Cathy Johnson of Alna has earned Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM)’s lifetime achievement award. NRCM celebrated its 2020 Conservation Leadership Awards online Oct. 22.

“This year’s award winners have done remarkable work to protect what we all love and value about Maine,” said NRCM CEO Lisa Pohlmann. “Each of these individuals demonstrates the power of Mainers to make a difference by speaking up, organizing, and advocating for a better future.”

Johnson was honored for her tireless advocacy in defense of Maine's North Woods and ability to inspire and galvanize support for wild places across Maine. She retired this year from NRCM after serving for almost 30 years as the forests and wildlife director. Johnson helped create Maine’s Ecological Reserve system and the Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument, and pushed back against Plum Creek’s proposal for the Moosehead Lake region.

Also honored were Aram Calhoun of Amherst, for her expertise and leadership in the effort to protect Maine's vernal pools, including as a scientific expert supporting our work to stop the Central Maine Power (CMP) corridor project. Calhoun is a professor of wetlands ecology at the University of Maine; Vaughan Woodruff of Pittsfield, for for his tireless efforts to move Maine toward a clean energy future, create clean energy jobs for Maine people and protect western Maine from the CMP corridor; and Eric Sherman of Greenville, People’s Choice Award for his tireless efforts on the No CMP Corridor campaign and hard work for the greater good of Maine's North Woods. He is a schoolteacher and a whitewater guide.

For more than 30 years, NRCM’s Conservation Leadership Awards have recognized residents who work to protect the natural resources so important for Maine’s economy and way of life. Past recipients include U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, natural history author Phyllis Austin, former Baxter State Park Director Buzz Caverly and Olympic champion-clean air activist Joan Benoit Samuelson.

For more information, visit www.nrcm.org/events/conservation-leadership-awards/