Glenn Sapir of Putnam Valley, NY, was named the recipient of the New York State Outdoor Writers Association’s prestigious M. Paul Keesler New York Outdoor Citizen Award at its annual conference held this year in Saratoga, NY.

The Keesler Award is presented to an individual or organization that effectively has raised the public’s awareness of outdoor recreational opportunities and conservation issues in New York State. The award was created to honor worthy individuals and organizations, at the same time perpetuating the name of one of the organization’s dearest members. The late M. Paul Keesler spent nearly five decades promoting and conserving the outdoor wonders and recreational opportunities within New York State.

Sapir has been an outdoor writer for over 50 years and has served the outdoor community in many ways by publicizing outdoor recreational opportunities and alerting people to important issues in conservation and outdoor sports.

He has been an editor for the “Big Three,” including Field & Stream for 18 years, but has contributed to state and local publications as well, including New York Sportsman (for which he served as editor), The Conservationist, The Fisherman, and others. His newspaper column for Gannett’s Journal News, which covered three New York counties, ran for 27 years. In all of these he exposed readers to outdoor recreational opportunities and conservation issues in New York State.

Sapir has been communicating about recreational access, conservation issues, including climate change, its effects and what we can help do to minimize, even reverse it, increasing diversity in outdoor recreation, and skills in various outdoor pursuits. Not only has he created interest in various outdoor sports, but he has also helped increase the skills of outdoorsmen by passing along tips or other vital information. He has publicized the widespread availability of public lands and commercial shooting preserves and fishing public waters (with a sensitivity to avoid undue pressure on public resources). He has been a strong supporter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited and other deserving conservation groups.

As president of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, he strived to increase communication and organized concurrent conference sessions that focused on national issues to make other writers aware of the important issues. While working with the National Shooting Sports Foundation he was a major factor in publicizing issues of importance to sportsmen, including the popular safety programs, ethics, scholarships, and more.

He has been an active member of NYSOWA, including serving as president and other offices. As chair of the Excellence in Craft Program he has secured important funding to encourage writers to demonstrate excellence in communicating the joy of outdoor recreation and the importance of preserving our outdoor heritage.

Sapir continues to regularly contribute a column to New York Outdoor News, exposing others to the joys of outdoor recreation. His actions and his words are a statement to being involved in important causes such as shooting safety, liberalizing turkey seasons to improve opportunity, and others. His efforts and dedication make him an ideal recipient for an honor named after one of New York State’s most revered sportsmen, M. Paul Keesler.

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Contact:Bill Hilts, Jr., billhiltsjr@gmail.com, 1-716-622-6168