Advocate, ski champion and friend Andrea Mead Lawrence passed away last year. (File Photo)

McKeon, Boxer introduce bill to name Mono mountain peak for Andrea Mead

In a joint press statement issued late April 29, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) announced they have introduced legislation to rename Peak 12,240 in Mono County “Mt. Andrea Lawrence,” in memory of the late Andrea Lawrence, a conservationist, three-time Olympian, and member of the Mono County Board of Supervisors.

Senator Boxer said, “Andrea Lawrence’s life centered on mountains, first as a talented Olympic skier and then as a dedicated conservationist who worked to protect the Eastern Sierra. Andrea’s spirit and accomplishments were both larger than life, which is why it is so fitting to name this majestic peak after her.”

McKeon was equally effusive about the bill’s intent. “By naming a peak for Andrea Lawrence, we will celebrate her accomplishments as an Olympian and honor her service as an advocate for conservation in the Eastern Sierra,” he said. “Andrea had the true Olympic spirit and worked tirelessly to protect Mono Lake and then expanded her mission to confront challenges to the entire Eastern Sierra. I am proud to introduce this legislation with Senator Boxer to honor the life of a great American and committed conservationist.”

Peak 12,223, currently only identified by its elevation, is located in Mono County near the Tuolumne County border, on the edge of the Ansel Adams Wilderness east of Yosemite National Park. The John Muir trail passes close to the peak.

Lawrence was a three-time Olympian, who remains the only American double gold medalist in alpine skiing. She was inducted into the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1958 at age 25, and in 2002, sports historian Bud Greenspan called her “the greatest Olympian of all time.”

She was well known in environmental and political circles as a committed conservationist who was a driving force behind causes such as restoring Mono Lake and reducing air pollution in the Great Basin.

Lawrence served for 16 years on the Mono County Board of Supervisors and in 2003 founded the Andrea Lawrence Institute for Mountains and Rivers (ALIMAR), which champions environmental protection and economic vitality in the region. She passed away on March 31, 2009, the day President Barack Obama signed into law the Omnibus Public Lands Act, which Lawrence also supported and worked on. -Press Release