The Public Land Foundation grants to Roland G. Robison its Lifetime Service Award.  The Foundation provides this award annually to deserving members who have perpetuated and enhanced the proud tradition of public service.  Roland exemplifies that tradition through a lifetime of service in managing and protecting the Public Lands.

In a 38-year career of state and federal service, Roland has dealt with land and water resource management issues including  the blossoming of environmental consciousness  in the West.   Always a gentleman, willing to listen to differing viewpoints, he has what one observer describes as “dignified patience.”  Part of his success has been due to a keen personal knowledge and interest in the issues.

Roland is a graduate of Brigham Young University and the University of Utah Law School.  He served as an State Assistant Attorney General and a Deputy Attorney General and then as the Administrative Assistant to then-Governor George D. Clyde and also as an Administrative Assistant to Rep. Laurence J. Burton, R-Utah.

From there, he joined the ranks of the federal government as Associate Solicitor, Energy and Resources, DOI, with general responsibility for legal work for Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, Geological Survey and Bureau of Mines.  Returned to Utah as Deputy Regional Director, DOI, in Salt Lake City, eventually rising to Utah State Director of BLM, where he served for six years before becoming Deputy Director of BLM, in Washington, D.C. He then became the Regional Director of Upper Colorado Region, Bureau of Reclamation in 1989,retiring in 1993.

During this long career, Roland saw the emergence of environmental laws such as the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

Roland received many awards including the Distinguished Executive Award, the Distinguished Service Award, the Senior Executive Service Award conferred by the U.S. President, the highest honor that can be given to a federal employee.

In Roland’s Own Words:

The six years I spent as BLM State Director in Utah were the most satisfying of my federal career and I like to think that they were somewhat rewarding and meaningful to my BLM colleagues in Utah, whom I learned to admire and care for greatly.  As to my accomplishments, I am not sure that they were significant or noteworthy.  I have always taken some small satisfaction in that there was always an aura of good feeling, harmony, camaraderie, and dedication to and appreciation for the government service in these areas where I served.  To the extent that I may have helped promote such an atmosphere I take some small amount of pride.

The Public Land Foundation is honored to recognize Roland with this Lifetime Service Award.

The award was presented at the Foundation’s Annual Meeting in Park City, Utah in September, 2008.