Doug Thornton, Spencer, N.Y.

In Feb. 2012, part-time teacher Thornton started an after-school sportsmen’s club at Spencer–Van Etten High School and has already led 12 students in cleaning up a 2-mile section of Catatonk Creek and stocking trout in local ponds. The group plans to mentor younger students in fishing these waters this fall. The club has also raised $5,000 to expand its outreach and to plant food plots on a piece of school-owned land. “These kids range from beginners to hardcore hunters, and I’m pleased that they’ll have places to enjoy the sports,” he says.

Jane Morton Galetto, Millville, N.J.

In 1986, Galetto helped to incorporate the Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and Tributaries, and as president of this all-volunteer group, she mobilizes more than 400 members to hang wood-duck boxes and remove invasive plants. “The greatest threat to management of these resources stems from lack of funds, so volunteers are essential,” says Galetto. She also coordinates wildlife habitat studies and brokers meetings to acquire greenway areas.

Jeff Walsh, Vancouver, Wash.

A retired teacher, Walsh volunteers 10 hours each month training local schoolteachers to bring conservation into the classroom through an interdisciplinary curriculum. “The Leopold Education Project is a national initiative. Teachers can pick lessons from this curriculum to plug into their classwork,” says Walsh, who also serves as the education chairman of Pheasants Forever’s Southwest Washington chapter. “Kids work hard when learning is experiential.”