Bruce Kershner

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Bruce Kershner at Buckhorn Island State Park

Bruce S. Kershner (April 17, 1950 in Brooklyn, New York, USA, died February 16, 2007 in Cheektowaga) was an environmentalist author and forest ecologist.

As a child he resided in Staten Island. Bruce Kershner obtained degrees from Binghamton University and the University of Connecticut. He most recently resided in Amherst with his wife Helene.

He was a renowned old growth forest authority[1] and has discovered almost 300 old growth forests in Eastern North America where previously no one thought they existed.[2] These include the second tallest hardwood forest in Eastern North America, outside of the southern Appalachians, New York State's oldest forest, and the largest assemblage of old growth (the Niagara River corridor) [AMERICAN FORESTS Magazine, Fall 2005]. Kershner has published a dozen books including the Sierra Club Guide to Ancient Forests of the Northeast[3] and Secret Places: Scenic Treasures of Western New York and Southern Ontario[4].

Bruce Kershner has won numerous awards for his environmental activism. These include 'Environmentalist of the Year' in 1987 and 1988 from the Sierra Club (Niagara Group) and the Adirondack Mountain Club, and 'Environmentalist of the Year in New York State' in 1996 from Environmental Advocates of New York.[5] Bruce Kershner was serving as the Conservation Chair for the Buffalo Audubon Society.[6]

Bruce Kershner has also led numerous ecological studies. These have included studies of the Reinstein Woods State Nature Preserve, Zoar Valley, Staten Island, Allegany State Park, and the Niagara Gorge. He was working on a research study for legal proceedings associated with the Kortright Hills Community Association in Guelph, Ontario. [7]

Kershner died in hospice, suffering from esophageal cancer.

[edit] Bibliography (Selected)

Buffalo's Backyard Wilderness: An Ecological Study of the Dr. Victor Reinstein Woods State Nature Preserve (1993) [8]
Secret Places of Western New York (1994) [9]
Secret Places of Staten Island (1998) [10]
Cascades, Cataracts, and Chasms: A Guide to the Waterfalls of Western New York and Nearby Ontario (1998)
Guide to the Ancient Forests of Zoar Valley Canyon (2000)
The Sierra Club Guide to the Ancient Forests of the Northeast (2004) [11]