WILLIAM HENRY BREWER

Posthumous

A geologist/botanist/naturalist, Brewer led the first and most widespread exploration of California's landscape in history. His trek from 1860-64 by foot, horseback and boat explored virtually every part of California's topography in detail, along with its plants and wildlife. His small team, including legendary geologist Josiah Whitney, carried bulky gear and 5-foot barometers to calculate elevations and, as part of the expedition, climbed all of California's highest peaks.

Brewer recorded his findings, analysis, elevation calculations and amazing personal reflections in a massive diary that still sells today, titled "Up and Down California." He documented the biggest flood in the past 200 years, when the Central Valley was covered with water from Red Bluff to Bakersfield, 70 miles wide. When the Los Angeles basin had only 12,000 residents, he predicted the massive population increase that followed. This diary is still considered the bible of California outdoors, and has inspired thousands to explore many of the same places Brewer recorded on his trek.

BOB FRANKO

A legend in Half Moon Bay for fishing 200 days per year out of Pillar Point Harbor and beyond across the Pacific Coast from Alaska to Brazil. He has pioneered new fishing methods for albacore, has caught salmon on 4- pound line, hosted a local TV show and has openly shared his secrets to inspire thousands to take part in the sport. One of his inventions, the Franko Bullet Rotator, is a successful new salmon lure.

This maverick also invented a new-style conservation organization, the Coastside Fishing Club, which anybody can join for free on the Internet. Franko has led a drive to gain 7,000 members in only three years, that is, forming the largest fishing club in Northern California virtually overnight, and supporting it solely by donations. Already, he has placed a member on the Pacific Fisheries Management Council. "My goal is to protect our fishery for our children through conservation, and to protect the rights of the recreational angler," Franko said.

DOUG STOUP

“Nature brings us sanity,” says Stoup, who has explored the North Pole and South Pole. “This shelter-in-place order allows us all time to reflect on how fortunate we are. I reside in Lake Tahoe and we have had snow accumulation in March that allows me to do some ski touring in the mornings above the west shore. Like others, I have been housebound, and catching up on some books and contemplating the future. At this time I am suppose to be skiing to the Geographic North Pole (his 18th NP expedition).”

Stoup: America's leading explorer of the North and South poles, Stoup has undertaken 12 world-class winter treks, including one in which he guided a blind skier to the geographic South Pole. He helped pioneer a technique called "randonnee," a French word for ski mountaineering, to climb and then snowboard on the highest peak in Antarctica, the 16,077-foot Vinson Massif. On another trek, he completed a 250-expedition in the Antarctic on an ice bike with 5- inch wide tires he helped design. He is also an acclaimed cinematographer.

Stoup was the only American chosen for an expedition to the North Pole this month that will deploy weather stations to document the shrinking of the polar ice cap. He also will lead trips to both the North Pole and South Pole for unprivileged youth, to share a world few have seen or even imagined. "I want to do something that is going to help our environment and the world, to be a positive influence on others," Stoup said.

BILL KARR

Some 400,000 youth and their parents have taken part in Karr's "Youth Outdoor Fair" and "Shoot For the Future" programs. Karr invented programs offering hands-on outdoor experiences for kids with their parents, along with 25,000 giveaways. It is little known that Karr has never been paid a cent for the thousands of hours of work required to produce the events. He is the only two-time winner of the Public Service Recognition Award, honored by the Outdoor Writers Association of California, OWAC's most prestigious award.

Karr is better known as the Northern California editor of Western Outdoor News, but he also led a drive to save the fisheries of the Salton Sea. He has managed duck clubs and wildlife preserves and is an expert woodsman, hunter and offshore angler. His adventures span the hemisphere and beyond, and he often hosts groups and introduces them to world-class outdoor experiences. He fishes, boats, hunts or camps some 125 to 150 days per year -- and no one in the past generation has shared this world with more youngsters.