Environmental Stewardship Awards

Environmental Stewardship Awards Ceremony

The Stewardship Awards Ceremony was held June 30th, 2025 at the Administrative Services Bldg., 200 W. Oak Street, Fort Collins. It was recorded and can be watched on youtube. 

Larimer County's annual Environmental Stewardship Awards recognize individuals and organizations that are good stewards of the environment.

What we recognize

The awards recognize the environmental stewardship activities of individuals, organizations, business, or public agencies that take place within Larimer County. The activities can be simple or complex. Successful nominations are projects that are effective, innovative, creative, provide leadership and sustainability. The nomination form will help guide you through those criteria.

Suggestions for possible nominations include: an individual that shows a commitment to environmental stewardship on their property or in the community, an educator who is dedicated to instilling an environmental ethic in their students, or a business that uses innovative practices to minimize impacts and enhance the environment. A list of the previous stewardship awards is available on the county website.

Submit a nomination

Anyone is eligible to nominate a deserving individual, organization, business, or public agency for an award.

The next nomination period will open in early 2026. If you would like to prepare your application early, you can click the "Online Nomination Form" button to see what questions are asked.  

Online Nomination Form

How the awards are selected

The county's Environmental and Science Advisory Board reviews and evaluates each of the nominations based on the following criteria:

  • Time and degree of commitment
  • Effective environmental benefit of the project
  • Innovation and Creativity
  • Leadership and educational value of a project
  • Promoting sustainability 

Then they make recommendations to the County Commissioners who make the final selection. The winners will be recognized by the Commissioners at a regularly televised meeting.

Questions

We can be reached by phone at (970) 498-5738, or by email if you have questions about the stewardship awards program.

2024 Awardees

We are excited to present Larimer County’s Environmental Stewardship Awards for 2025.  This was the 30th year for these awards! 

Environmental Stewardship Awards
Left to Right: Commissioner John Kefalas;  Commissioner Kristin Stephens; Jamie Blanchard-Poling (Compost Queen); Scott James (NOCO Sawyers); Shelley Bayard de Volo (ESAB Lead); Amy Wolf (YMCA of the Rockies); Commissioner Jody Shadduck-McNally
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  • Scott James’s leadership for the Northern Colorado Sawyers has resulted in more than 600 hundred of volunteer hours removing thousands of invasive species.
  • NOCO Sawyers have actively been working on removal of invasive species over the last 5 years on the City of Loveland's open spaces.
  • Demonstrating passion about improving the nature environment, this work involves: Staging project areas, stockpiling woody debris for wildlife habitat, using an incinerator was used to burn debris stockpiles, and converting saws to electric to minimize environmental impacts.
  • Jamie Blanchard-Poling has established the Compost Queen composting services, diverting over 25,000 pounds of food per month from the landfill by working with local restaurants, businesses, and residents.
  • Composting can reduce waste sent to landfills by 40%, thus reducing pollution from our landfill. Finished compost returned to customers to localize carbon cycling, build soils, retain water, and prevent erosion.
  • New innovations include: Creating resources for home composters and assisting Fort Collins with their organics management plan.
  • Amy has led YMCA of the Rockies Sustainability efforts as their Environmental Sustainability Director since 2021.
  • Accomplishments beyond her daily routine include : reducing waste to landfills and by promoting recycling and reusing. Her education programs for guests, staff, and local communities to reduce waste going to landfills through recycling and reuse. It is affecting various YMCAs around the world.
  • She created a “Waste Audit and Activity Handbook”. Conducted training, engaged with “Colorado Circular Economy” and “Estes Recycles” organizations.
  • Shelley Bayard de Volo has been the County’s staff liaison to the Environmental and Science Advisory Board for 8 years (2017-2025). Accepting this roll beyond the job she was hired to conduct, Shelley has provided her deep knowledge of county operations, expertise in environmental science, and management skills, and ever-present smile to the work of the County.
  • Continuing beyond her daily role, Shelley has facilitated an internal team of County staff and ESAB discussions in 2020 leading to establishment of a Climate Smart Framework. Finally, Shelley fostered the development of the Larimer County Climate, Environmental Stewardship, and Sustainability Policy in 2019.