NYSOWA Honors Leo Maloney With the M. Paul Keesler Outdoor Citizen Award

.New York State Outdoor Writers Association honors sportsman for service as spokesman for outdoor sports and as a conservationist

Leo Maloney was the recipient of the New York State Outdoor Writers Association M. Paul Keesler New York Outdoor Citizen Award at the communicator association's awards banquet on Saturday, October 4, 2014, in Cortland, N.Y., during its annual conference.

The award was created in the name of one of NYSOWA's most beloved and active members, M. Paul Keesler, the deceased co-founder of "New York Sportsman" magazine. Keesler, through his writing and publishing efforts, spent nearly five decades promoting and conserving the outdoor wonders and recreational opportunities within New York State. The award recognizes an individual or organization that effectively has raised the public's awareness of outdoor recreational opportunities and conservation issues in the state.

Maloney has been an outdoor writer for nearly 40 years as a columnist with the Oneida Daily Dispatch and was a staff writer and regional editor with the New York Sportsman magazine for 20 years. During this time his articles focused on places to hunt, fish, paddle, hike or otherwise enjoy outdoor sports in the state as well as techniques to help readers find success.

He was instrumental in helping reorganize the New York State Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame and making it a statewide recognized organization. He served as president for five years of the Hall of Fame and is currently active on various committees.

Maloney's writings and involvement in various causes have publicized and promoted issues ranging from conserving the Seneca White Deer and providing access for sportsmen in the Adirondacks to saving small trout streams or combating invasive species.

He has been a freelance writer, and he served as editor of Empire Outdoor Journal and Lake Ontario Outdoors. He started and currently serves as editor of Adirondack Outdoors magazine.

Nominations could be made by the public, as well as by NYSOWA members.

The New York State Outdoor Writers Association is a professional organization of communicators dedicated to increasing the public awareness, understanding and appreciation of our outdoor heritage in the use and enjoyment of natural resources. Its primary purpose is to improve knowledge and skill among its members in the art of communication.