2023 Director’s Awards for Park Planning, Facilities, and Lands

The Park Planning, Facilities and Lands (PPFL) Directorate coordinates several awards programs to recognize excellence in performance and dedication to our mission and values. Learn more about the PPFL awards.

Harpers Ferry Center's Tera Lynn Gray is the 2023 Accessibility Leadership Award recipient

NPS

Accessibility Leadership Award

Tera Lynn Gray has dedicated her entire National Park Service career to enhancing accessibility at each of the parks she’s worked at. Her career has extended through Knife River Indian Villages, Death Valley National Park, Cabrillo National Monument, Big Thicket National Preserve, and Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield, and Agate Fossil Beds, where she has spearheaded numerous initiatives, projects, and programs aimed at ensuring the parks are accessible and welcoming to visitors with disabilities. Her sustained leadership, innovative projects, and impactful programming across multiple parks has not only enhanced the visitor experience for individuals with disabilities but have also served as a model for what committed and passionate advocacy can achieve.

Her tireless efforts and leadership have produced tangible, lasting benefits that serve as a benchmark for accessibility efforts across the National Park Service for years to come, including the following examples:

• Hosting a region-wide webinar on creating accessible documents.
• Crafting suites of accessible visitor materials, including Braille brochures, large print booklets, and American Sign Language (ASL) orientation videos.
• Providing training and standard operating procedures on the use of UbiDuo communication devices.
• Conducting distance learning programs in ASL and leading tours for Deaf visitors.
• Teaching staff about audio description.
• Creating a hands-on tactile tour of historic sites.
• Training staff and volunteers on best practices for 508 compliance of large and complex engineering documents that needed to be put online for public comment.
• Organizing ASL Fishing Days and events for people with various disabilities.
• Becoming a board member of the Disability Employee Resource Group (ERG).

Excellence in Facility Management Award - Frontline Hero of the Year

Cory Thole, Buildings and Utilities Supervisor at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, is a leader in the National Park Service facility management and exemplifies what it means to be a “Frontline Hero”. With over 25 years of experience in his field and over 13 with the National Park Service, Cory is a valued asset within the agency and his community in Skagway, Alaska. He is organized, reliable, accountable, and efficiently completes high-quality projects that improve the facilities in his park, while providing innovative solutions to cooling and heating.

Cory is receiving the Frontline Hero of the Year award for his accomplishments, including:

• Participating in the development of the park’s 5-year Strategic Facility Investment Plan (SFIP), including crafting robust narratives and cost estimates go accomplish the work outlined in the plan.
• Responsibly managing funds and a variety of aspects of project management for a diverse array of historic building projects including completing compliance packages, procurement, work plan development and reporting needs.
• Supporting a Maintenance Action Team (MAT) Project including developing and scoping for the park’s Sheep Camp Ranger Station Exterior Repairs. Cory coordinated logistics for the scoping trip, submitted and managed a multi-facetted Helicopter Task Order and associated flights.

David Crotty, Facility Manager at Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island

NPS

Excellence in Facility Management Award – Facility Manager of the Year

David Crotty, Facility Manager at Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, is receiving the Facility Manager of the Year award for his exemplary work in the field of facilities management in the National Park Service. Dave is being recognized for his leadership, advocacy, dedication and commitment to historic preservation and collaborative approach to project management. Sadly, David passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, November 25, 2023, leaving behind a remarkable legacy of 32 years of service.

David’s professionalism and dedication to excellence in facility management ultimately results in successful park operations. He was a proven leader and deserving of this award for many reasons, including:

• Demonstrating exceptional foresight and planning through a park succession planning initiatives. He recognized the importance of developing future leaders within his division and took action to invest in succession planning to ensure the continuity of excellence in facility management.
• Fostering strong working relationships with the park’s partners by actively engaging in a collaborative approach regarding project planning, building coalitions and major repairs.
• Taking a proactive approach and showcasing quick decision-making skills to keep his team and visitors safe; most evidently after severe snowstorms when he worked tirelessly to ensure that the grounds were safe and accessible for all.

