2010

Olmsted Award
Valerie Bradshaw, CEA
Facilities Management Div
~~~
For more than 20 years, Valerie exhibited leadership and visionary qualities in support of the Department's mission. She was instrumental in creating the Facilities Management Division and she pushed the maintenance classifications into acceptance as a professional series; a series that reflects a complex and diverse skills set. Parks' maintenance crews help preserve the State's biological diversity, protect valuable natural and cultural resources.

Hill Award
 Michael Sampson
Assoc. State Archaeologist
 Southern Service Ctr
~~~
Michael's 30-year-career with the Department kept him involved in thousands of cultural resource management planning and environmental projects. He provided an important voice towards the promotion of archaelological and cultural resource protection. He co-authored SB 1034 which added provisions to the Public Resources Code relating to crimes committed at archaeological sites and other historic properties. 

Drury Award
David Schaub
Environmental Pgm Mgr I
Natural Resources Div
~~~
For 25 years Dave has been a steady force for maintaining and advancing the standards of natural resources management in the State Park System. His high professional standards and diplomacy have contributed immeasurably to the credibility of resource management; and his playful sense of humor is a lively character trait useful for building positive relationships and vigorous discussion.  

Mott Award
Round Valley Meadow Restoration Team
Accepting award for the team, L to R:
Doug Rischbieter, Env. Scientist 
 Rick Rayburn, Natural Resource Div. Chief (Ret.)
David Muraki, Director - CA Conservation Corp. (CCC) 
~~~
The team ensured completion of the Round Valley Meadow Restoration Project in the face of monumental barriers. Especially noteworthy was the first use of mechanized equipment (helicopter) within a designated State Wilderness Area - which required passage of AB 2945 to amend the State Wilderness Act. The outcome resulted in many happy hikers and campers able to enjoy the meadow for many years to come.

Mott Award
Green Valley Horse Camp Team  - Colorado Desert District
Pictured left to right: Ernest & Robin Smith and Charyl Wagner (with horse), volunteers;
Ronie Clark, So. Div. Chief; Nedra Martinez, Sector Supt.; Ray Lennox, PMC I;
 and volunteer Ashley Lennox (on horse)
~~~~~
Cuyamaca Rancho SP was badly burned in the 2003 Cedar Fire. One outcome was finding out that the area in the Los Caballos Horse Camp had more archeological significance then previously realized. This meant the horse camp could not be rebuilt in the same location. Ray Lennox and his team's dedication proceded to find a new location. After many trials and tribulations, the new Green Valley Horse Camp was completed and opened to the public. The team's ingenuity saved the Department five million dollars. Cooperation between several Park Districts, employees, and outside agencies resulted in many happy park visitors (and horses too).

 
Special Commendation Award
Al Chavez, Supervising
 State Park Ranger, OHMVR
~~~

Al Chavez was honored for his professional legacy, school outreach programs, countless hours spent at the POST Academy, his dedication to cadets struggling with firearms, and for being a guiding force in the Department's K-9 program. Al's excellent customer service skills and his giving back to the community enabled his rise among Parks' legendry.

Special Commendation Award
 Mark Langner, Supervising
State Park Ranger,
Bodie SHP/Sierra District
~~~
Mark and his wife (and their cat) lived at Bodie SHP for thirteen years. Through frozen or fiery temperatures, Mark provided for law enforcement, fire protection, emergency maintenance, and vandalism protection. He was a responder at four airplane crashes and rescuer of lost hikers, riders, and skiers. All that was accomplished in a desolate wilderness ghost town, 8,400 feet in elevation, east of the Sierra Nevadas .  

Special Commendation Award
Frank & June Nutall,
Camp Host Volunteers,
San Elijo SB/San Diego Coast
~~~
Our Canadian friends, Frank & June Nutall, volunteered at San Elijo State Beach for 23 years. Their love of this beach and their significant contributions was reflected by their efforts to maintain landscapes, 
charm  visitors (and staff members), and dutifully report to work in their crisp and clean volunteer uniforms.  Folks visiting San Elijo for generations all know and ask about Frank and June and always wish them well.  

Dewitt Award
Angel Island Immigration Station Restoration Project
Accepted by Eddie Wong, Director - Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
~~~
The Foundation led a ten-year effort, with partners from state and federal agencies, and other private stakeholder-- to protect, restore, preserve, and interpret key features and buildings at the Angel Island Immigration Station. The Foundation will continue to raise funds, research history, train oral historians, and be an integral leader to help maintain the site and share the tales of the early imigrants who came through the institution with  aspirations to make a new way of life  in California.    

Ingenuity Award
 Lyman Gray, PMC III
 Capital District
State Museums Historic Parks
~~~
Lyman has an unwavering commitment to Green Technology and also won a SMUD Community Energy Award for his efforts to use Green Building Codes as much as possible within historic buildings and other Parks' locations. Lyman provided leadership to install new lighting at the Railroad Museum, to retrofit interior and exterior lighting at Railtown SHP, and worked other projects that resulted in increased energy efficiency.   

Lyman Gray escorts President George Bush & Barbara Bush through the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento.
_______

 
Special Act Award
Elisabeth Bray & Todd Shanklin
 ~~~~
Both Elisabeth and Todd were off-duty and with family at Huntington SB when they responded to two people who were pulled into the sea by a rip current. Rip currents at Huntington Beach are notoriously treacherous and fast acting -- Bray and Shanklin entered the water and swam approximately 100 yards with no rescue equipment. They were able to bring the two victims, one of them unconscious with blocked airways, to the shore and perform treatment. Both victims survived to tell their stories because of Elisabeth and Todd's extraordinary awareness and their keen water and lifeguarding skills.  

Special Act Award
Mauricio Contreras
~~~
On August 29, 2010, Mauricio used his bilingual skills to speak with hispanic visitors at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park and was able to determine the approximate location where a person had disappeared into the river. Mauricio then dove into the cold water and helped locate and extricate the unconsciouness victim. That day, a valuable State Park employee went above and beyond his duties as a Seasonal Aide to help save the life of a stranger.