Two volunteer environmental efforts in Utah have won national Take Pride in America Awards from the Interior Department, Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. announced.
The Logan Ranger District of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest and Gregg Simonds of the Deseret Land & Livestock Corp were among 89 national winners from 29 states, Lujan said in a statement released through the office of Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah.The finalists were selected from 700 nominations by a panel headed by Barbara Bush. Winners will be invited to the White House for an awards ceremony later this year.
Simonds was recognized for his efforts in land resource oversight, managing to run a ranch at a profit while actually improving the condition of its land to the point of making it a showpiece.
He has hosted Society for Range Management tours, Soil Conservation Service workshops, time-controlled grazing workshops and numerous university class sessions.
The Logan Ranger District was honored for organizing and mobilizing more than 1,750 volunteers to do 130 projects that have made the area one of the cleanest and best-kept in the forest system.
Among the projects were monthly cleanups, trail maintenance, campground maintenance, sign construction and bridge construction.
"That two Utah projects were among the top winners speaks well for our state," Hansen said. "It shows we can receive economic, cultural and recreational benefits from our public lands while preserving these same benefits for future generations."
The Interior Department's Take Pride in America Awards are designed to increase awareness of the need for wise use of resources, and to increase volunteer efforts in that area.