Jan Vandersloot, Late Environmental Activist, to be Honored in D.C.

​Jan Vandersloot, the tireless Newport Beach environmental advocate who passed away in November at age 64, is among six people being honored Sunday in Washington, D.C., for contributing to the preservation of the country's wetlands through activism, education or restoration.

Britney Barnes has the scoop on The O.C. Now.

As part of the Environmental Law Institute's National Wetlands Awards Program, Vandersloot will be honored posthumously for his outstanding wetlands community leadership in preserving the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. He was a founding member of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust.

"He was just a huge person in the environmental community in Southern California," Flossie Horgan, the land trust's executive director, told Barnes. "We're very proud and very grateful that he's recognized at the national level."

The day Vandersloot died, he reportedly won a battle with a land developer to preserve the Cabrillo Wetlands, a 2-acre salt marsh in Huntington Beach.

His wife Cheryl, son Jon and daughter Tiffany are scheduled to accept the award Sunday at the U.S. Capitol's Visitor's Center on Capitol Hill.