Scott Mathes, Government Director of California Environmental Mission, in 1996 stands on prime of automobile dumped into Balcolm Canyon. He died on the age of 62 after a protracted sickness.
(Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Instances)
Scott Mathes, an environmentalist who organized cleanup initiatives to haul tons of trash out of canyons and wilderness areas in Southern California, died Sept. 6 in Bend, Ore., after a protracted sickness. He was 62 years outdated.
“Till the very finish he was nonetheless concerned in attempting to save lots of the planet,” Jeff Mathes, 63, stated about his youthful brother. “He was by no means married, he didn’t have any youngsters. He was married to his world.”
A longtime Los Angeles resident, Mathes was born in St. Louis and dropped out of highschool in 1979 to hike the John Muir Path between Mt. Whitney and Yosemite in California. It was throughout that journey that he realized what number of areas had been trashed by unlawful dumping.
As a toddler, Mathes used to select up the trash he discovered throughout canoe journeys down the rivers in Missouri.
“Our canoes can be filled with rubbish by the tip of the journey,” Mathes instructed The Instances in a January 1991 interview.
Mathes and his pal Mary Jane Parks created the California Environmental Mission in 1989 to arrange cleanups in pure habitats. The group launched a cleanup effort of the Malibu Canyon in March 1989 and coordinated extra cleanups round Southern California.
“Within the final yr I’ve seen areas I assumed would by no means get clear and are clear now,” Mathes stated on the time.
The group launched the Undertake-a-Canyon program in 1992 to encourage eradicating trash from canyons and pure habitats throughout California. This system inspired donors to offer labor for cleanups and cash to undertake 49 canyons throughout the area.
One of many donors was the actress and singer Bette Midler, a pal of Mathes’. He later helped spearhead the New York Restoration Mission, which is at the moment being led by Midler.
Mathes additionally labored as a marketing consultant for the California Conservation Corps, a voluntary work improvement program for environmental conservation. Mathes supervised work crews and helped map out areas that wanted to be cleaned up.
Mathes is survived by his brother, Jeff, and two nephews Kyle and Ryan and proceeded in loss of life by his dad and mom Jack and Suzanne Mathes.
Mathes was additionally a musician, guitarist and songwriter and liked incorporating nature into his work.
