Doug Hutzell, Hagerstown, Md.

After years of watching Beaver Creek decline, Hutzell spotted young-of-the-year wild brown trout in its waters in 1999. That spurred him to form the Beaver Creek Watershed Association and begin restoration efforts. Since then, two chapters of Trout Unlimited, the Antietam Fly Anglers, and other groups have helped the BCWA fund half a million dollars’ worth of redesign work on 2,500 feet of the small stream. “We have plans to restore an additional 2,000 feet, and that would make almost a mile of self--sustaining wild trout fishery,” says Hutzell, who also leads planting projects and trash cleanups on the creek. “It takes a lot of people to accomplish something of this scope.”

Jody Palmer, Palm Bay, Fla.

“If I can get people excited about something as small as an oyster, I guess my passion shows,” says Palmer, who recruits and trains volunteers to prepare, build, and deploy oyster-shell mats in an ongoing collaborative reef project in central Florida’s Indian River Lagoon. In 2009, she brought the project to the attention of the Brevard Zoo, where she works full-time writing grants and managing budgets for educational outreach, and also took on a leadership role in her spare time. Palmer estimates that the project has brought together more than 30,000 volunteers, and the new habitat they’ve created now sustains 149 different species, including redfish, mullet, and black drum.

Steve Sams, Prescott Valley, Ariz.

As a state hunter-education instructor and a volunteer with the National Wild Turkey Federation for 25 years, Sams has dedicated his life to the preservation of the outdoor sports and wildlife. He has introduced more than 2,000 kids to hunting in 10 years of organizing mentored youth pheasant hunts and four years of leading youth turkey camps. He was a charter member of the Hunting and Angling Heritage Work Group, a collaborative that has grown from four sportsmen’s groups to more than 30, to break down competitive barriers and pool resources. “Everybody turns his hat backward so that no one organization is the focus,” says Sams. “It’s the best way to maximize our impact.”