Hidden Springs Ranger District Honors Volunteers
Left to right: Troy Lear, Candace Bourne, and Justin Dodson
The Shawnee National Forest's Hidden Springs Ranger District presented two of its Forest Service Volunteers with the President's Volunteer Service Award.
By: Justin Dodson
December 16, 2008
The Shawnee National Forest's Hidden Springs Ranger District presented two of its Forest Service Volunteers with the President's Volunteer Service Award, a prestigious national honor offered in recognition of volunteer service.
Troy Lear, a small business owner, received the Silver Award, and Candace Bourne, veterinary technician, equestrian and President of Trails for the Future, Inc. received the Bronze. Both Troy and Candace are avid outdoors people.
Troy received his award for volunteering a total of 315 hours in 2008. He provided numerous services for the District's botany program to include assisting on the non-native invasive species (NNIS) environmental assessment project. Troy helped monitor fire vegetation plots and located NNIS with a global positioning system in both designated wilderness and non-wilderness areas.
Candace received her award for volunteering a total of 140 hours in 2008. Her volunteer time was spent with the District's recreation program helping with trail monitoring for the Trails Designation Project. In addition to monitoring miles of trail in the Lusk Creek Wilderness, Candace developed excellent PowerPoint presentations of trail conditions that were shown at conferences, symposiums and group events.
Established in 2003, the Award is presented on an annual basis to individuals, groups and families who have med or exceeded requirements for volunteer service, and have demonstrated exemplary citizenship through volunteering. As one of the thousands of certifying organizations participating in the award program, the Shawnee National Forest confers the Award to recognize the achievements of outstanding volunteers.
The President's Volunteer Service Award, issued by the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, is for volunteer service that every American, any age or walk of life, can work to achieve. The Council is comprised of leaders in government, media, entertainment, business, education, nonprofit and volunteer service organization and community volunteering. To be eligible to receive the Award, individuals, families and groups submit a record of their annual volunteer service hours to participating certifying organizations, such as the Shawnee National Forest, so they can verify the service and present the Award.
The Shawnee National Forest would like to sincerely thank Troy and Candice for their outstanding achievements in the community and their dedication to the volunteer program on the Forest.
For more information about how to qualify for the President's Volunteer Service Award, and to find out how to identify volunteer opportunities in this area, visit www.PresidentialServiceAwards.gov or call 1-866-545-5307.