Date: August 30, 2007
Contact: Charles Beall, 360-854-7302
(Washington, DC) – In a ceremony today in Washington D.C., three outstanding employees of the National Park Service (NPS) were honored for their lasting contributions toward preserving and relating the history of their respective parks.
Bob Mierendorf, Johnnie Powell and Alexa Roberts have been named as the 2006 recipients of the prestigious Appleman-Judd-Lewis Award for Excellence in Cultural Resources Stewardship and Management. “Each of these 2006 award winners, these shining stars of the NPS, inspires all of us to follow their example,” said NPS Director Mary A. Bomar. “Because of their work, we know more about nearly 9,000 years of human history in the northern Cascades range, we have better preserved the historic buildings at Denali and we have ensured that tribal perspectives have been well represented during the planning for and development of Sand Creek.”
Bob Mierendorf has served as an archeologist at North Cascades National Park in Washington for the past 20 years, most recently as Park Archeologist, where he has worked to promote excellence in archeological research in high-mountain archeology. In 2005, Mierendorf began to explore human prehistory at Cascade Pass where he directed excavation and made several significant discoveries. In 2005 and 2006 Mr. Mierendorf made discoveries of about nearly 9,000 years of human history at the site - the first documented well-stratified archeological site of its kind in the sub-alpine environment of the northern Cascades range of Washington and British Columbia. His work at Cascade Pass is highly significant, not just for creating a greater depth of understanding of high-mountain archeology but for re-defining regional perceptions of human history.
NPS Director Bomar presented each award recipient with an engraved crystal award and $2,500. The Appleman-Judd-Lewis Award for Excellence in Cultural Resource Management was established in 1970. It is named for three well-respected, longtime National Park Service employees: historian Roy E. Appleman, historical architect Henry A. Judd, and curator Ralph H. Lewis.
