CHARLESTON, W.V.—The National Association of State Foresters (NASF) presented achievement awards to six individuals who have made outstanding contributions in wildland fire protection, forest management, partnership engagement, and overall forestry leadership. The awards were presented at the 2017 NASF annual meeting in Charleston, West Virginia.
This year’s award winners are individuals who work to protect and manage the nation’s state and private forest resources. They were nominated by NASF members and their partners for the work they have accomplished to promote, support and strengthen the forestry community nationwide.
Robert Farris is the 2017 James Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Awardee. Farris was recognized for his work at the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) for 34 years and for these past 10 years as the State Forester of GFC. Robert provided leadership for NASF in not only wildfire issues such as State and Volunteer Fire Assistance funding distributions, but also in support of the Forest Inventory Analysis in the south and nationwide. USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, who announced Farris as State Forester in 2008 while Perdue was governor, helped present the Lifetime Achievement Award in Charleston.
The 2017 Current Achievement Awardees are:
- Steve Koehn: John Shannon Current Achievement Award for Partnerships
- Jeff Vowell: Ken Arney Forest Resource Management Award
- Mark Rey: Michael Buck Outstanding Service Award for Forest Public Policy
- Brad Simpkins: Pete Anderson Current Achievement Award for Fire Protection
- Paul DeLong: Jeff Jahnke Current Achievement Award for Leadership
The 2017 Steven Scott Current Achievement Award for Urban Forestry will be announced in November.
Each of the NASF awards is named for a former state forester who was active in the identified state and private forestry subject area.
Contact: Amanda Cooke, Communications Director at (202) 420-9155, acooke@stateforesters.org