Author Tom Stienstra - California Outdoors Hall of Fame

Tom Stienstra

Tom Stienstra inducted into California Outdoors Hall of Fame

Tom Stienstra, California's most traveled outdoorsman and best-selling author/columnist, has been inducted into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame along with four other new members for 2003.

"The ability to inspire thousands of Californians to take part in the great outdoors links the 2003 inductees to the California Outdoors of Hall of Fame," said John Kirk of the International Sportsmen's Expositions, which sponsors the event. "The five new members also share a paramount scope of adventures."

Other winners for 2003 are: Leslie Appling of Palm Springs, a premier wilderness guide and a leader of the Leave No Trace movement; Keith Fraser of San Rafael, Bay Area fishing pioneer and founding president of United Anglers of California; Roy Cannon (posthumous) of Hollywood, legendary author and fisherman, and the first public figure to raise the issue of ocean conservation; Ansel Adams (posthumous), nonpareil outdoor photographer and conservationist.

The winners were selected from nominations from the California Department of Tourism, California Department of Fish and Game, members of the media, and the ""Circle of Chiefs'' made up of past Hall of Fame members.

The California Outdoors Hall of Fame recognizes individuals with a profound scope of outdoor accomplishments that have impacted others and improved the life of Californians. Personal achievement by itself, on the other hand, merits less consideration.

The 2003 winners:

Tom Stienstra
Tom Stienstra is an avid outdoorsmen who has become one of the state's most traveled adventurers, covering 1 million miles in California, hiking 20,000 miles, fishing, boating, camping and leading epic-style expeditions. As a pilot, he ventures quickly across large areas from trip to trip. He is the No. 1-selling author of outdoor guidebooks in America with 1 million copies sold, and his book "California Camping" has twice been named the No. 1 outdoor book in the world. As the outdoors columnist with the San Francisco Chronicle, Stienstra has twice won the Presidents Award as the national outdoors writer of the year from the Outdoors Writers Association of America.

Leslie Appling
Leslie Appling of Palm Springs has introduced the wilderness experience to thousands of families, single women and children, and been at the forefront of the Leave No Trace movement. Appling has been a premier guide of the non-profit National Outdoor Leadership School, based in Casper, Wyoming, and other outfitters. She is an expert in wilderness skills and is widely sought to lead groups as well as for personal instruction. Her travels have taken her across the high Sierra, Utah, the Rocky Mountains and far beyond. She is now currently guiding in Mexico and is in the process of establishing an outdoor education program in Saudi Arabia. As one of the driving forces of the Leave No Trace movement, Appling defined herself as one of America's leaders of teaching wilderness ethics.

Keith Fraser
Keith Fraser of San Rafael developed sturgeon fishing in the Bay Area from cult status to mainstream, and inspired thousands to take up the sport through public seminars. Fraser has also had a profound influence on conservation. He is the founding president of United Anglers of California, inspired the first hatchery plants of striped bass and sturgeon in San Francisco Bay in California history, the crackdown on sturgeon snaggers, and by example, has inspired thousands to release sturgeon so they may grow to old age and giant sizes. After being pressured, he said he kept track of his fishing trips for one four-month period. In 41-trips, typically lasting two to three hours, he hooked 86 sturgeon (over 46 inches) out of 96 bites, including 26 straight without a missed set, and released all but one, including two weighing more than 200 pounds.

Roy Cannon (posthumous)
Roy Cannon became the hero of a generation of fishermen who discovered both the Pacific Coast and Baja, California through his adventures and writings in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. His book, ""How to Fish The Pacific Coast,'' published in 1953, was the first work to identify and scientifically categorize 200 species of fish that live on the California coast. Cannon was also the first mainstream author in Los Angeles to press for conservation measures on the ocean, correctly predicting that commercial interests could impact what seemed limitless resources. In the 1960s, Cannon advanced from hero to legend across North America with his lyrical tales of fishing along Baja that appeared primarily in Western Outdoor News in Southern California and the 1966 landmark book, "Sea of Cortez." This stunning success came after Cannon had retired after a successful career as an actor, director and writer in Hollywood.

Ansel Adams (posthumous)
Ansel Adams is the best known outdoors photographer in history. His black-and-white photographs of Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada are considered among classic art and his prints have sold millions of copies. Adams started his career as a public relations employee at Yosemite National Park, then parlayed that opportunity with a zest for life and an unmatched eye for wild places. Using crude equipment, he captured moments by mastering the use of natural light that awakened millions worldwide to the grandeur of California's most pristine landscapes. As an outdoorsman, Adams became known for an ability to trek anywhere in the pursuit of the perfect photograph. In the process, he inspired thousands to join the conservation movement to protect wilderness. In his honor, the U.S. Forest Service named the Minaret Range south of Yosemite as the Ansel Adams Wilderness.

Past winners 2002

Galen Rowell, photographer and trekker
Carole Latimer, camping pioneer and outfitter
Ed Rice, flyfisher and promoter
Brian Robinson, Triple Crown hiker
John Muir (posthumous), explorer/glaciologist, founder of conservation movement