One of B.C.'s best-known environmentalists, Colleen McCrory, died in her hometown of New Denver in the West Kootenays on Sunday, July 1, at the age of 57.

Colleen McCrory's death Sunday from brain cancer has saddened many in the environmental community and beyond. Ms. McCrory, who founded the Valhalla Wilderness Society in 1975 to protect the forests around Slocan Lake in the West Kootenays of B.C., was a tireless champion of many conservation efforts, including the protection of Clayoquot Sound and South Moresby Island.

David Suzuki, who knew her well, said she was "a real powerhouse, not just in B.C., but in the whole country." Dr. Suzuki said the area that eventually became Valhalla Provincial Park because of Ms. McCrory's efforts is "very special" to him, as the Suzuki family was interned in Slocan City on Slocan Lake during the Second World War. In the mid '80s, Ms. McCrory organized a hike for Dr. Suzuki and his ailing father into an area where the family once fished.

Dr. Suzuki said her death is "just a great loss."

Although her efforts sometimes brought her into conflict with her neighbours in the forest-industry dependent area around her hometown of New Denver, as well as with powerful union leaders and politicians, she was recognized for her work with numerous awards and accolades, including a Governor-General's Conservation Award in 1983 and the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1992, the same year that she was named to the United Nations Global 500 Roll of Honour. She also founded Canada's Future Forest Alliance in 1991.

David Suzuki Foundation sustainability director Ann Rowan praised Ms. McCrory for her leadership. "She was someone we all looked up to -- an incredible force," she said.