WASHINGTON, DC—The Forest Service will be celebrating its 2022 Rise to the Future Awards on June 15. The celebration begins at 10:30 a.m. EDT with an all-day series of presentations from the award winners followed by the Rise to the Future Awards Ceremony from 5:00-7:00 p.m. EDT on the Whitten Patio.

The Rise to the Future Awards honor Forest Service staff and partners for their leadership in stewardship of fisheries, water, wildlife, soil and air resources on national forests and grasslands, and recognize the hard work and dedication of Forest Service employees and our partners to improve our nation’s natural resources.

Throughout the day, this year’s awardees will share examples of their outstanding work and respond to questions from the audience. These presentations will be happening live in the Gifford Pinchot Room (2nd floor, SE02, Sidney R. Yates Building, Forest Service headquarters). Those wishing to attend the event remotely can do so via this Teams meeting.

Please contact Mike Eberle (michael.eberle2@usda.gov) for an invitation. All are invited to celebrate excellence in natural resource management with this year’s award winners.

The schedule for the presentations is:

• 10:15-10:30 a.m. ASSEMBLY: of in-person participants and informal introductions  
• 10:30-10:35 a.m. LOGISTICS: presentations, lunch, tours of Yates. Linda Geiser, awards committee
• 10:35-10:45 a.m. WELCOME AND KICK-OFF
  • Robert Harper, director (WO-NFS-Biological & Physical Resources Directorate)
• 10:45-11:05 a.m. Lake George Dam Removal and South Platte River Restoration
  • Josh Voorhis (Pike & San Isabel National Forest, South Park Ranger District), Line Officer Award
• 11:05-11:25 a.m. Trials and Tribulations of the Only Restorable Springs in Florida
  • Clay Coates, Jorge Guevara, Carrie Sekerak, Jay Garcia, John Dysart, Jonathan Mickett (Ocala National Forest), Collaborative Integrated Aquatic Stewardship Award
• 11:25-11:45 a.m. Watershed Restoration on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest: A Brief Profile
  • Christopher Ester (Chequamegon-Nicolet), Early Career Professional Award            
• 11:45-12:05 p.m. WINs on the Allegheny
  • Kylie Maland, Luke Bobnar, Eric Chapman (Western PA Conservancy Watershed Conservation Program), Partnership Award    
• 12:05-1:30 p.m. LUNCH BREAK        
• 1:30-1:50 p.m. Building Ambassadors in Native Trout Conservation    
  • Rachel Geiger & Cora Marrama (Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forest), Zach Jory & the Rocky Mountain Fly Casters, Public Awareness Award    
• 1:50-2:10 p.m. Thinking Outside the Box for Watershed-scale Wildfire Resilience: Water, Ecosystems and People 
  • Rebecca Flitcroft (Pacific Northwest Research Station Corvallis Forestry Sciences Lab), Jim Sedell Research Achievement Award    
• 2:10-2:30 p.m. From Where I Sit: Soil Resource Perspectives so Far
  • Amy Amman (Ottawa National Forest), Field Soil Scientist Award    
• 2:30-2:50 p.m. Soil—Don't Treat it Like Dirt    
  • Gina Rone (Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre & Gunnison National Forests), Field Soil Scientist Award
• 2:50-3:10 p.m. Favorable Conditions of Flow: Catching the Water
  • Liz Schnackenberg (Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests & Thunder Basin National Grassland), Grassland Wagon Wheel Gap Hydrology Award    
• 3:10-3:45 p.m. Strategies to Reduce Wildfire Smoke Impacts to Frequently Impacted Communities
  • Rick Graw (Pacific Northwest Region), Paul Miller Air Award

The evening awards ceremony will be held on the historic Whitton Patio of the USDA Whitton Building and will be an in-person event only. Chief Randy Moore, Deputy Chief Chris French and Deputy Chief David Lytle will participate in the ceremony. All Forest Service personnel in the Washington, D.C., area are invited to attend.