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The Intermountain Region of the National
Park Service honored six employees and three parks for Fire
Management excellence. The awards were announced during the
Intermountain Region Fire and Aviation Workshop held in Albuquerque,
New Mexico in late January 2005.
Bryan J. Swift, Fire Management Officer
(FMO) for the Intermountain Region received the Superior Service
Award from Stephen P. Martin, Regional Director, for Swift’s
outstanding leadership, contributions and service to the employees
of and visitors to the National Park Service. Swift retired
on February 3 after 35 years with the service.
Dave McHugh, former Fire Management Officer
at Big Thicket National Preserve, Beaumont, TX who retired
recently after 33 years of service, received the Career
Excellence Award for his accomplishments in fire management.
Dave’s fire accomplishments included a well-respected
program and over 125 burn operations at Big Thicket National
Preserve, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Site, Buffalo
National River and Padre Island National Seashore.
Four park officials received awards for
their support of the Wildland Fire Management Program in 2004.
Honored were Mary Risser, Superintendent at Golden Spike National
Historic Site, Brigham City, UT who won her second award;
Maggie Johnston, Superintendent at Capulin Volcano National
Monument, Capulin, NM; Herschel Schulz, Chief Ranger for Resource
Management and Protection at El Malpais National Monument,
Grants, NM and Eddie Lopez, Assistant Superintendent at Zion
National Park, Springdale, UT. "These employees can always
be counted on year after year to support wildland fire efforts.
It is an honor for me to have dedicated NPS employees like
these embrace our fire management program efforts," said
Len Dems, Intermountain Region Fire and Aviation Management
Officer.
Three park fire programs were also
recognized for their accomplishments in 2004. Zion National
Park, Springdale, UT and Lake Meredith National Recreation
Area, Fritch, TX were selected for the Intermountain Region Excellence In Wildland
Fire Management Award based
on their support of suppression, aviation, prescribed fire
and fire ecology programs. They were also chosen for their
fuels management, interagency coordination, training, and
support of satellite parks assigned to them in the region.
Zion was also selected for support of fire information, prevention
and education programs. El Malpais National Monument, Grants,
NM was selected as the 2004 winner of the Paul
Gleason Memorial Keeper of the Flame Award.
El Malpais was recognized for excellence in accomplishments
relating to prescribed fire and wildland fire use operation. |
