2011 LightHawk Volunteer Award Winners announced 10/8/11 in Boise, ID>

1. Volunteer Pilot Awards
Flight Season: May 2010 - April 2011

2. Rookie of the Year
Award
Denise Corcoran
(Dover, NH)

3. The Rookie of the Year Award
recognizes a pilot who joined LightHawk
during the preceding May to April flight
year and immediately began
contributing greatly to the organization.
Since we first talked to Denise during
her Orientation Interview, we knew we
were signing up a great pilot for the
Mesoamerican program, not only for her
impressive flying resume, but also for
the good questions that we were asked about the program itself. You could tell
from the start that she wanted to be ready and prepared. On top of that, once we
scheduled some missions for her in Guatemala, she decided to leave, on her own,
two weeks prior to the flights, so she could take a two-week intensive Spanish
course.
No surprises, this pilot did a great job, all partners enjoying flying with her, and we
are definitely happy to work with her.

4. Rockwell Award
Jim Grady
(Grand Junction, CO)

5. The Rockwell Award recognizes a VP who
embodies the generous spirit and flexibility
of VP Bill Rockwell.
A veteran of the World War II and the
Korean War, and a LightHawk pilot from
1993 until 2000, Bill really cared about the
earth and making a contribution, but he
was never the kind of person who took an
extreme stance on issues. He believed
that by educating people and showing them places so that they truly understood
what was in the balance people we could help people make choices that were
good for humanity. And Bill was always ready and willing to go the extra mile for
LightHawk.
Like Bill, this year's Rockwell Award recipient, Jim Grady, has demonstrated
exceptional generosity and flexibility. Between May 2010 and April 2011 he flew 7
missions in 4 different states for a total of 32 flight hours...averaging more than
four hours per mission.

6. From his home in western Colorado he traveled to far southwest Utah to assist Grand
Canyon Trust with their efforts to protect special places in Fishlake National Forest. He
flew to Nevada to help with a study of the invasive shrub tamarisk, beetles that eat it,
and endangered southwest willow flycatchers that nest in it. He donated flights to
educate policy makers and media about the special wild places in Wyoming's Red
Desert. Some of his flights were out of his home airport, Grand Junction, helping
Colorado Open Lands monitor conservation easements and the Sonoran Institute
encourage smart growth of local communities. More recently, he saved the day by
flying to New Mexico on three
days’ notice, while simultaneously
working with his broker to get us a
new insurance certificate in those
three days, to assist with efforts to
restore and protect the San Juan
River. Jim Grady has flown in all
these locations, helping protect
such a diverse set of ecosystems,
all while repeatedly telling us
when we thanked him that
LightHawk is doing HIM a favor.

7. President’s Award
Bill Rush
(Boulder Creek, CA)

8. The President's Award recognizes a VP who
embodies the true spirit of volunteerism. The pilot
has often gone above and beyond, demonstrating
their dedication not only to LightHawk's mission,
but to other organizations as well.
And this year’s nominee is no exception: he
certainly keeps himself busy. When he is not
flying for LightHawk in the US or Mesoamerica,
Bill Rush is flying volunteer missions in Baja
California with Baja Comunidad, bringing doctors
and medical equipment to remote indigenous
communities, and helping to keep the group’s
operations flowing. Bill first became a LightHawk pilot in 2009, and has since become an
indispensable part of the VP corps in both the Pacific and Mesoamerica regions.
Bill has an easygoing, unflappable attitude that belies his skill and competency as a pilot.
His contagious smile infects those around him, instantly putting his passengers at ease.
When he’s on a LightHawk flight in the Pacific, he’ll do his best to take his gravity-bound
program manager with him. It’s not uncommon for us to get a text from Bill halfway
through a day of flights saying, “Having a blast! You should be here.”

9. Armando Ubeda (left) and Bill
Rush (right)
To gives you a sense of his unflappability, Bill called Armando Ubeda from Honduras to
check in after a LightHawk flight in the 206. He said: “Hey Armando, I’m back… everything
went well. The partners really enjoyed the flight, and I think they’re happy with the
results…” “…however, we had an encounter with the Honduran Air Force. They thought we
might be a drug plane and dispatched a patrol plane. We were on the ground by the time
they arrived on scene.” Just the words a program manager wants to hear! In the end, it all
worked out – it was all a misunderstanding. Bill’s calm voice and attitude helped Armando
not to worry, and undoubtedly Bill’s people skills helped him smooth things over with a few
grumpy officials.

