Our Hero for a Day sweepstakes winner devotes many of his weekends to restoring habitat for the fish he loves

The way we see it, anyone who volunteers his or her time for conservation deserves to be recognized. While we can’t showcase every one of the 400-plus volunteers who came out to our six Hero for a Day events across the U.S. last spring, we wanted one volunteer to represent them all at our 2011 Heroes of Conservation Awards Gala in Washington, D.C., this fall. We are pleased to announce that volunteer is Bill Greening of Ormond Beach, Fla., who wielded a power auger to drill holes for mangrove trees at the Turtle Mound Shoreline Restoration at Canaveral National Seashore in May.

Greening and his 12-year-old daughter, Sydney, will meet the editors and Hero of the Year finalists at the gala, where they’ll also have a chance to hear a live acoustic performance by event host and country music star Craig Morgan. The next morning, they will go on a guided bass fishing trip on the Potomac River.

A trout, redfish, and snook angler, Greening cares deeply about the health of the fishing waters he frequents. “When I fish, I’m looking for quality over quantity, and habitat is a factor,” says Greening. He has done a lot of habitat restoration work as an environmental specialist with Volusia County Mosquito Control, but he often volunteers his weekend time, and use of his boat as well, working on shoreline restoration. “We load my boat with oyster mats, tools, people—whatever.” “Bill has volunteered on local restoration projects many times over the past four years,” says Dr. Linda Walters from the University of Central Florida, who spearheaded the Turtle Mound project. “He is one of those people who thinks no task is too big or too small.”

Greening also urges Sydney to volunteer alongside him whenever possible. “It is very important to get the next generation involved,” he says. “We’re going to be in for a rough ride, especially with the sea level rising here in Florida. We have to do whatever we can.”