The PLF is proud to acknowledge and recognize significant contributions to public lands management by individuals, groups and organizations. We do this by issuing several kinds of awards. Most are awarded annually, but some are presented on special occasions.
Awards to Bureau of Land Management Managers and Employees
Outstanding Public Land Professional Employee-of-the-Year Awards
The PLF is dedicated to ensuring the public lands continue to be managed by the Bureau of Land Management to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of these lands for current and future generations. The PLF believes a strong, field-focused organization is key to achieving this outcome. The PLF strives to support current BLM employees through expertise and experience sharing, involvement in projects when requested, capturing of historic information and mentorship.
Annually, the PLF highlights key accomplishments in BLM land and resource stewardship and community service by recognizing two BLM professionals. This recognition is done through a highly competitive nomination and selection process which results in the annual presentation of BLM Professional Employee of the Year Awards. – one for an employee in a resource, technical or operational program, and one for an employee in management or administrative services.
Awards are presented in a formal setting in Washington, DC, the National Training Center or recipient’s home organization. Award recipients receive a personal engraved plaque, certificate and a free one-year membership to the PLF. In addition, recognition of the recipients is highlighted on a plaque permanently displayed in the BLM Director’s Conference Room.
Lifetime Service Awards
The PLF presents its prestigious Lifetime Service Awards to current and former BLM employees in recognition of prestigious lifetime career performance that benefited the management of Public Lands administered by BLM. It is intended that this form of recognition will foster BLM employee pride and productivity as well as stimulate the public’s interest in federal resources and the quality of the agency’s management.
Other Awards
Periodically, the PLF also issues special awards, such as for BLM’s 50th Anniversary, and Special Posthumous Recognition Awards.
Landscape Stewardship Awards and Certificates
The BLM has a variety of land use plans and projects that are intended to address the use, allocation and improvement of the public lands administered by the BLM. Organizations and individuals outside of government are often the catalysts for demonstrating effective approaches for achieving good stewardship of these lands and resources. Good stewardship may be defined as an ethic that embodies cooperative planning and management of resources by agencies, organizations, communities, and others actively engaged to prevent loss of resources and facilitate their improvement in the interest of long-term sustainability. PLF’s Landscape Stewardship Award honors the work done by private citizens who work to advance and sustain community-based stewardship on landscapes that include, in whole or in part, lands administered by BLM. The focus on landscapes is intended to be broad in nature versus project oriented volunteer efforts.
The organizations, groups and individuals typically envisioned for this award are those that took a leadership role to address landscape scale issues. A good example would be a coalition of various citizen groups joining together to address issues within a certain landscape to bring about improved stewardship. Usually they are individual local citizens or groups comprised of local citizens that are typically all-volunteer without paid staff.
Awards to PLF Members
The PLF recognizes significant contributions within its organization through special awards and an annual Volunteer of the Year Award.