Local BLM park ranger wins national volunteer award

WASHINGTON, DC— Bureau of Land Management Park Ranger Chris Pipkin was honored in a special ceremony on Wednesday, May 10, as the Bureau of Land Management employee recipient of the 2006 BLM “Making a Difference” National Volunteer Awards. Also honored were eight BLM volunteers or volunteer teams selected from around the nation. Pipkin was presented the award for his exceptional abilities in bringing volunteers together to build, maintain and manage the miles of trails on public lands administered by the BLM Grand Junction Field Office.

“Chris is a natural born leader in coordinating and managing our volunteers,” said Field Manager Catherine Robertson. “He’s built community partnerships that are invaluable to us in achieving our on-the-ground management goals. Through a collaborative synergy that only Chris can inspire, we have benefited from over 5,000 hours of volunteer work in 2005 alone.”

"It is always a pleasure to work with Chris Pipkin. He truly does make a difference,” said Pat Kennedy, a member of BLM’s Northwest Colorado Resource Advisory Council and the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area Advisory Council. “Chris is involved with the design, layout, construction and maintenance of our trail network. He is the first to arrive and the last to leave on trail development days, and he is willing to get down in the dirt with the volunteers and sets a great example on how to create a sustainable, interesting and enjoyable trail."

Pipkin began making a difference as a BLM volunteer back in 1993, building and maintaining trails, installing signs, cleaning toilets—doing whatever needed to be done for the recreation program. After a year of faithfully volunteering, he became a seasonal “rec tech” working in the Grand Junction Field Office. Today, Pipkin is one of the agency’s leading trail builders and volunteer advocates, working closely with the Colorado Outdoor Training Initiative, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado and Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Association. Thanks to Pipkin’s energetic efforts, local trail users have become aware of the need for properly designed trails and issues related to illegal, user-created trails. Pipkin continues to make a difference as a volunteer himself, serving on a BLM statewide committee to develop and implement a comprehensive “how to guide” for effectively managing and training volunteers.

Pipkin and his wife, Melissa, enjoy our great public lands whenever they can with their three children—Emily, age 11, Eric, age 9, and Evan, age 7 months.

-BLM-

Editor’s Note: Pipkin available for interviews on Tue. 5/16 before 10:00 a.m. or Fri. 5/19 or Sat. 5/20. Photo available upon request.