Anne Pickering West, an environmental activist and former journalist, died at her home September 26, 1999. She was 78. Anne was born in Dallas, Texas, where she lived briefly before her family moved to South Pasadena, California.

In 1938, Anne moved to northern California to attend the University of California at Berkeley. She served as senior editor of the university newspaper, the Daily California, and graduated with a journalism degree in 1942. At Cal, she met her husband, John West, and the two married in 1943. John was a newly commissioned Navy aviator and the couple moved from station to station, prompting Anne to refer to herself as a "camp follower."  She worked as a reporter for the New Orleans Times Picayune, the Hayward Journal, the Ross Valley Reporter, the Marin Independent Journal, and the Point Reyes Light.

Anne was a lifetime member of the Sierra Club, first serving as secretary of the Sierra Club's Marin Group. She later served on the executive committee in the 1980s. After moving to San Anselmo, Anne became active in establishing San Anselmo's Creekside Park. She was sometimes referred to as "The Tree Lady" for her efforts in saving a 400 year old black oak from crown rot. In the late 1960s, she worked in a countywide grassroots campaign to block a plan by Caltrans to install a freeway through Ross Valley and Fairfax to West Marin. She was also part of the opposition that blocked the Army Corps of Engineers flood control plan to channelize Corte Madera Creek. In 1969 she moved to Inverness, where she led the citizen battle to force Marin Municipal Water District to restore stream flows in Lagunitas Creek to aid fish and creekside wildlife. She also promoted a plan for more restricted grazing on National Park lands in West Marin. In 1980 she became president of the Inverness Association. She was also active in the Democratic Party, the Inverness Tennis Club and the Inverness Garden Club.

She is survived by her husband of 56 years, John West; sons, Joe West of Petaluma and Bill West of Inverness; daughter Alison West of Silt, Colorado; four grandchildren of Petaluma and numerous nieces and nephews.

Marin Independent Journal, October 5, 1999