Celebrating Everyone Who Showed Up for WV — Thank You, E-Day 2025 Planners and Awardees!

Change happens when we show up—and on Monday, March 17, 2025, hundreds of passionate advocates from across the state did just that at the WV State Capitol for the 35th annual Environmental Day (E-Day)!

Thanks to everyone who made the time to be present—to raise your voices, connect with lawmakers, support one another, and send a clear, unified message: West Virginians demand strong environmental protections for clean air, safe water, and public lands.

E-Day is more than just a gathering—it’s a movement. You can find photos of the event here.

We also had the honor of celebrating three incredible individuals whose work has shaped, protected, and inspired our environmental movement in West Virginia:

Gary Zuckett, WV Citizen Action Group (CAG) Co-Director, received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his 35 years of tireless advocacy. A foundational force behind both E-Day and the West Virginia Environmental Council (WVEC), Gary’s leadership has helped shape the environmental movement in West Virginia for more than three decades.

Gary has long worked at the intersection of environmental and social justice. He’s also helped build powerful coalitions, including co-founding West Virginians United for Social & Economic Justice and organizing the Energy Efficient WV campaign, which later became its own nonprofit.

It’s hard to imagine E-Day without Gary’s steady presence and fierce commitment. Whether mentoring new advocates, leading from the front, or working behind the scenes, Gary’s legacy is profoundly rooted in the spirit of this movement for a more sustainable and equitable future.

Judy Rodd, Executive Director of Friends of Blackwater, was honored with the Legacy and Environmental Protection Award for decades of unwavering dedication to protecting treasured places like Blackwater Canyon, the Go North Alliance, and beyond. 

Judy has been a leading voice in preserving the cultural, historical, and environmental integrity of the Tucker County towns of Davis and Thomas. Through her work with the Go North Alliance—an alliance of residents and business owners advocating for a more thoughtful and sustainable route for Corridor H—she has helped elevate local voices, protect the region’s wild beauty, and promote economic development rooted in the area’s unique character.

Judy’s impact can be seen across the landscape of our state—and in the generations of advocates, she continues to inspire with her tenacity, vision, and deep love for West Virginia’s natural and cultural heritage.

Ryan Kirkpatrick, a West Virginia State University student majoring in Business Agriculture and Business Administration, received the Emerging Activist Award for his advocacy and community organizing. He interns with People Concerned About Chemical Safety and is a youth organizer with Young West Virginia.

In his experiences growing up in WV, he saw how economic struggles can impact health and stability; Ryan is committed to uplifting his community. Through his efforts both on campus and beyond, he is working toward a more just and sustainable future for all West Virginians. His voice, leadership, and lived experience are a powerful reminder of the next generation rising to meet the moment.

Thank you to WVEC’s 2025 Environmental-Day Planning Team

Many WVEC board members and coalition partners worked very hard to plan what turned out to be a fabulous E-Day event. WVEC members, students and West Virginians from across the state traveled to the Capitol and made their voices heard! 

A sincere and heartfelt thank you to Jenna Breekner, WVEC Secretary for leading this effort, and to Quenton King (Vice President), Mike Jones (Treasurer), and Morgan King (Board Member) for their contributions.

Thanks to Jillian Welsh, our Communications Coordinator, our WVEC lobbyists, Kasey Russell and Lucia Valentine. We also appreciate Shawn Phillips, planner and E-day emcee from West Virginians for Energy Freedom, the WV Citizen Action Group, and Samantha Nygaard, planner and photographer from the National Parks Conservation Association.  A special thanks to Greg Carroll (WVEC Board Member) for providing his PA system and organizing the fundraising After Event at the Empty Glass. We also thank the WV Rivers Coalition for their generous financial support.

We also want to recognize and thank Don Alexander, who manages the WVEC website. Don works behind the scenes to keep the website running and updated and is always ready to disseminate our E-Day and many other messages and announcements.

Thanks to their efforts, we had more organizations tabling and more students attending than last year! Planning team members facilitated meetings between legislators and their constituents, organized the rally featuring legislators and experts presenting information about key bills and organized a People’s Public Hearing about protecting our water resources. Their efforts resulted in lots of media coverage AND an incredibly uplifting day of networking, forming new partnerships and showing West Virginia Legislators that West Virginians want action to protect our water, air and public lands and establish more renewable energy in our state.

And to everyone who attended, tabled, or spoke: thank you! You are the reason E-Day is a force for change.

Let’s keep showing up, keep building momentum, and keep fighting for the West Virginia we know is possible.

See you next year!