by James Bryan McCaffrey
“The whole of America is seen as a stockpile of resources, like
feathers and lead and bombs. Very occasionally the stockpile concept
is extended to the use and enjoyment of future generations who should
not be denied their key to the stockroom to get at all those raw
materials. Yet I submit this is not how we now live.” Alexandra’s
first writings for the Sierra Club, December 1970
 In the
waning moments of 2011, the earth lost a fearless friend and advocate
when Alexandra Dawson, 80, passed away peacefully at her home in Hadley,
Massachusetts. I first met Alexandra when I volunteered for the Sierra
Club in 1988, the impressionable beginnings of my advocacy journey. I
remember vividly those earliest introductions to this veritable force of
nature: Alexandra’s gift for language, including her deft grasp of
environmental law and the ability to explain its intricacies (and
implications) to others (read ‘non-lawyers’); her razor-sharp wit and
warm smile; and most importantly, her uncompromising defense of the
earth.
Alexandra would often sit intensely and silently quilting away in
public hearings, community gatherings, or local living rooms while
conspiring with friends and colleagues how best to uphold what she
called “the law of the land.” Occasionally, this quiet posture was
punctuated by an obscure or original (often mildly colorful) metaphor
accompanied by some sound table thumping or the formidable (always
harmless) projectile. Be it a tedious environmental review document
detailing the latest affront, or in a pinch, a flung purse, Alexandra
would use whatever means necessary to garner the full attention of the
room and anyone clearly “up to no good” before rendering her finding.
 What
became clear to me over the years was that Alexandra’s gift of speaking
truth to power came with a twist, for it was power that often wanted to
speak to Alexandra. In many ways, Alexandra was the pulse of
environmental activism in Massachusetts, and many within the “corporate
machinery of the government” understood this and respected her views.
Those behind the latest “repugnant idea” to gut a regulation or law
(that Alexandra in many cases had authored) were always well advised to
first get a reality check. The fact is, no matter whose side you may be
on, there was no better way to discern where the entire environmental
community was likely to stand on any given proposal than to first gauge
Alexandra’s reaction. I have often wondered how many bad ideas to
despoil our planet never even made it past an initial phone call to
Alexandra.
Alexandra’s work with the Sierra Club began in 1970, as best our
records reflect. The fledgling New England Sierra Club was just taking
flight, with Alexandra serving as newsletter editor. Describing herself
at the time as a “would-be environmental attorney,” Alexandra noted that
she had been “digging about in the field”. Indeed, what digging
Alexandra would do throughout her legal and advocacy career, not to
mention decades of successfully blocking no small amount of actual
digging by “the bad guys” hankering to bulldoze wetlands, widen
highways, clear the forests, or otherwise float some “harebrained
scheme” that might bring harm to the “critters” Alexandra so loved.
Alexandra always saw right to the core of the good, bad, and ugly
buried within the latest “lamentable proposal.” We fought – and won –
many a battle together, led by her wisdom and guidance. We attended
countless meetings, and once had the distinguished honor of being
unceremoniously tossed out of a curmudgeonly congressman’s office when
he had heard quite enough pleas from us to cease his support of 58 acres
of wetlands filling to land a mere 2 planes per day carrying frozen
fish. I learned from Alexandra to be brave, tenacious, and tireless, and
ultimately came to view her as mentor, friend, and a guiding light in
the environmental movement. The EPA concurred, awarding Alexandra a
Lifetime Achievement award in 2006 (just one of her so many awards).
Alexandra left behind a prolific legacy of writings, including as
author or co-author of many of the Commonwealth’s environmental laws and
regulations that stand to this day. She worked closely with family,
friends, communities and organizations to help secure protection for
thousands of acres of open space in the Pioneer Valley and beyond. In
the past, whenever I faced a new environmental challenge, my first
thought was often “Call Alexandra,” who was always generous with her
time, patient with her analysis, and ingenious in her counsel. A
consultative phone-call to Alexandra may no longer be an option for us
earth-bound critters, but I’m certain we will all be “digging about” for
years to come amongst Alexandra’s archives which form a rich quilt of
remembrance – and guidance – for us in our continued defense of the “law
of the land.”
“The important thing is, to see our individual arguments and
actions in a broader context and to understand that we are all engaged
in a great experiment for which we have little experience and even
less preparation.” From Alexandra’s last column for the Daily
Hampshire Gazette, December 2011
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