Mountains to Sound Greenway Awards

Each year at our Annual Dinner, we celebrate individuals and organizations who have made a great impact within the Mountains to Sound Greenway and embody our values. You can read more about the awards and recipients below, and click here to view the achievements celebrated in our 2025 Parade of Accomplishments (plus a few bonus items!).

Greenway Hall of Fame

The Greenway Hall of Fame honors those whose contributions have left a permanent and positive legacy on the Mountains to Sound Greenway, and who inspire all of us to do our own part to care for this amazing place.

2025 Recipient:

Mark Boyar

In recognition of more than three decades of tireless stewardship and advocacy for the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Valley – perhaps the greatest untamed wilderness remaining so close to a major US metro. With appreciation for his endless tenacity, enthusiasm, and creativity in delivering what was most needed at each stage in the Middle Fork’s recovery from decades of abuse: installing the iconic Gateway Bridge and organizing a formal plan in the 1990s; advocating for a new road and expanded Wilderness designation in the early 2000s; and rallying support for recreation planning, access, and ecological restoration that continues today. We are grateful that our community gets to enjoy and pass down to future generations one of the last best places, thanks in very large part to these extraordinary efforts and his unwavering commitment to the Middle Fork.

Jim Ellis Spirit Awards

The Jim Ellis Spirit Award honors the example that he set from the very beginning of the Greenway, recognizing individuals who embody the Greenway values of collaboration, inclusion, trustworthiness, positivity, and pragmatism.  These values guided Jim’s life of service and they infuse every aspect of our work. 

2025 Recipients:

Darcy Batura

In recognition of her career-long commitment to protecting and bettering the lands and waters of Central Washington, her skill for building and collaborative community projects, her unparalleled ability to bring clarity to complex land management issues, her dogged pursuit of permanent protection for 48,000 acres of Central Cascades forestlands, and her invaluable decade-long service as a thought-partner, big-picture dreamer, and occasionally accomplice. 

Kathryn Kurtz

In recognition of her nearly 10 years of leadership as Executive Director of Pacific Education Institute and her lifelong commitment to outdoor education; and for her leadership in co-creating the Youth Engaged in Sustainable Systems (YESS) program, which has connected more than 450 students across the state with meaningful career-connected learning. Through her dedication to empowering the next generation, Kathryn has connected young people, their communities, and the landscapes they call home.  

Wade and Tania Holden

In recognition of their three decades of devoted stewardship of public lands as Friends of the Trail, their tireless and essential work to clean up illegal dumping and garbage across the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area and far beyond; for building trusted partnerships with public land managers and communities; and for their hands-on, positive, and pragmatic approach to protecting natural areas. Wade and Tania have dedicated themselves to the difficult, dirty, and sometimes dangerous work that no one else can or will do, leaving a lasting legacy of care for the lands and waters we all share. 

Brian McNeil

In recognition of more than a decade of service to the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and his steadfast support of collaborative efforts to advance landscape stewardship and recreation; for his partnership in enhancing the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Valley; for his work on Great American Outdoors Act projects in the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area; and for his positive, pragmatic approach to building partnerships and creating lasting improvements on national forest lands for people and nature. 

Past Recipients: Jim Ellis Spirit Awards

2017 
Aleta Eng, Dave Peterson

2018 
Craig Mabie, Matt Mechler, Kelly Heintz

2019 
Nikki Fields, Scott Nicolai, Sasha Shaw, Brian White

2020 
Paul Schmitt, Andrea Imler, Taldi Harrison

2021
Cristy Lake, Katherine Hollis, Patricia Garvey-Darda 

2022
Gabbi Gonzales, Deb Davis, Alex Weinberg

2023
Laura Cooper, David Dunphy, Helen Lau

2024
Jaime Martin, Gary Brown, Lisa Ciecko, Peter Dykstra

2025
Scott Lynn, Chevon Powell, Shawn Tobin, Katie Woolsey

Certificates of Merit

1995
Joanna Buehler, Craig Lee, Gary Locke, Cleve Pinnix, Terry Wallgren

1996
Mark Boyar, Michele Brown, Aubrey Davis, Pete Machno, Lee Springgate

1997
Paul Carkeek, Wade and Tania Holden, Jack Hornung, Maryanne Tagney Jones, Larry Phillips, Arlene Wade

1998
Bill Dues, Ruth Ittner, Morris Jenkins, Cascade Land Conservancy, Doug McClelland, Osberg Family, Ron Sims

2000
EarthCorps, Jim Lyons, Faith Roland, Mark Sollitto, Washington Trails Association, Everett White, Youth Volunteer Corps

2001
Jeanne Ehrlichman Bluechel, Bonnie Bunning, Jerry Henry, Tara Houck, John Karlson, Peggy Leonard,Margaret Macleod, Mary Norton, Paul Schell

2002
Sally Luttrell-Montes, David MacDuff and Talus, Harry Morgan, Charlie Raines, Staff of Lake Sammamish State Park, Ira Spring/Spring Family Trust for Trails, Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition

2003
Paul Cooke, Joan Simpson

2004
Dave Battey, Fuzzy Fletcher, Leon Kos, Faris Taylor

2005
Rich Grillo, Louis Musso, Janet Wall

2007
Sue McLain, Dennis Neuzil, Joan Thomas

2008
Peter Spiro, Doug Sutherland

2013
Carter Subaru, Ava Frisinger