Ron Kuipers, Kensington, Md.

As a volunteer with the Izaak Walton League of America, Kuipers initiated a partnership with the American Chestnut Foundation to help develop blight-­resistant chestnut trees. The effort has spread to several other chapters, and Kuipers, who is retired, now helps manage 15 experimental orchards across the state. He also formerly led a wood-duck nesting program that’s placed more than 100 nesting boxes in and around a local wildlife management area. “In any volunteer organization, the hardest thing to find is one person who steps forward and says, ‘I will do it, I will lead,’” says former Rockville Chapter president Miles Greenbaum. “That’s Ron.”

Theresa and Tommie Berger, Sylvan Grove, Kan.

For over 10 years, Theresa Berger and her husband, Tommie, have voluntarily run the Outdoor Adventure Camp. Sponsored by the Kansas Wildlife Federation, it teaches kids not only how to be stewards of their environment (seminars cover wildlife and fisheries management) but also how they can enjoy it through shooting sports and fishing. “It’s about enjoying our land, and making sure that we respect it,” Theresa says.

Mark Standinger, Arlington, Minn.

Since he helped found Pheasants Forever’s Sibley County chapter 23 years ago, Standinger has been a driving force on PF’s main fronts—from habitat projects such as tree and shrub plantings to mentored hunts. It’s been his role as a fund-raiser, however, that has given him the most joy. “I just love banquets,” says Standinger, also a member of Ducks Unlimited. “Local people step up, because hunting, fishing, conservation, and wildlife are important to us.”