Mavis Rowlands was inducted into The Kate and Gustav Weindorfer Honours List in 2016. The following citation was written by Jenny Pearce.
Citation
Mavis Joan Rowlands is a pioneer of Tasmanian conservation. She has been a member and avid supporter of Friends of Cradle Valley for many years. She has been a member of the Wilderness Society for more than 50 years and in 1992 became a founding member and Treasurer of the Tarkine National Coalition. She has also been active in the Tasmanian Conservation Trust and is still a delegate for the North-West branch. She has been the Treasurer and fund raiser since before 1997 – each year Mavis raises several hundred dollars for conservation causes through the sale of wilderness calendars and cards. In 2009 Mavis was named the Burnie City Council’s Citizen of the Year, and in 2017 she was awarded an OAM for the countless hours she donated to community causes.
Mavis was influenced by her husband Arnold, who was a keen conservationist and an activist. He was a founding member of the Wilderness Society and a Life Member of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust. His walking trips in wilderness areas with the Launceston and the North-West Walking Clubs had a lasting impression on him.
Following the tragic death of Mavis’ cousin, Ewen Scott, in May 1965 near Cradle Mountain, Arnold used his architectural skills to design the Scott-Kilvert Memorial Hut at Lake Rodway in sight of the south face of Cradle Mountain. After Arnold’s death, Mavis walked into this hut with bushwalking friend Peter Sims aged 78 years, on Saturday 14 November 2015 to scatter Arnold’s ashes at this hut that he designed.
Community services and positions that Mavis has held and been involved with are:
Volunteer for Brownie & Girl Guides
Member of the Wilderness Society
Life Member of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust
Life Member of the Tarkine National Coalition
Life Member of the Tasmanian Greens
Treasurer and Member of the Burnie Uniting Church
Lifeline Tasmania Volunteer
Australian Taxation Offices Tax Help Program, 1996 – 2015
Treasurer of the Burnie Uniting Church
Meals on Wheels Volunteer
Mavis justly deserves to be included in The Kate and Gustav Weindorfer Honours List by the Friends of Cradle Valley.