ABC Community Builder Award
Michael Tierra, LAc, OMD, AHG, received the 2015 ABC Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award.
The annual award, named for ABC Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal, is given to an individual who has played a significant role in creating a sense of community among herbalists, researchers, members of the herb and natural products communities, and related groups, who work in the area of medicinal plants.
Tierra began studying herbs in 1968 while living in an interdependent community called Black Bear Ranch in northern California. He learned about various medicinal plants from the Karuk and Yurok Native Americans, and eventually began harvesting the plants and giving them back to the Native community, which, at that time, had forgotten much of its traditional herbal knowledge.
In 1989, when herbs in North America were not being used in any organized way clinically or professionally, Tierra and other herbalists founded the American Herbalists Guild, which gives membership to professional herbalists based on peer-reviewed evaluations.
“Michael is considered the founding force of AHG, and for that very reason alone, he warranted consideration for our Community Builder award,” said ABC’s Blumenthal. “He is one of North America’s most venerated herbalists, and his many writings, teachings, and activities have resulted in creating a growing community of professional herbal practitioners throughout the United States and beyond.”