Brian Lowe Wins 2020 GMP-Zetterstrom Environmental Award

RANDOLPH, Vt.  – Brian Lowe, who helped hundreds of American kestrels successfully hatch and fledge in Vermont, is the winner of the 2019 GMP-Zetterstrom Environmental Award.  Lowe was announced as the 2020 winner today rather than receiving the honor in person, in keeping with current COVID-19 physical distancing guidelines.  The prestigious award is named for Milton resident Meeri Zetterstrom, who inspired recovery efforts that led to the removal of the osprey from Vermont’s endangered species list, and it is given annually to one person, business, group or non-profit that has made a significant contribution to Vermont’s environment. The award is accompanied by a $2,500 donation to the winner’s environmental cause.

Over a quarter-century, Lowe helped kestrels thrive despite decreasing numbers of natural homesites due to changing forest management techniques by setting up and maintaining dozens of kestrel boxes and banding hundreds of birds. The Randolph resident has done most of this work in his spare time across central Vermont.

“I know Meeri would be proud of Brian and would appreciate his work,” said GMP Vice President Steve Costello, who worked on osprey recovery efforts with Zetterstrom for years.  “Meeri believed it was incredibly important to look at the entire web of life, not just the most charismatic birds and animals.

“The kestrel is lesser known than many birds, but it’s a beautiful raptor and plays an important role in rodent and insect control,” Costello said.

Lowe is credited with a singular effort, uncanny in its comparison to Zetterstrom’s work. The first bird box Rowe installed was a bluebird box, which had residents within a week.  Inspired, he asked a neighbor if he could put a kestrel box on his farm, and a pair made it home almost immediately. He was hooked. Today he manages over 40 kestrel boxes each year, and bands the babies, often while children from Montpelier’s North Branch Nature Center are on site to observe.

“It is very gratifying to hold these beautiful birds in my hand, and see the reaction of the kids – ‘Oooooooh,’” he says.  “To me, it’s absolutely fantastic to be able to do this.”

“I conservatively estimate that more than 1,000 American kestrels have successfully fledged in Orange and Washington counties thanks to Brian’s efforts,” said Chip Darmstadt, executive director of the North Branch Nature Center, who nominated Lowe.  “I can think of few conservation or stewardship efforts that have benefited for so long or from so much effort by one individual.

“This has been a labor of love for Brian, born out of his own initiative, and operated at his own expense,” Darmstadt said.  “He is long overdue for this kind of meaningful recognition.”

Kestrels, the smallest raptors in north America, are about the size of a mourning dove.  They feed on insects, small mammals, and birds. Though not endangered, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, kestrel populations declined 1.39 percent per year between 1966 and 2017, a cumulative decline of more than 50 percent, due to loss of habitat and declining prey populations.

“In his corner of the world, Brian has made a significant difference,” Costello said.  “He’s worked with dozens of landowners to create a strong and vibrant kestrel population.”

Zetterstrom was known as “Grandma Osprey.”  She began her efforts to restore ospreys at Milton’s Lake Arrowhead in the late 1980s. Her vision, collaboration and leadership prompted utilities, the state, and landowners to work together, and ospreys were removed from the endangered species list in 2005. The award was created shortly before she died in 2010.

Past GMP-Zetterstrom Award recipients include Sally Laughlin, a scientist whose work was instrumental in restoring three species of endangered birds in Vermont; Michael Smith, the founder of Rutland’s Pine Hill Park; Margaret Fowle, who led Vermont’s peregrine falcon restoration program; the Lake Champlain Committee, which works to protect and improve Lake Champlain; Kelly Stettner, who founded the Black River Action Team in southern Vermont; Roy Pilcher, founder of the Rutland County Chapter of Audubon; Lake Champlain International, a nonprofit working to protect, restore and revitalize Lake Champlain and its communities; Marty Illick of the Lewis Creek Association; Steve Parren, a biologist for the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife; and 2019 winner Eric Hanson, a biologist at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, who helped save endangered loons in Vermont.

About Green Mountain Power 

Green Mountain Power (GMP) serves approximately 266,000 residential and business customers in Vermont and is partnering with them to improve lives and transform communities. GMP is focused on a new way of doing business to meet the needs of customers with integrated energy services that help people use less energy and save money, while continuing to generate clean, cost-effective and reliable power in Vermont. GMP is the first utility in the world to get a B Corp certification, meeting rigorous social, environmental, accountability and transparency standards and committing to use business as a force for good. GMP earned a spot on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the World list four years in a row (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020).  J.D. Power’s 2018 and 2019 rankings put GMP among top utilities for customer satisfaction. In 2019 and 2020 GMP was named “One of the Best Places To Work in Vermont” by Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, and was the winner of the Deane C. Davis Outstanding Vermont Business of the Year Award in 2019.

I know Meeri would be proud of Brian and would appreciate his work.

Steve Costello
GMP Vice President