Through his work and leadership, David ultimately made the Statue of Liberty not only a great place to work, but an extraordinary place to visit. His efforts significantly enhanced the experience of countless visitors, making each visit memorable.

Excellence in Facility Management Award – Facility Team of the Year

Water and Wastewater Utilities Team at Grand Canyon National Park, recipient of the Excellence in Facility Management Facility Team of the Year Award

NPS

The Water and Wastewater Utilities Team at Grand Canyon National Park are responsible for maintaining the integrity of the Trans Canyon Waterline (TCWL), the source of drinking water for approximately 6 million visitors a year. This team is being recognized for their outstanding performance and achievements in identifying and overcoming incredibly unique operational challenges related to the park’s water/wastewater system as well as their ability to work efficiently and cohesively, ensuring continuity of water operations in the park.

The TCWL is beyond its useful life and is part of a current multi-million-dollar replacement project. However, repairs were necessary before the system replacement could take place. Through these repairs, the team showcased tremendous skill and ability in planning and executing the necessary actions to maintain a vital utility for park operations. Specifically, the team diligently conducted operational risk assessments prior to each repair (i.e. risks associated with landing zones, equipment slings, helicopter exit protocols, and proper personal protective equipment and a series of additional flight related risks); ensured coordination with inner-canyon resources for continuity of potable water and state compliance officials to maintain public health requirements; and successfully excavated, removed, and repaired failed aluminum pipe (often under extreme environmental conditions).

Thanks to their work, visitors and employees maintain access to safe drinking water and wastewater operation functions.

The Grand Canyon National Park Water and Wastewater Utility Teams include:
Zackary Reid, Elizabeth Williams, Brian Ruhm, Katie Brown, David Gerome, Jaru Velazquez, Blaine Anderson, Sherryl Johnson, Gary Lippard, Robert (Lou) Rogers, Colton Lindbom, Dewayne Wheeler, Christopher Brabender, Jeffrey Smith, Renee Babiarz, Willis Clover, Chad Larrieu, Lynn O’Dell, (Michael Lynn O'Dell), Jason Wink, Josiah Brown, Scott Rommel, John Civiello, Alan Bruner, and Patrick Perry.

NPS Engineer of the Year

Chris Carpenter, Civil Engineer and Portfolio Manager at the Denver Service Center, delivers high-profile and complex critical infrastructure systems, including $500 million of infrastructure projects at Grand Canyon National Park. Leading an interdisciplinary team, he leverages technology and performs technical analyses to inform engineering-based solutions. Chris guided the team developing technical documents for drinking water treatment that included complex pipeline hydraulics, floodplain evaluations, power transmission, and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) requirements.

Implementing this new potable water system required working around park visitors, integrating with park operations, and maintaining functioning infrastructure systems during construction. The water distribution system spans ten miles in length and five miles in elevation difference across rocky canyon terrain. Chris secured authority to have the first-ever commercial drone operation in the park to take up-close looks at hard-to-reach places. Data acquisition experts then developed “digital twins” - exact virtual replicas of real-world spaces - to create engineering solutions for the waterline from the North Rim to the South Rim. The team interacted “virtually” with the physical property during the design stages and, later, during construction. Similarly, 3-D seismic mapping of geologic sub-terrain is underway which will identify the geologic stability for horizontal drilling and assess impacts to resources. This work entails the placement of 11,500 probes on the canyon walls to collect seismic data once charged.

NPS/FHWA Federal Lands Transportation Awards Program Individual Award Category: Transportation Outstanding Performer (TOP)

Sena Wiley is this year’s Transportation Outstanding Performer (TOP). As the Regional Transportation Coordinator for Intermountain Region, her performance while executing the Pavement Preservation Program (PPP) for the past 18 years has led to numerous achievements. Sena oversees transportation infrastructure in multiple parks with high demands for visitation, severe climates and topography, sensitive natural, historic and cultural environments and evolving transportation needs.

