2003 – Alpine Steward Award Winner – Roger Collins
2003 Alpine Steward Award Winner: Roger Collins
The Waterman Fund presented its first annual Alpine Steward Award at the Fund’s annual dinner on Saturday March 15, 2003 in Bradford, Vermont. The award is given each year to a person or organization that has demonstrated a long term commitment to protecting the physical and spiritual qualities of the northeast’s mountain wilderness.
This year’s recipient is Roger Collins, who has served on the White Mountain National Forest’s Ammonoosuc / Pemigewasset Ranger District for more than thirty years.
In presenting the award, Fund Board Member Laura Waterman noted that, “Roger hasn’t spent much time behind the desk. In his position as Supervisory Forest Technician, he’s been on the frontlines, conveying important land stewardship messages to the public. Roger understands the importance of teaching human stewardship in the mountains. He embodies it, and he lives it with humility. Roger’s practice of it is both model and example as he has worked to protect the physical and spiritual qualities of the northeast’s mountain wilderness.”
Collins received a large, framed photograph taken on Sugarloaf Mountain in Twin Mountain, New Hampshire. The photograph was provided by noted mountain photographer Ned Therrien.
Forty supporters of the Fund attended the annual dinner, which was held at the Perfect Pear Restaurant. At the dinner, Fund President Chuck Wooster announced that the Fund had raised $100,000 in the two years of its existence, and was well on its way to achieving its goal of raising $250,000 in its first five years.