The Western Resilience Center hosted the nonprofit group’s 15th annual environmental awards Thursday evening in front of a crowd at Bud Werner Memorial Library Hall.

The ceremony recognized and celebrated 12 Yampa Valley honorees and including two lifetime achievement winners and a new award for land stewardship.

“We are celebrating what we do as community members and as individuals working together as community, and together shoulder-to-shoulder we do big things,” said Michelle Stewart, executive director at the nonprofit, formerly known as Yampa Valley Sustainability Council. “The goal of this evening is that you carry forward this feeling that you have in your heart … and find it as inspiration to go forward.”

Stewart praised the environmental and sustainability work that was accomplished throughout 2025 across the Yampa Valley through education, mentorship, leadership and action.

Before a champagne toast to celebrate the inspiring work displayed in a variety of categories, the event turned somewhat tearful, with the last honoree of the evening recognized as Steamboat Springs resident Jeff Morehead.

A 30-year active volunteer, and later an employee at the Yampa Valley Botanic Garden, Morehead was assisted to the podium to thank the audience despite struggling with symptoms due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

As a thank-you note, Morehead provided a short video showing the development and educational efforts of the botanic garden.

Joining the celebration, Rising Leader award recipient Shea Speer, who graduated a semester early from Steamboat Springs High School in December, accepted her award remotely from the Caribbean. She is spending the spring semester with the Sea Education Association’s Coral Reef Conservation program studying marine ecology.

The Rising Leader award recognizes a young resident in the Yampa Valley who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and commitment to local climate action and sustainability initiatives.

Speer volunteered as co-president of the high school’s Eco Club for three years while also earning an associate degree in science from Colorado Mountain College. Speer was a frequent volunteer with tree planting and forest restoration projects and served as an intern at the sustainability nonprofit last summer.

Steamboat Mountain School’s environmental science and biology teacher Nikki Durkan was honored as Educator of the Year for 2025.

The award was given to Durkan “for going above and beyond in connecting students to real-world science and applications of environmental leadership.” A teacher at the school for 18 years, Durkan regularly collaborates with regional state and federal agencies, scientists and nonprofit groups to connect her students with the real challenges around snow science, soil moisture measurements, wet meadow restoration, tree planting and recycling.

The Sustainable Business of the year award went to High Altitude Geothermal in Moffat County for implementing the family-owned company’s vision to create new clean energy jobs in the face of coal plant closures. 

The town of Hayden received the Government Leadership award for leading by example to create the geothermally powered Northwest Colorado Business District and industrial park and “showcasing how community development can benefit community, economy and environment.”

The voter-approved Yampa Valley Regional Transportation Authority received the Environmental Cairn award “for opening the framework to expand public transit and multimodal transportation options across the Yampa Valley.”

John Twitchell, former longtime district forester for the Colorado State Forest Service field office in Steamboat Springs, received a Lifetime Achievement award “for a lasting legacy caring for and stewarding our forests.”

Twitchell’s career included extensive work managing the mountain pine beetle epidemic, wildland firefighting and preparation, and shaping cross-boundary forest management and collaborative tools such as the Good Neighbor Authority.

Community Agriculture Alliance resource coordinator, engineer and fourth-generation rancher Patrick Stanko was honored as the Yampa Valley Connector of 2025 “for offering steadfast leadership that emphasizes collaboration and highlights common interests among agricultural and environmental entities in the Yampa Valley.”

Retired engineer and Routt County resident Norm Weaver received the 2025 Volunteer of the Year award for “going above and beyond in support of the Routt County Climate Action Plan Collaborative’s Energy Working Group.”

The Knott Ranch cattle and sheep operation in southern Routt County received the nonprofit’s inaugural Land Stewardship award for “sustained investment in and demonstration of management practices at Knott Ranch that improve the land’s ecology and natural resources, building regional resilience.”

Five generations of the Knott family have lived and worked on the ranch since 1936 and have created a legacy of stewardship, community engagement and conservation of land and water including a stream restoration project on Trout Creek.

Steamboat Radio News Director Shannon Lukens received the Shining Star award.

Northwest Colorado Council of Governments was honored as Partner of the Year for providing energy efficiency services to income-qualified households across 13 counties in Northwest Colorado. When the Western Resilience Center did not have the capacity to conduct home energy assessments, the council stepped in to ensure the work continued in the Yampa Valley.