Well know bushwalking historian, rogainer and conservationist Andy Macqueen has been recognised with an O.A.M. in the latest Queen’s Birthday Honours list. It is great to see bushwalking being recognised.
Over many years Andy has been busy in so many ways from rewalking the routes of early European explorers (to determine where they really went) to weeding of invasive willow in remote sections of the Colo River Gorge to delving deep into NSW State Library archives to research the early history of bushwalking and Bushwalking NSW (BNSW). So, BNSW extends its congratulations to a past BNSW President.
In a way Andy is being honoured for being a bushwalker. While the O.A.M. newspaper citation is for “service to conservation and the environment” the full citation at the “Its an Honour” website lists –
# Foundation Member, Sea Spurge Remote Area Teams (SPRAT), since 2007.
# Foundation President, Friends of the Colo, since 2000.
# Member, Blue Mountains Regional Advisory Committee, National Parks and Wildlife Service.
These extraordinary activities are only possible by being a bushwalker. Hence, congratulations to Andy Macqueen for being a bushwalking conservationist.
The link below to the Blue Mountains Gazette has an excellent profile of Andy Macqueen O.A.M.