Pike & San Isabel National Forests, Cimarron & Comanche National Grasslands

Forest Supervisors Office

2840 Kachina Dr.

Pueblo, CO 81008

Date: September 22, 2005

Contacts: Barb Timock, Public Affairs Officer, 719-553-1415

Kansas Employees of the U.S. Forest Service Receive McGuire Award at
Centennial Reunion in Oregon

PUEBLO, COLORADO…Doug Leisz, Chairman of the National Association of Forest Service Retirees, presented Forest Service employees Joe Hartman, District Ranger, and Richard “Dick” Bennin, minerals specialist with the John R. McGuire Award last week. The award is presented by the National Association of Forest Service Retirees in honor of John McGuire, who served as the tenth Forest Service chief from 1972 to 1979, and helped draft the National Forest Management Act. Hartman and Bennin are employed in Elkhart, Kansas at the Cimarron National Grassland-Pike and San Isabel National Forests, Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands (PSICC),

“It is a pleasure to recognize these two outstanding Forest Service employees for their dedication and hard work,” said Leisz.

“Receiving the McGuire award is a prestigious honor for Forest Service employees throughout the country,” said Bob Leaverton, Forest Supervisor. “I am incredibly proud of Joe Hartman and Dick Bennin who are tremendous assets to this agency and region and are deserving of the highest recognition and praise.”

Hartman, a District Ranger, is recognized for outstanding accomplishments in facilitating extraction of oil and gas while providing protection of wildlife habitat, riparian values and cultural resources, and striking a balance among multiple use and sustained yield objectives. He is also known for mentoring leadership skills in young firefighters.

Minerals specialist Bennin is recognized for developing innovative technical and administrative methods of detection, mitigation, and disposal of large quantities of saline water while quietly and efficiently administering one of his region’s largest leasable minerals programs. In the last 20 years he has built a model program in the context of the Forest Service multiple use mission for administering environmentally sound operations of 400 oil and gas wells and associated infrastructure.

Working with District resource specialists, he has developed oil and gas operating standards that help meet goals of sustaining the productivity of the land for other uses, including wildlife habitat, water quality, grazing, and recreation. Bennin is also a noted instructor for the oil and gas administration course provided by the Geology and Minerals Training.

The National Association of Forest Service Retirees, which presents the awards each year, is a non-profit organization of former agency employees who lend expertise and experience in the management of national forests by providing non-ideological perspectives. The award was presented at Reunion 2005, a Forest Service Centennial event, attended by over 1,200 Forest Service retirees and current employees in Portland, Oregon on Wednesday, September 7.

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Joe Hartman, Cimarron National Grassland District Ranger	Rick Cables, Rocky Mountain Regional Forester, Dick Bennin,   Cimarron Minerals Specialist, Dale Bosworth, FS Chief, Doug Leisz, NAFSR Chairman and Cimarron Ranger, Joe Hartman
Regional Forester Cables, Joe Hartman, Dick Bennin, Chief  Bosworth and Doug Leisz	Award recipients Dick Bennin and Joe Hartman with Regional Forester Cables