The legacy of F. Theodore Thomsen — better known to most as Ted — is already well-secured. All you need do is put your head out the window and look around.

Twenty years ago, Thomsen was instrumental in planning the visionary hike from Snoqualmie Pass to Seattle, which was led by the Issaquah Alps Trails Club and which would eventually lead to the creation of the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and a preserved spine of some of the most remarkable trails and wilderness areas in the world.

At a City of Issaquah Council meeting on Tuesday night, Thomsen, who passed away in 2009, was honored posthumously with the 2010 Ruth Kees Environmental Award for Sustainable Community.

Thomsen was one of three original founders of the Greenway Trust, and remained active on the board until his death.

“He was essential to bringing the Greenway vision to fruition,” said Executive Director of the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, Cynthia Welti, in her nomination of Thomsen. “Ted is the unsung hero of the launch of this tremendous coalition effort.”

Thomsen, who built a successful career as an attorney, also had a great love of travel. He and his wife Gretchen once climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, hiked in the Himalayas, and backpacked for four months across Southeast Asia.

But his great passion was the Issaquah Alps, and it is thanks to him, and his peers in conservation such as Harvey Manning and Ruth Kees, for whom the award is named, that residents and visitors today enjoy stunning natural surrounds rather than urban sprawl.

Thomsen also helped draw the original maps of Rattlesnake Mountain, paving the way for the 11-mile Rattlesnake Mountain Trail between Snoqualmie Point and Rattlesnake Lake.

Gretchen, and two of Thomsen’s four sons, Webb and Brogan, accepted the award.