JOSEPH WALKER

Walker was the greatest trailblazer in California history. He was the first to discover a trans-Sierra route, in the process becoming the first trailblazer to see Yosemite. His gravesite marker reads, "Camped in Yosemite, Nov. 13, 1833."

Though Jedediah Smith and John C. Frémont are better remembered because of more flamboyant styles, it was Walker who made the greatest discoveries of any trailblazer in California history, the first trans-Sierra routes. He is best known among the public for Walker Pass (on the Pacific Crest Trail) in Kern County, Walker River in Mono County, and Walker Lake in Nevada.

Unlike Smith, whose recklessness placed himself and those around him at peril (27 of 33 died on Smith's California expeditions), Walker kept his men safe, fed, with water, and ready for physical challenge. Thousands of pioneers followed in his footsteps.

PETE OTTESEN

Ottesen is the award-winning outdoor writer for the Stockton Record, an educator who invented an outdoors program for students, the personal guardian of 2,800 acres of wetlands, and an expert waterfowl hunter and wildlife lover. His impact on the public has been far reaching and long lasting.

As a 35-year administrator of the San Joaquin County Outdoor School, Ottesen took more than 350,000 fifth/sixth-grade children for five days and four nights to the Santa Cruz Mountains. He also started the regional "Kids Catch A Smile" fishing program for physically challenged children.

He is best known publicly for his outdoors writing, including the longest current consecutive tenure of any outdoor writer in California. Ottesen wrote provocative stories about the toxic disaster at Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge. He was involved in the ongoing saga of acquiring an adequate supply of good-quality Central Valley Project water for the Grassland Ecological Area and Central Valley Refuges, benefiting more than 350 wildlife species.

BOB FLETCHER

Fletcher has led the fight against overharvesting and waste by commercial netters and long-liners. Under Fletcher's watch as chief deputy director for the Department of Fish and Game in the 1980s, gillnets were banned from the inshore coastal waters of the Bay Area. Later, he pressed the issue of damage by trawlers and long-liners in Southern California waters.

He is best known as the president of the Sportfishing Association of California, which represents 175 sportfishing vessels berthed from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and 23 SAC Landings, with 1.million customers per year.

Fletcher is an expert sport angler, fishing for albacore and yellowtail out of San Diego. He is a licensed boat captain and worked 12 years as owner and operator of two 65-foot vessels. Before that, he fished commercially for tuna and harpooned swordfish. His travels have taken him across thousands of miles of ocean waters along the California and Mexico coastline.

OLA EIKREM

Eikrem inspired a generation of women hikers, backpackers and mountain climbers by climbing 68 14,000-foot mountain peaks.

In one summer alone, Eikrem, just 5-foot-4, climbed 23 of them in Colorado. She also climbed Mount Rainier in Washington at age 39 while pregnant.

In the process, she hiked with three generations of men, her father (Cecil Meyers), husband (Bjorn) and son (Erik). She explored every wilderness in the Sierra Nevada, hiking every good-weather weekend for years on end. She carried her infant son in a backpack to Muir Pass on the John Muir Trail in the high Sierra. In the winter, she ventured to Mount Tamalpais and other Bay Area parklands.

She was active in the Sierra Club and Wilderness Society at a time when active women members were rare. She actively campaigned for the Wilderness Act of 1964, the single largest addition of wilderness in American history.

JOHN REGINATO

The depth of Reginato's travels across Northern California is unparalleled. His turf consists of Tehama, Shasta, Lassen, Trinity, Siskiyou and Modoc counties. No individual in California history knows any region more intimately. He is an avid boater, bird hunter, angler and award-winning wildlife photographer. Reginato is also a champion of youth outdoors activities, especially opportunities for youth trout fishing.

As manager of the Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association for 41 years, Reginato promoted all phases of the outdoors and regional tourism and inspired thousands to go fishing, boating, hunting, camping and traveling in Northern California. He developed a network between recreation businesses and the public and averaged 20,000 phone and mail contacts per year with the public, roughly 8 million contacts in his career.

Reginato pioneered boating and fishing access for the public, developing 20 new boat ramps in Northern California and inventing the concept of using houseboats as a recreation getaway. He also helped develop the concept of rails to trails, starting with the 25-mile Bizz Johnson Trail near Susanville.