ARIZONA – In an amazing display of dedication and community service, Daniel Dominguez, a cherished employee of the Tonto National Forest and a respected United States Air Force veteran, was honored with the Golden Pinecone Award for his outstanding accomplishments in 2023. 

Dominguez’s commitment to his fellow veterans stood out as he helped organize six events, successfully distributing over 1,000 American the Beautiful interagency pass to military veterans at various Veterans Affairs medical facilities in Arizona. The National Forest Pinecone Award is a testament to the extraordinary efforts of Forest Service personnel who participate and engage in community outreach!

“We’re still continuing this work in 2024 with three more events scheduled at Arizona VA Hospitals to hand out free Lifetime Military, Veteran and Access America the Beautiful park passes, and we are planning more outreach events for the future," Daniel said. “Recently, we participated in a recreation fair at Phoenix College sponsored by Arizona State University Office for Veteran and Military Academic Engagement to promote outdoor recreation to veterans. Tonto personnel shared forest information and we distributed another 50 passes.”

Dominguez’s efforts are a continuation of the amazing work and legacy from Michael Garrison, a dedicated frontliner at the Tonto National Forest Supervisor’s Office in Phoenix, Arizona. Garrison devoted countless hours to organize tabling events at the VA enlisting other veterans at the Tonto to help distribute the Military Lifetime America the Beautiful passes to as many eligible veterans as possible, as well as the Access Pass. In early 2023, Garrison was so passionate, he took it upon himself to contact the VA directly and proposed distributing the passes at the hospital. The VA responded with mirrored excitement to the offer and Garrison planned for the event, enlisting fellow coworker Daniel Dominguez. 

The turnout for this first-of-a-kind outreach event exceeded all expectations. Within minutes after setting up, approximately 50 people lined the hallway at the Phoenix VA and the numbers only grew from there. Garrison and Dominguez quickly realized that their initial supply of 160 Lifetime Access interagency passes for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the 40 lifetime military interagency passes wouldn’t be enough. Dominguez hurried back to the Tonto Supervisor’s Office to pick up an additional 100 Access passes and 50 Military Lifetime passes. 

“Overall, the event was a huge success! We handed out 350 interagency passes in just three hours,” Garrison said. “The response from the vast majority of recipients was positive and we received a lot of praise for making the process easy.”

Following the success of their first event, Garrison and Dominguez enlisted other Tonto veterans to help with the tabling events throughout the Phoenix metro area as well as up in Payson, Arizona. Although Garrison left the Tonto in the summer of 2023 to pursue social services studies, his commitment to his fellow veterans, much like Dominguez’s, remains unwavering. Garrison continues to provide support through volunteering to continue pass distribution events at VA hospitals with Dominguez. Garrison and Dominguez forged an invaluable partnership with the VA, ensuring that their legacy of service will continue.