38. Dick Amper

Always passionately animated, Amper spent much of this year continuing his battle against Broadwater Energy’s proposed offshore liquefied natural gas facility in Long Island Sound. Besides galvanizing local and state politicians’ opposition to the project (and holding dissidents’ feet to the fire), he still worked tirelessly on other fronts, namely, open space and farmland protection. If you think the man who spearheaded the protection of 100,000 acres of Pine Barrens would be content resting on his laurels, think again. Amper vows that 36,000 acres of open space and farmland will be preserved—before the projected buildout of LI in 2015.