A lifetime devoted to maintaining backcountry trails in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area has earned Hailey native Jay Dorr the Richard L. "Larry" Barnes Memorial Award from the Sawtooth National Forest.
The award is given each year to an individual employee, as recognized by the other National Forest employees, for having displayed a working attitude and continual enthusiasm that exemplifies the Forest Service's "Caring for the Land and Serving People" mission statement.
The award is given in memory of forest landscape architect Larry Barnes, who lost his battle to cancer in 1985.
"Jay Dorr has personified the exemplary attitude of the recipients of the Larry Barnes Memorial Award," Forest Supervisor Jane Kollmeyer stated in a press release. "In many ways, Jay is a snapshot of the Forest Service in the past."
Dorr said he's honored to join the ranks of the prior recipients of the award.
"It was a complete and gratifying surprise to be selected by my peers for the highest award given by the Sawtooth National Forest," Dorr said.
Dorr grew up on his family's ranch on the East Fork of the Big Wood River and spent as much time as possible in the surrounding mountains and desert. He began his career with the Sawtooth National Forest in 1971 working on the recreation crew on the Sawtooth Valley Ranger District, prior to the creation of the SNRA.
The following summer he transferred to the trail crew and has worked on trails and wilderness ever since.
Dorr worked with the trail crews during summer and fall for many years before receiving a full-time appointment, and he continues to work on SNRA trails with the summer crews and volunteers.
While maintaining, designing and reconstructing trails, he continues to perpetuate the "primitive" skills needed for trail work in Wilderness and remote backcountry, the Forest Service news release states.
He teaches crewmembers on the safe use of trail tools, pack and saddle stock and techniques for trail maintenance and construction in difficult situations. Dorr is the SNRA trails manager and manages the air-quality monitoring program for the Sawtooth Wilderness Area.
"I feel privileged to have been able to spend my career in the Sawtooth and White Cloud mountains, to get to know these mountains intimately, and to have had the opportunity to help take care of them," he said.
