Intermountain Region Announces the Winners of the George B. Hartzog, Jr. Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service

The Intermountain Region is pleased to announce the following winners of the region’s George B. Hartzog, Jr. Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service. In the category of Outstanding Individual Volunteer, Sally Maertens, Florissant Fossils Beds National Monument, was selected. Sally organized and promoted the “No Child Left Inside” weekend at Florissant Fossil Beds including arranging for Richard Louv, author of “Last Child Left in the Woods” to speak at a local venue. For Outstanding Volunteer Group, CitiGroup, Saguaro National Park, was selected. The group played an essential role in helping to reduce the effects of the exotic species buffelgrass on the park environment. Rocky Mountain National Park’s volunteer program was selected as the Outstanding Park Volunteer Program. 

Two new award categories were added this year. For Outstanding Youth Volunteer, which was developed to recognize volunteers under the age of 18, Jonathan Moul, San Antonio Missions, was selected for his contributions to professional tours at Mission San Jose. For the new Enduring Volunteer Service Award that recognizes sustained and positive impacts to the National Park Service over multiple years, Bud F. Turner, Canyonlands National Park, was selected for his development of a new photographic technique for documenting the condition of rock images.

The NPS created these awards to honor volunteers for their hard work, draw attention to their vast skills and contributions, and to stimulate development of innovative projects and volunteer involvement. The awards are named for former Director George B. Hartzog, Jr., who established the Volunteers-In-Parks program in 1970. Regional winners’ will be recognized within their respective parks for their achievements.

Congratulations to all!