NASORLO Awards Announced for 2014

NASORLO President Awards ( 2 ) 

David Tyhala, NRPA was recognized for his advocacy work on behalf of the LWCF and his willingness to work on our behalf in DC.  President Hogsett said, ” He has the skill to very effectively deliver the message of Stateside LWCF to even the most skeptical and find potential alliances in perhaps the most unlikely places.”  Congratulations to David.

Joel Lynch, NPS was the other honoree recognizing his leadership role in advocacy both within and external to the Department of Interior and National Park Service.  President Hogsett indicated, ” Joel and his staff have navigated the difficult path of implementation of new financial systems and grant management systems imposed on them and the stateside program….”  And he has done this with severe staffing limits which should have curtailed effective administration of his program.  He has provided NASORLO with straight answers to sometimes difficult problems and has done everything humanly possible to showcase the importance of state grants.  For these and multiple other reasons, Joel was honored with the 2014 NASORLO President’s Award.

Service To NASORLO Awards ( 2 )

The GreenInfo Network, under the leadership of Larry Orman, it’s Executive Director, has stepped forward to encourage NASORLO and develop an atlas of LWCF sites in 13 states and place them in a pilot to demonstrate the value of using GIS to promote state grant projects and locations.  In addition, he has recently work to add 7 more states to the pilot data base and has indicated his willingness to work with NASORLO to complete the data base in the near future.  Larry has let this effort and for that NASORLO is grateful and has awarded Larry and the Green Info network one of the Service to NASORLO Awards for 2014.

The other 2014 Service to NASORLO Award goes to the US Geological Service under the guidance of Kevin Gergely, GAP Analysis Manager, with strong support from Lisa Duarte, PAD – US Manager, to allow use of the existing PAD data base as a platform to incorporate state LWCF data and thereby demonstrate the value of such a system. They indicated they support NASORLO efforts and are willing to work with the states to complete the implementation of the Atlas project at a very minimal cost and have encouraged NASORLO to keep working on the Atlas project.

And one NASORLO Citation has been awarded in 2014 to the Missouri Department of Natural Resource, Division of State Parks and it’s Director Bill Bryan for efforts to promote the values and benefits of LWCF in local communities.  Through Bill’s leadership last year the agency sent letters to every project sponsor congratulating them on receiving LWCF funds along with materials on how to promote and celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the program.  Through this effort communities had dedication and rededication programs, received positive press for the LWCF program and had involvement of elected officials, celebrities and the Governor. ( See attachment for some of the activities generated by this effort )  For taking this imitative and setting an example for other states, we commend Bill and his staff and have recognized them with a NASORLO Citation.