Lifetime Service Award - 2007

William G.
William G. "Bill" Leavell

The Public Land Foundation grants William G. Leavell its Lifetime Service Award for excellence in public land management.  The foundation provides this Award annually to members who have continued to enhance the proud tradition of public service.  Bill has maintained this tradition throughout his career in managing public land resources and providing other services to and for the public–including the US Army.

He refers to his overall career of 34 years as being challenging, rewarding and a privilege to work with many fine people.  Upon graduating from the Forestry/Range Management program at the University of Idaho he joined Bureau of Land Management in 1952 as a Range Conservationist in Burns, OR and retired as State Director of OR/WA in 1986.

To name but a few of his career assignments he advanced from being a Range Conservationist in Burns, OR to Assistant District Manger in Lakeview; then as District Manager Price, UT; followed by key positions in Washington DC as Assistant Chief of Resource Program Management, Chief, Branch of Resource Services and Watershed Specialist in Division of Standards and Technology.  The next move was back to the field in California as Chief, Division of Resources; and then as Associate State Director, Utah.  He finished his career with the BLM as State Director, OR/WA.

Overall these assignments resulted in Bill participating in all phases of public land administration, including leadership roles in BLM Reorganization Studies, Project leader of the first Programmatic EIS for Oil and Gas Leasing, Task Force leader BLM National Aviation Study, Acting Assistant Director of Office of Coal Management and Department of Interior Representative to the 13th International Grassland Congress and Western Forestry Congress. While in OR/WA he completed the largest state land exchange program ever in BLM and was instrumental in developing the basic O&C forest policy for the future. One must not forget his effective personnel management style and ability to work with all–within BLM and outside.

His performance has been recognized through superior awards and is the recipient of the USDI Meritorious Service Award (1976) and USDI Distinguished Service Award (1986).

The PLF is honored to recognize ‘Bill’ with this Lifetime Service Award.

The award was presented at the Foundation’s Annual Meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico on October 26, 2007.