10. Carpenter Award
Janice Newman
(Rye, NH)

11. Bobcats, blackbirds, and bears…oh my. This year’s
Carpenter Award goes to a pilot who is quickly becoming
LightHawk’s wildlife flying guru, Janice Newman. It’s not
enough that she shares Mexican Wolf flying duties with
her business partner and friend, Tom Haas; it’s come to
the point that we figure Janice is going to the mission
board daily and quickly scanning for the word bobcat,
bird, bear, wolf and the like, and then hitting the submit
button as soon as she sees a wildlife mission – missions
that help protect or reintroduce one of these
magnificent species.
In the past year alone, Janice has flown endangered
Mexican wolves to new homes in the southwest, helped
ID radio-collared bobcats in southern New Hampshire –
several times, tracked the wanderings of Rusty Blackbirds in the White Mountains, taken
young Aplomado falcons about to start their new lives to their release site in Texas and
more. And for Janice, it isn’t just the doing of it, but the quality of the doing that matters.
Cold cabin for 8 hours? No problem. Antennae back on the struts of the plane? OK.
Questions about what bedding wolves might be most comfortable in? Ask Janice. All of
those hours stacked up made her one of our highest flight hour pilots this year; and all of
that attentive care and generosity? That makes her the kind of pilot we dream of at
LightHawk.

12. Spirit of LightHawk
Award
David Cole
(Meeker, CO)

13. This award is given to a pilot that
represent the best the Volunteer Pilot
Corp has to offer, that is outstanding to
work with, that it is one of the top five
pilots with more hours flown for
LightHawk in the preceding year.
We are supposed to tell you about all the
great things that David Cole has done to
win this award, and you would think that
based on the description of the award
itself, it would be easier to do so, but no.
The winner of this year is so exceptional that we had a hard time finding the right words to
summarize why he is a winner. But we will try.
Despite being new to the Mesoamerican program, this past season, David flew through 5
different countries and flew missions in Mexico, Belize and Panama. His dedication, superb
pilot experience and charming personality made every mission a successful one; passengers
love him, even custom officers and “comandantes” from the Mexican civil aviation like him.
He also has been a great LightHawk ambassador making great connections wherever he goes;
easy to work with and enthusiastic about our conservation work in North and Central America.

14. Stick-to-itiveness
Award
Merry Schroeder
(Santa Fe, NM)
and
Richard Hoover
(Corrales, NM)

15. This award recognizes two pilots who have demonstrated extreme flexibility in the face of
wind, fire, and partner and passenger schedule changes, signing up for--between the two of
them--30 flights for one partner organization over the past year, only 3 of which actually
resulted in passengers flying over the Pecos Wilderness and surrounding areas as planned.
Seven flights were cancelled by smoke and fire, ten by wind and ten by passenger scheduling
issues, yet these pilots persevered through all the changes to do what they could to promote
the protection of wild lands in their home state of New Mexico. For their extreme flexibility
under very trying conditions, we’re pleased to honor Merry Schroeder and Richard Hoover
with the Stick-to-itiveness Award.

16. Platinum Flyers
In honor of 15 years of
service to LightHawk
Since 1996

17. Reg Goodwin - MT
Dick Walker - ID
Polly Ross – Aspen, CO (pictured)
Barry Harper – Cimarron, NM
Bob Peterson
- ID

18. Superman Award
Chris Boyer
(Bozeman, MT)

19. This multi-talented
individual has helped
LightHawk in so many ways
this past year, in addition
to flying more than 90
hours in his own airplane.
Need someone to plan a flight route to demonstrate the essence of LightHawk's mission to
donors and potential donors? Need someone to help a new program manager get to know
Bozeman's environmental community? Or someone who can serve as a geomorphology guide
as well as pilot and photographer? How about someone who’ll extend a mission and camp
overnight just to help a fellow photographer capture the perfect image...
This pilot always manages to appear when he is most needed. It's a bird...it's a Red
Plane...it's Chris Boyer — LightHawk's very own Superman.

20. Wolf Pack
We honor the pilots who participate
on our wolf transport flights. You are
our Wolf Pack.

21. Wolf Pack 1 Janice Newman and Tom Haas
(NH)

22. Zach Huston and Randy Luskey (TX)

23. Steve Knaebel (MX)
and Hal Hayden (AZ)

24. Joy Covey (CA)
(Green jacket, middle)

27. Steven Garman (ID) –
Cessna 185

28. Chuck Schroll (AZ) – Cessna 207

29. Will Worthington (AZ) – Cessna 206