6 volunteers, others honored by Yosemite
National Park Service
Yosemite National Park honors 2017 Volunteer of the Year award recipients during a ceremony in Yosemite Valley on National Public Lands Day last month.
Yosemite National Park has announced this year’s recipients of its Volunteer of the Year awards. The 2017 award recipients are:
Jerel Steckling, Yosemite Conservancy, Individual Volunteer of the Year
Meryl Kruskopf, Yosemite’s Visitor Use Impact Monitoring Program, Individual Youth Volunteer of the Year
Mona Knight, Yosemite Conservancy, Enduring Volunteer of the Year, having accumulated 25 years of volunteer service in Yosemite
The Little Yosemite Valley Interns, Volunteer Group of the Year
Building Bridges to the Outdoors, a chapter of the Sierra Club, Youth Volunteer Group of the Year
Paul Rogers, Yosemite Archivist, Volunteer Supervisor of the Year
The Desk Officer Program, Yosemite Volunteer Program of the Year
Carrie Anderson, NatureBridge Stewardship Instructor of the Year
Allyson Gunsallus, Yosemite Climbing Association, Facelift Volunteer of the Year
These awards were presented in person at a special awards ceremony in Yosemite Valley that coincided with the Yosemite Facelift (a park-wide cleanup event) and National Public Lands Day on Sept. 30.
“Park volunteers are a critical component of the Yosemite community. They help restore trails, provide information to visitors, assist with Preventive Search and Rescue, and much more,” said Acting Superintendent Chip Jenkins. “We are proud to honor these outstanding volunteers who share their time, talent, passion, and help preserve and protect Yosemite National Park.”
In 2016, Yosemite National Park hosted 12,394 volunteers, who donated over 167,000 hours of work to the park.
