The “Saving the Sierra: Voices of Conservation in Action” website (sponsored by the Sierra College Center for Sierra Nevada Studies and designed by Sierra College Applied Art and Design instructors and students) is the recipient of the 2007 Dottie Award.
Hundreds of Websites Nominated
This award, celebrating its tenth year, is given for the best websites designed in Northern California. The Saving the Sierra site won the award in the “Arts, Culture, and Music” category. The website is in support of the National Public Radio (NPR) project on Sierra Nevada issues that Sierra College co-sponsored. Hundreds of websites were nominated but only a handful were chosen as finalists.
The Saving the Sierra site was designed under the direction of instructors Pam Johnson and Mary Helen Fein of the Sierra College Applied Art and Design Department and the overall design was largely the efforts of Clare Rickman, a Sierra College student at the time.
Radio, Workshops and Story Booths Also
"Saving The Sierra: Voices of Conservation in Action" was one of eight documentary projects funded by the California Council for the Humanities in 2006 as part of the Council's California Documentary Project. Through public radio broadcasts, a website, a series of community audio workshops, and a mobile “Story Booth” that allowed Sierra residents to record their stories of life throughout the Sierra Nevada, the multi-year project sheds light on how community-based conservationists are working together for a better Sierra. The project focuses on the role of conservation in preserving regional heritage and character while connecting people to the land and to each other. As well as designing the website, Sierra College purchased the portable recording equipment and provided interns for the project. 
Directors
The Saving The Sierra project is co-directed by Peabody award-winning public radio editor and producer Catherine Stifter of Nevada City and educator, media-maker and community development practitioner jesikah maria ross of Davis.
The 2007 Dotties Awards Ceremony was held on Thursday, March 8, 2007, at the Towe Automotive History Museum in Sacramento.
For more information, contact Gary Noy at (916) 781-7184 or gnoy@sierracollege.edu