President for National Issues, focusing his energies on the preservation of ancient forests and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

But, Brock’s impressive career does not focus solely on the environment. Aside from being an outstanding lobbyist, advocate and leader, Brock is also a humanitarian. From 1984 to 1991, he was a board member for the Human Environment Center, which focused largely on the environmental problems of the cities. In the early 1990s, Evans helped found the Green Wave Movement, with a goal “to restore American life and the American continent” and create “the foundation of a new green society based on the principles of environmental justice and a sustainable economy.”

Brock currently serves as the President of the Endangered Species Coalition. The Coalition is an association of 450 environmental, scientific, and religious groups dedicated to protecting and strengthening the Endangered Species Act.