Environmentalists Lose Prime Mentor, Martha Kostuch
EDMONTON, April 24 2008
Environmentalists lose 'Prime Mentor' Martha Kostuch - Celebrated activist asks mourners to just hug a tree

Hanneke Brooymans
Edmonton Journal

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Alberta's environment community lost its "prime mentor" Wednesday with the death of Rocky Mountain House activist Martha Kostuch.

Kostuch, 58, revealed last fall that she had a terminal illness called multiple system atrophy. She described it as a rare, Parkinson's-like disease that could eventually rob her of her body's most basic functions, leaving her to starve and suffocate to death.

At the time, Kostuch matter-of-factly stated she would determine the right time to die, not the disease.

In this way, she quietly but firmly contributed to the "right to die" debate. She did it with conviction, which was the way she lived her life.

One of her sons, Mark Kostuch, came from his home in Idaho to spend the last month with her. He said his mother passed away peacefully in her sleep just before 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Earlier this week, the Alberta government announced it was setting up a bursary in her name for a new course on consensus-building. Kostuch will also receive a posthumous Special Achievement Award at the Emerald Awards ceremony on June 3.

Mark is not surprised his mother is held in such high regard by people in government, industry and environment circles. "I watch TV shows and you see heroes and they can never measure up to my mom," he said quietly from her home outside of Rocky Mountain House. "She was my hero."

Mark said his mother raised him to be independent. And she taught him that anything is possible for anybody as long as they have the heart to do it.

"She has given me the strength to do anything I could ever want to do."

Born on July 8, 1949, in Moose Lake, Minn., Kostuch grew up on a hobby farm with seven siblings, spending a lot of time outdoors and eventually studying veterinary medicine.

In 1975, she and her husband, also a veterinarian, moved to Alberta because they wanted to be near the mountains. They raised four boys, two of whom were adopted. They eventually divorced, but Kostuch stayed bound to the community.

Shortly after arrival, Kostuch noticed reproductive and immunological problems among cattle. She traced them to emissions from the sour gas industry.

So Kostuch campaigned to reduce the air pollution. Now, sulphur dioxide emissions are 20 per cent of what they were. Animal health improved soon after the emissions dropped.

There were other significant victories: she halted a proposed hotel and golf course resort slated for an unspoiled site near the Cline River; she took the federal government to the Supreme Court over the Oldman Dam and forced them to improve their environmental assessments and fisheries protection; and she was part of the Clean Air Strategic Alliance committee that recommended air pollution reductions that were adopted.

"There aren't many people in Canada of whom you could say something like, 'We'll sic Martha on you,' and it instils the fear of God in them," said Kim Sanderson, a close friend of Kostuch. "With Martha, you didn't even need to use a last name."

Mary Griffiths, a senior policy analyst with the Pembina Institute, said Kostuch was famous for her diverse circle of friends. "She had a hug for everyone. It was for everyone -- industry, government or the environmental community. She believed in breaking down barriers."

Kostuch was also known as a habitual tree hugger. Her son Mark remembers her hugging trees throughout his youth.

"When your mom goes out and hugs a tree when you have your friends over, it's embarrassing," he said.

He's long past that now. "Everyone in my family is hugging a tree right now."

Kostuch asked that people not give money to charity on her behalf, but instead do what they can to help the environment -- change a light bulb, recycle more or just hug a tree.

© The Calgary Herald 2008