Les Ann Kirkland

Les Ann Kirkland joined her friend and cousin Liz Avants in 1986, to start the environmental group Alliance against Waste and Action to Restore the Environment (AWARE). The group was formed when Dow Chemical applied for a permit to operate a commercial hazardous waste incinerator in their community. The women were successful in the defeat of the incinerator. Les Ann was also a founding member of Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Inc. (LEAN) and served as secretary for the organization’s first two years. She also worked with Kay Gaudet to defeat the Spanish Lake solid waste landfill proposal in her community. In the late 1980s Les Ann traveled extensively as an environmental ambassador for Louisiana. Audio interview with Les Ann Kirkland for Women Pioneers of the Louisiana Environmental Movement by Peggy Frankland, conducted by Jennifer A. Cramer, Director of the T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History. Copyright: Louisiana State University Special Collections.