The Volunteers Program National Award program of the U.S. Forest Service will honor Uinta National Forest volunteers for their service and contributions at an awards ceremony on June 5.
Recipients of the 2003 awards include Brian Eastman, Bob Easton, Jim Price, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Dedicated Hunters and the Wasatch High School Future Farmers of America.
Eastman, of the BYU Grounds Department, has provided more than 1,000 hours of individual service, including maintaining and reducing watershed damage on the Y Mountain trail and organizing projects for approximately 5,000 volunteers from local church groups and Eagle Scouts.
Retiring from nearly 42 years in the Forest Service, Easton helped to facilitate construction of the Great Western Trail and directed more than 772,000 hours of service by 89,000 volunteers.
As Trails System Planner for Mountainlands Association of Governments, Price will receive the Outstanding Service Award for his coordination of all trail construction projects in Juab, Utah and Wasatch counties and will be honored for his recruitment of nearly 4,000 volunteers for trail maintenance and construction.
The Exemplary Service Award will be given to the Dedicated Hunters for their efforts of more than 1,600 volunteers working more than 13,000 service hours since the program's beginning in 1997.
For the youth category, the Wasatch FFA will be honored with the Exemplary Service Award because of its sponsorship and organization of the three-day Strawberry Wildlife Festival. The group has also increased awareness about resource and wildlife conservation in the community, as well as participating in peer education.
Since its establishment in 1987, the Volunteers Program National Award Program annually recognizes exemplary volunteers.
During 2002, nearly 15,500 volunteers donated efforts valued at more than $500,000 to the Uinta National Forest.