Her leadership and innovation resulted in infrastructure improvements across the board. Some highlights include:

• Resource Protection/Park Operations: Extended the serviceability of existing roadways to avoid impacts to National Park Service resources and visitors associated with reconstruction.
• Funding: Creatively leveraged Title 23 money with available NPS cyclic maintenance funding to provide flexibility to the program. This innovative approach allowed the program to increase from the initial $6-$8 million to the current $10-$15 million per year.
• Acquisition: FHWA utilizes a Multiple Award Task Order Contract to specialty contractors for Pavement Preservation work in the Western States to increase quality and efficiency. This includes bundling up to 13 park sites within one contract package, allowing the NPS to treat small and large parks in remote locations.
• Efficiency: 91.4% of all funds are invested in construction contracts.
• Results: Pavement Condition Rating (PCR) for the Intermountain Region improved from 73.9 to 83.3 after just the first cycle of treatments.
  • Over 70 projects and over a thousand miles of roadways preserved, along with hundreds of parking lots.

Sena’s systems and processes approach not only documented the great work she and the team completed but ensured longevity of the program by keeping the NPS-FHWA relationship strong and managing the lifecycle of transportation assets for years to come.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks One Shot Rock Road Damage

NPS

NPS/FHWA Federal Lands Transportation Awards Program Team Award Category: Partners in Excellence (PIE)

A team of fifty-one multi-disciplinary specialists from the National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are this year’s Partners in Excellence (PIE) award winners. Team leads, Jon Christensen of the National Park Service and Anita Gebbie-Deisch of FHWA, brought 12 members from the FHWA Central Federal Lands Highway Division, 20 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks members, 10 Death Valley National Park members, 6 Denver Service Center-Transportation members, and one Pacific West Regional Officer together to restore access to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and Death Valley National Park following historic 2023 natural disasters.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks experienced record rain/snowfall from a rapid succession of atmospheric river storms resulting in two disasters. Death Valley National Park experienced a thousand-year flood event receiving an entire year’s worth of rain in just a few days. Multiple roads were totally washed out in each park leading to park closures. These team members promptly and effectively responded to these disasters by repairing failed roadways at over a hundred locations and restoring visitor access post events.

Some highlights include:

• Performance: In Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, the team reopened the primary park roadway, Generals Highway, in time for the height of the busy summer season to support visitor access and tourist dependent gateway communities. In DEVA, the team negotiated modifications to the construction contract to substantially increase the number and length of roadways that were able to be safely reopened to the public.
• Accountability: Regular public meetings hosted by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in the gateway community of Three Rivers. The innovative ArcGIS maps and reports created by Death Valley National Park to communicate the vastness of the damage extents and repair progress were critical to communication.
• Partnership: The total park closures focused the Parks’ attention on disaster response with restoration of transportation access being a crucial first step. The Team assisted with damage identification and assessment. Park and Denver Service Center compliance and resource management staff were key to conducting surveys and compliance documents enabling design and construction to proceed while ensuring resource protection of key park resources.
• Service: Some team members provided immediate on-site support in assessing damage and making technical recommendations for emergency repairs, while others provided long term support by brokering outside support, offering repair strategies, cost estimates, managing Emergency Relief for Federally Owned roads (ERFO) funding, Disaster Supplemental funding, Regional funding to support repairs. These efforts were completed under significant time constraints and multiple fluid situational variables. The work was coordinated to minimize and mitigate impacts to known and emergently listed threatened and endangered species as well as highly visible and iconic giant sequoia trees adjacent to roadways.

Disasters can strike anywhere and create stressful environments for all involved. This team of multi-disciplinary professionals stepped up to help and provided services to bring park operations and access back to normal after multiple catastrophic events. Their teamwork is a testament to the NPS-FHWA partnership and the core belief that when a park is in need, the transportation program will be there.