Oklahoma conservation conversation, 08-10/2012, v.58 no.8/9/10

              Carbon Program receives Henry Bellmon
Environmental Stewardship Award
The Oklahoma Carbon Program received the
2012 Environmental Stewardship Award from the
Henry Bellmon Sustainability Awards program.
The award was presented at a gala at the Southern
Hills Country Club in Tulsa on Sept. 13, 2012. Mike
Thralls, OCC executive director, and Stacy Hansen,
OCC Carbon Program director, accepted the award.
Sustainable Tulsa and the Tulsa Southside Rotary Club and Foundation joined
together to create the Henry Bellmon Sustainability Awards to honor the memory of
the Oklahoma Governor and U.S. Senator. The goal of the awards program is to raise
awareness and reward those people, agencies, organizations or companies who dedicate
themselves to a balanced approach toward quality of life, responsible economic growth
and environmental stewardship.
The Oklahoma Carbon Program is a program of the Oklahoma Conservation
Commission’s Water Quality Division and has been recognized locally, nationally and
In This Issue
E.F. “Doc” Coker, 1914-2012
Carbon Program receives
Henry Bellmon Environ-mental
Stewardship Award
Conservation Partnership
Honors Bill Wilson
Ken Burns’ THE DUST
BOWL “Screening and
Community Conversation”
Event at Woodward
ASABE Honors Larry
Caldwell
Farm Bureau Tours North
Canadian River Project
Our vision:
Responsible care for Oklahoma’s
natural resources.
Our mission:
To conserve, protect and restore Okla-homa’s
natural resources, working in
collaboration with the conservation dis-tricts
and other partners, on behalf of the
citizens of Oklahoma.
www.conservation.ok.gov
Information for and about Oklahoma’s Conservation Districts Volume 58, Issue No. 8/9/10 August/September/October 2012
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Bellmon Award, continued on page three
E.F. “Doc” Coker, 1914-2012
Former Area V Commission Member
E.F. “Doc” Coker, Pittsburg County Conservation District
director from 1960 to 1997, passed away on Sept. 6, 2012. He
celebrated his 98th birthday on Aug. 10. Gov. George Nigh
appointed Coker to the Conservation Commission where he
served as Area V member of the Commission from May 1986
to May 1996. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Conserva-tion
Hall of Fame in 2000. He is survived by Shirley, his wife
of almost 43 years, two daughters, two grandsons and three
great grandchildren.
Raised in Savannah, Okla., his family farmed crops such as peanuts and corn, and
sometimes picked cotton from dawn to dark. He served 30 months in the U.S. Army in
the Pacific islands during World War II. After the war, Doc’s mother couldn’t believe he
wanted to study agriculture at college. “Son,” she said “you already know how to farm!”
He worked his way through college and with a B.S. in agriculture went on to earn a
Master’s degree in administration from the University of Oklahoma. Doc taught school
for 18 years and served as superintendent for public schools in Kiowa, Pittsburg and
Jack Fork.
A retired cattleman and pecan farmer in Blanco, Coker was known for his pioneer-ing
work in pecan tree grafting. At one time his operation averaged 1,200-1,400 head of
cattle and approximately 3,000 improved-variety pecan trees.
“Upstream flood control and the watershed system is one of the best things we’ve
come up with,” Doc said one time. He remembered a time when a single rain washed
out 27 bridges. Of the 16 Small Watershed Upstream Flood Control dams in Pittsburg
County Conservation District, one was on Doc’s land. “People today want to see results
from their tax money,” he said, “but it’s harder to visualize the damage that didn’t hap-pen
because the right protection was in place.”
E.F. “Doc” Coker
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