The environmental movement should be the empowering and transformative force in the South today, as the civil rights movement was in the 1960s. — John Lane

Writingto Save Our World

Every year, the Southern Environmental Law Center gives an annual writing award to honor those who put words on a page to capture the natural beauty of the South—and to warn of the serious environmental challenges we face as a region.

“The land is so important to southern writing, and it always has been,” says author Lee Smith, who has served on the independent panel that selects our award winners. “Writers have always drawn their inspiration from the natural world. I see it now in danger of disappearing” due to a range of environmental threats affecting our native landscapes from the mountains to the coast.

“The South produces the best writers,” says Janisse Ray (2000 Reed Award). “Southern nature writers recognize we are dependent on natural processes and are sounding the alarm, putting it in words, and expressing the thoughts and feelings of all Southerners. Writers are bearing witness to what is happening on the ground in people’s lives.”

Conservation is a core value that is widely shared. But many people see the natural world around them changing so fast they feel powerless to do anything about it. Through law and policy advocacy, the Southern Environmental Law Center serves as a powerful agent for those who want to protect what is special about this region. Our Philip D. Reed Memorial Award for Outstanding Writing on the South-ern Environment not only recognizes and encourages powerful environmental writing, it also spreads the word that there are lots of people who care about these issues, and that there is reason for hope.

Says John Lane (2001 Reed Award), “It’s imperative we continue to celebrate the best of southern environmental writing. The environmental movement should be the empowering and transformative force in the South today, as the civil rights movement was in the 1960s.”

To take effective action, people need to be informed about the issues—and given some guidance as to what role they can play. Charles Seabrook (1998 Reed Award) remembers frequent calls from readers expressing concern about the destruction of their surroundings. “They want help,” Seabrook says. “People get fired up about the environment when it affects them in their own backyards.”

“SELC has done a wonderful job of protecting the natural resources in the South, but the battle is still there, and there’s so much more to do,” Lee Smith reflects. “We have to support SELC.” Adds Janisse Ray, “If we want to make a difference in the environment, we need some sharp teeth. SELC has teeth.”

Awakening People to the Changes Around Them

Sounding a Call for Action

SELC’s Reed Award is named in honor of SELC founding trustee Phil Reed, a talented attorney and committed environmental advocate. A graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, Reed was one of the first practitioners of environmental law. After working in government and for the Environmental Law Institute, a nonprofit research organization, he headed the environmental practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York.

Reed’s legacy as an environmental pioneer and his concern for the South’s natural heritage lives on through the enthusiasm of the Reed Award winners and judges.

To see who serves on the independent judges panel or to learn more about the Reed Environmental Writing Award, visit SouthernEnvironment.org/phil_reed.

The Southern Environmental Law Center uses the power of the law to protect the environment of the South. To learn more about SELC, to sign up for updates, and to support our work, visit SouthernEnvironment.org.

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David George Haskell, The Forest UnseenJay Erskine Leutze, Stand Up That Mountain

Dave Gessner, The Tarball Chronicles: A Journey Beyond the Oiled Pelican and Into the Heart of the Gulf Oil SpillBruce Henderson, “Climate of Change: The Reshaping of North Carolina,” The Charlotte Observer

Charles W. Maynard, The Blue Ridge Ancient and Majestic: A Celebration of the World’s Oldest MountainsJim Minick, The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and FamilySam Evans, “Voices from the Desecrated Places: A Journey to End Mountaintop Removal Mining,” Harvard Law Review

John C. Hall, Headwaters: A Journey on Alabama RiversBecky Johnson, “Celebrating 75 Years of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park,” Smoky Mountain Living

Rick Van Noy, A Natural Sense of WonderNicole Anderson Ellis, “Land Grab,” Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)

David Kaufman, Peachtree Creek: A Natural and Unnatural History of Atlanta’s WatershedTim Thornton, “Moving the Mountains,” Roanoke Times

Thomas Rain Crowe, Zoro’s Field: My Life in the Appalachian Woods Tony Bartelme, “Under Fire,” Post & Courier (Charleston, SC)

Lawrence Earley, Looking for Longleaf: The Fall and Rise of an American Forest Alex Shoumatoff, “The Tennessee Tree Massacre,” OnEarth Magazine

Timothy Silver, Mount Mitchell & the Black Mountains: An Environmental History of the Highest Peaks in Eastern AmericaHarrison Metzger, “The French Broad: Past and Currents,” Times-News (Hendersonville, NC)

Chris Bolgiano, Living in the Appalachian Forest: True Tales of Sustainable ForestryJohn Leland, Porcher’s Creek: Lives Between the TidesTaylor Bright, “Losing Our Legacy,” Birmingham Post-Herald

Earl Swift, Journey on the James: Three Weeks through the Heart of VirginiaBen Raines, series about mercury contamination in seafood, Mobile Register

Donald Edward Davis, Where There Are Mountains: An Environmental History of the Southern AppalachiansJohn Lane, “Finding the Real in Real Estate: Saving a Girl Scout Camp from Southern Sprawl,” Orion AfieldMark DiVincenzo and Jeff Long, “Tapping into the Future,” Daily Press (Newport News, VA)

Janisse Ray, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood Steve Nash, Blue Ridge 2020: An Owner’s Manual

(Visit SouthernEnvironment.org/phil_reed/ for previous winners)

Reed Writing Award Winners

Bringing Advocacy & Literature Together: SELC’s Reed Writing Award

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