PROVO — Loyal Clark loves where her job takes her — especially if it means she heads outside.
Clark loves the sunshine, wilderness smells and the land itself. But then, Clark, who was recently named U.S. Forest Service Employee of the 1990s, always did like dirt.
When she was a little girl growing up in Alpine, she was the original tomboy, playing with dirt and rocks and water.
And she's never lost her affection for nature.
"Dirt was my thing," Clark said. "I thought dirt was fun."
Now she's grown up, she's still into it.
She's a forest ranger at heart — although now she spends more time than she likes inside an office, juggling meetings and paperwork that go along with her job as a public affairs officer for the Uinta National Forest.
"This job," Clark says, "has been everything I expected it to be."
Considering her beginnings, the job suits her well. She was reared in a family that didn't head to Disneyland for amusement.
"We went camping and hiking and fishing," she said. "Every year we went someplace new. I loved it. I collected dirt and rocks along the way."
She still "escapes" to the forest and the hills when she has the chance. But now when she's off duty, which is rare, she leaves the cellular telephone and pager behind.
"In 1989, the public relations officer quit and they came and asked me to fill in temporarily," Clark said. "After about three years, they made it permanent and as far as I know, I'm not going anywhere for a while."
That means Clark is on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, expected to give reporters and the public information about the service. During a busy fire season, such demands can become a hassle, even for easygoing, amiable people like Clark.
"I know when I'm approaching a burnout, so I've learned to schedule three one-week vacations early on and take them, no matter what," she said.
"I really like talking to people, so it usually doesn't bother me (to be in high demand)," she said. "I think the best thing about this job is spending time with people, outside."
She likes it so much she's created volunteer programs that have boosted the numbers of people working in the forests and the number of ecosystem-savvy residents. The programs have brought the Uinta National Forest office national attention.
"We've won awards every year, and they're looking to us for direction," Clark said. "We went from having a couple hundred volunteers in the 1980s to over 15,000 last year whose combined effort saved us $3 million."
Projects like the new outdoor amphitheater in the Granite Flats campground area and the Payson Lakes campground were built through the volunteer effort.
"I thought the best way to manage the forest would be to get the public involved," she said. "At that time, it was a new concept but one that connected deeply with me through my connection to the land and my love for working around children."
Clark took her cause to the people through civic groups and the schools.
She soon discovered an endless supply of enthusiasm for protection and enhancement of the natural resources.
"We filled the void left by no budget and reaped an unexpected benefit," Clark said. "People felt a real sense of ownership toward something they'd helped to create. We had less vandalism and more support."
Clark will travel to Washington, D.C., in June to receive the award in a ceremony conducted by U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck. It'll be her fourth such journey.
Other Utahns also will be honored, including Park City teacher Craig Roberson, the Provo City Parks and Recreation Department, Payson Junior High School teacher Tom Willis and Uinta National Forest Heritage resource specialist Charmaine Thompson.
Roberson and his class from McPolin Elementary School helped improve the fisheries habitat in Strawberry Valley.
Provo's recreation director Roger Thomas, superintendent Max Mitchell and project manager Dean Hutchison have worked to construct the Bonneville Shoreline Trail in the Provo area.
Willis led his science students in a study and inventory of the stream habitat in the Diamond Fork Youth Forest, and Thompson has interested community residents in a variety of heritage resource volunteer projects that help contribute to forest protection and survival.
"When you're out working in a stream in water up to your knees, it's different than sitting in a conference room discussing an issue," Clark said. "You nurture a real relationship and understand each other differently."
E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com