Cooperman left California in the late 1960s as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam war.
[1] Cooperman built a log home in Lee Creek on the north shore of Shuswap Lake, and worked as a teacher, log-cabin builder, editor, and consultant before turning to documenting local history, geography, and biology.
[2] In 1989, Cooperman and six others formed the Shuswap Environmental Action Society (SEAS).
The group has lobbied for more parks and protected areas in the region, and have worked with forestry companies and the provincial government to save stands of old-growth trees in the watershed.
In the 2000s, SEAS was involved in opposition to commercial and residential development at the mouth of the Adams River, a tributary to Shuswap Lake and one of the largest sockeye salmon spawning grounds in the world.