Ben Baldwin will forever be remembered by many Miramichiers and New Brunswickers as the farmer who used his scientific knowledge to take on the polluters of Miramichi. Ben died peacefully at his home in Miramichi on July 7, 2017 at the age of 86.
A founder of the Miramichi Environmental Society and a former board member of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, Ben was a geologist and an environmentalist when being an environmentalist wasn’t cool nor easy.
An edition of Harrowsmith magazine from 1991 features Ben in its hometown hero series. Ben told the reporter, “Somebody has to speak out. It’s nothing particularly heroic on my part. I care about what’s happening. You get disgusted, and it takes a lot of physical energy. But as long as we live here, we can’t avoid being involved in environmental issues. We breathe the air too; we can’t just sit back and ignore the stink.”
Starting almost immediately upon his return from Western Canada to live a life on his family farm in Miramichi in 1985, Ben soon responded to remedy a local farmer’s concerns of chemicals oozing onto her property from the Domtar Wood Preserving Plant, and then to a long list of other environmental problems plaguing Miramichi.
“Ben was a big guy with a big heart who stood up for what he believed in. I had the good fortune to know Ben as a friend, and my life is the richer for it,” wrote David Coon, who worked with Ben during both their time with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.
My earliest memory of Ben is of my dad, Donald Glynn, and Ben talking about their vegetables at the Miramichi Agricultural Exhibition on a hot summer day in August. Ben’s vegetables from Spruce Shade Farms almost always took first prize. Whenever dad spoke of Ben, it was always with such respect — an admiration shared by many across the province.
Ben was the partner of Inka Milewski, the Conservation Council’s former science advisor. The Conservation Council family expresses condolences and love to Inka and Ben’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.