MUNCIE, Ind. - On Earth Day, Ball State University's Council on the Environment presented its inaugural Environmental Exemplar awards to three prominent local residents who enhanced public understanding of the complex issues that impact natural resources.

The award recipients were:

• Frank Bracken, lifelong Muncie resident and attorney, received the Environmental Exemplar Award for Lifetime Achievement.
• Jim Davis, creator of Garfield, was honored with an Environmental Exemplar Award.
• Seth Slabaugh, reporter for the Muncie Star Press, was given an Environmental Exemplar Award.

Bracken's lifetime achievements regarding environmental stewardship include serving as the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior from 1989 to 1993, heading up the Indianapolis Greenways Development Committee and helping to raise funds for the protection of Gettysburg and other Civil War battlefields.

Bracken also facilitated the creation of the Ball State University Bracken Environmental Fund, a $500,000 gift from his mother Rosemary's estate to promote environmental education and awareness.

"Everyone can think in terms of birds and animals," Bracken said. "When you start talking 'biodiversity' and 'ecosystems,' though, you lose people. Talk about preserving habitat and that the wildlife depends upon everyone's efforts, and it gets people involved."

Davis' company, Paws, Inc., has restored two wetland areas and four natural prairies, reforested nearly 70 acres and constructed the nation's first Solar Aquatic System (SAS), a waste treatment plant, at its headquarters.

Davis and Paws have been honored by the National Arbor Day Foundation, the Indiana Wildlife Federation and the National Fishing Week committee.

Slabaugh has been a reporter at the Star Press for more than 25 years. Much of his career has been spent specializing in environmental coverage, writing about polluted streams, pesticide use at schools and the infestation of gypsy moths.

Slabaugh's unbiased and balanced journalism have earned him awards from the Indiana Wildlife Federation, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana chapter of the American Water Works.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Robert Koester at (765) 285-1135 or rkoester@bsu.edu.)