WASHINGTON -- Secretary Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary Lynn Scarlett recognized the "exemplary" work of eleven 2005 DOI Environmental Achievement Award winners in a ceremony at the Department of the Interior's museum on Oct. 25.
"These awards signify exceptional achievements that conserve our nation's natural resources through communication, consultation, and cooperation, all in the service of conservation," Secretary Norton noted.
Assistant Secretary Scarlett presented the awards, which included categories such as environmental stewardship, waste/pollution prevention, recycling, green purchasing, sustainable design/green building, minimizing petroleum use in transportation and environmental management systems.
Award winners were chosen by an evaluation panel chaired by the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance and made up of environmental and procurement experts from DOI bureaus and offices.
For more information, visit the Greening Interior website at www.doi.gov/greening. The 2005 DOI Environmental Achievement Award recipients are:
Individuals
- John Rogner, Chicago Ecological Field Services Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ill., Wisc. and Indiana, recognized for nearly 10 years of partnership with the Chicago Wilderness Consortium.
- Chris Case, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, National Park Service, Mich., recognized for his ground-breaking work creating and managing the Pictured Rocks comprehensive Bio-Fluids/Lubricants Program.
- Caryn Smith, Alaska Regional Office, Minerals Management Service, recognized for efforts to ensure that the region's new office space used environmentally preferable, low-emission construction materials and furnishings.
Teams
- Desert Managers Group, Partnering for Public Lands, NPS, FWS, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Geological Survey, Calif., recognized for team stewardship in coordinating desert conservation, visitor services, and public safety for 11 million acres of public land in southern California's deserts.
- Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge, FWS, R.I., recognized for not only completing a successful landfill remediation but for simultaneously restoring wetlands and creating new wildlife habitat.
- Jupiter Inlet Work Group, BLM, Fla., recognized for showing how federal and local partnerships can conserve land for the community's recreation and education as well as improve critical habitat for wildlife. Agreements with a local high school and other local, state and federal groups enable monitoring of the Jupiter Inlet Natural Area, an 80-acre Bureau of Land Management (BLM) tract that contains significant natural and cultural resources including eighteen special status species and two endangered plant species.
- Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge Environmental Management Team, FWS, Alaska, recognized for establishing a "leave no trace" policy for wild areas, initiating an outreach program at the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center, working with local villages to reduce impacts of subsistence users, using solar power and recycling partnerships.
- Krejci Dump Site Restoration Project, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, NPS, Ohio, recognized for environmental stewardship in enabling the NPS to achieve the cleanup of tens of thousands of pounds of material contaminated with hazardous substances from the forty-seven acre Krejci Dump Site in the midst of the national park. This was done largely at the expense of polluting corporations.
- National Park Service Midwest Regional Office, NPS, Neb., recognized for building a sustainable regional office. Sited on a former Brownfield, the regional office facility is the first facility in Nebraska and one of 50 buildings in the world to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
- Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, FWS, Tex., recognized for its new Environmental Education Center and Visitor Contact Station, which are powered by an off-the-grid 7.4 kW PV solar electric system and incorporate many sustainable design features.
- White Pine Green-UP Program, Ely Field Office, BLM, Nev., recognized for its successful program to combat illegal dumping on public lands. BLM, the Nevada Division of Forestry and the National Forest Service pooled monies to waive disposal fees at a public landfill.
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