William Nelson Dygert

William (Bill) Dygert died on Aug. 27 at his home in Astoria from an ongoing lung disorder.

Bill was born Sept. 14, 1950, in Detroit, to Dr. H. Paul and Helen N. Dygert. He was second of their three sons.

In the summer of 1955, Dr. Dygert set off for Vancouver, Washington, where he had taken a position with the local Veterans Affairs hospital. Helen Dygert, who had only had her driver’s license for three weeks, took the boys and joined him there.

Bill grew up in Vancouver, and graduated from Hudson’s Bay High School in 1968. He attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and graduated with a degree in history in 1972. He earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon in 1979.

Bill started a job with the Clark County Parks Department in 1973, where he worked as an employee, and later as an independent contractor. He negotiated with various private landowners and secured the funding which allowed the conversion of their private holdings to public uses.

He was an expert grant writer, and his applications, written for the benefit of municipal entities and nonprofits throughout southwest Washington, secured many millions of dollars over the years. He worked on projects for Lewisville Park, Frenchman’s Bar, Salmon Creek and the Vancouver Lake lowlands, just to name a few.

He and his business partner, George Simpson, devised the Clark County Conservation Futures program and the acquisition of more than 5,000 acres of the most important park, open space and habitat lands in Clark County.

Later in life, he provided support for development of the Astoria Riverwalk, and was a long-term chairman of the Lower Columbia River Fish Recovery Board. He was also a founder and longtime board member of the Columbia Land Trust, which has conserved more than 50,000 acres of land in Oregon and Washington. As you are enjoying the great outdoors, take a moment to acknowledge this great man.

He also greatly enjoyed fishing for bass in the Columbia River Gorge with his brother, Hal.

Bill is survived by his wife, Linda, his stepson, Mick, and his brothers, Peter and Hal Dygert, and their families, not to mention his Labrador retriever, Prince Harry.

Donations in memory of Bill can be made to the Columbia Land Trust, 850 Officers Row, Vancouver, WA., 98661, and Clatsop Animal Assistance, P.O. Box 622, Warrenton, OR., 97146.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date.