2025 RMS Award Winners

The River Management Society (RMS) congratulates winners of the 2025 RMS Awards, individuals whose achievements and leadership among river professionals inspire us. Awardees include:

Kevin Colburn: Frank Church Wild and Scenic Rivers Award
Liz Lacy: Frank Church Wild and Scenic Rivers Award
Lelia Mellen: Outstanding Contribution to the River Management Society
Joan Stemler: Outstanding Contribution to River Management

These honors, open to both members and non-members, represent the highest form of peer appreciation. Nominations are submitted by individuals from the river management community, and the selections are made by the RMS Awards Committee, led by the National Secretary. All awards are a surprise when they're received! Kevin received his award at the River Management Symposium in Ashland, Oregon, and others were presented their awards in the prior week by their colleagues.

Learn more about our awards categories, and submit a nomination for 2026 award winners by Dec. 31, 2025. These will be presented at the April 2025 RMS Symposium in Ashland, Oregon. Celebrate past award winners on our RMS Awards page.

Frank Church Wild and Scenic Rivers Award: Kevin Colburn

National Stewardship Director, American Whitewater

This award recognizes contributions focused on the management, enhancement, or protection of designated Wild and Scenic Rivers.

Advanced awareness of WSRs through contributions in areas such as education, research, technology, training, public contact, interpretation, law enforcement.
Kevin has consistently supported the creation-of and maintenance-for data and information for Wild & Scenic Rivers through contribution-to and stewardship-of American Whitewater's National Whitewater Inventory and River Management Society's National Rivers Project. Kevin has also helped create videos on river and paddling safety, dam removal, Forest Planning, etc, all of which often relate to Wild & Scenic Rivers.

Worked effectively and cooperatively to build partnerships with other agencies, scientists, user groups, private landowners, and/or general public to promote, protect, enhance, or manage WSRs.
Kevin is an active member of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Coalition, and is helping lead efforts to designate new Wild & Scenic Rivers through the Montana Headwaters Legacy Act, Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan Revision, Nolichucky Wild & Scenic River campaign, and North Fork French Broad River Wild & Scenic River campaign, along with increasing and protecting access to the headwaters of the Chattooga Wild & Scenic River. All of these projects have involved working with many different organizations, businesses, agencies, and individuals.

Demonstrated, developed, or creatively adapted innovative WSR management techniques.
Kevin frequently writes about and communicates techniques for managing large woody debris in Wild & Scenic Rivers (including an extensive guide for tributaries of the Chattooga), has contributed technical expertise to dam removal projects within the watersheds of Wild & Scenic Rivers (or eligible Wild & Scenic Rivers), and has worked to increase knowledge and practice-of fisheries restoration alongside river protection and recreational access efforts.

Organized conferences, training, etc., which involved and advanced WSRs.
Kevin has led several public and non-public meetings and trainings related to Wild & Scenic River campaigns, desigations, stewardship, and recreation. These communications and events have occurred locally with residents and community members, in virtual environments with coalitions and partners, and with congressional staffers on-site and in Washington DC.

Exhibited leadership in promoting and protecting WSRs within the context of the established corridors and beyond designated lines on a map.
Kevin has consistently participated in opportunities to provide comment on public land projects involving current or prospective Wild & Scenic Rivers such as the Lochsa, Chattooga, Nolichucky, North Fork French Broad, and others. In addition to his own personal and professional input, he has also invited and guided members of American Whitewater and other paddlers and river advocates to make their voice heard. Kevin is often one of the first people to make an issue known to American Whitewater members and others and does a great job of simplifying complicated projects for the sake of widespread understanding and action.

Worked to improve managing agency process, budget, and/or support for wild and scenic river programs.
Kevin has worked with members of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Coalition, public land-managing agency staff, and local governments and communities to see the value of Wild & Scenic Rivers in a way that builds support for current projects and future endeavors. He is strategic and forward-thinking and knows where and how to suggest changes or improvements to agency processes, budgets, etc. to give these projects and campaigns the best possible chance to succeed.

Frank Church Wild and Scenic Rivers Award: Liz Lacy

Community Planner, National Park Service Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers Program

This award recognizes contributions focused on the management, enhancement, or protection of designated Wild and Scenic Rivers.

Liz Lacy has worked on the Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers program for two decades. She is dedicated both to the rivers she supports and also to advancing the WSR System as a whole. She has worked on a number of federally designated rivers and also supported the Westfield River, a 2aii Massachusetts river.

Liz is always professional, courteous and thoughtful as she works with partners, advocates, fellow agency professionals and even those who oppose the work along the Wild and Scenic Rivers.

Along the rivers she has worked on – the Farmington, the 8-Mile and the Westfield – Liz is especially known for her work with the many volunteers who make up the Partnership River Management Councils. Liz was instrumental in re-establishing a vibrant and successful River Council on the Westfield River as her first foray into the Wild and Scenic world many years ago. She helped develop the Farmington River Coordinating Committee into a model for the entire Partnership WSR Program. In each case empowering local volunteer appointees within their communities and together as effective Councils guiding the WSR designations
Liz has piloted and led both Visual Resource Assessment and Visitor Use Management programs and contractual arrangements tailored to the non-federal Partnership WSR Model. Building off her Farmington and Westfield roots, Liz has helped expand the Program in CT and MA on rivers including the 8-Mile, Lower Farmington, and Nashua-Squannacook and Nissitissit Rivers, serving as a mentor to both NPS staff and local partners navigating the Wild and Scenic River Study process.

She has always been willing to think beyond the regular stakeholders, bringing in experts and other resource people to do what was best for the rivers and the communities. Liz has tirelessly assisted communities, partners, and River Councils to navigate the difficult waters of implementing Wild and Scenic Rivers Act protections, including Section 7 of the Act, in the Partnership WSR environment.

Liz has also been willing to share her knowledge with other river professionals. She has presented many numbers of times to RMS Symposia and elsewhere to explain Section 7, restoration, partnership issues, etc. Liz has served on both the NPS’ Wild and Scenic Rivers Steering Committee and the Interagency Wild and Scenic Rivers Coordinating Council.

Outside of her dedicated work related to river management, she also serves as a mentor for NPS Hispanic Access Foundations Fellows. Liz commits herself to guiding emerging leaders and early career professionals through her work the Partnership WSR Program, including introducing measures that make onboarding swifter and easier, pioneering clear and concise dialogue around WSR, and developing a system to collaborate and share resources amongst partners.

Liz has been a leader in the Partnership WSR Program as a whole and always been a great leader on the rivers she helps to manage. Liz is deserving of the Frank Church WSR Award.

Outstanding Contribution to the River Management Society: Lelia Mellen

Outdoor Recreation Planner, National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program

This award recognizes a history of contributions to the River Management Society.

Lelia Mellen represents “all things appreciated” as a member of, volunteer for and partner to RMS since joining the organization in 1993. She has defined ‘commitment’ in the healthiest and most welcome ways through her New Englandy warm hospitality, down-to-earth approach to life, resolute pragmatism that have benefited the River Management Society and its mission.

Every membership organization seeks for its members to feel welcome, at any time, to participate in events and dialogue with peers, whether they have weighed in the week before or have not been in touch for years. Whenever Lelia shows up, she is always aware of the organization’s current programs and recent accomplishments - the best an organization can expect.

She has gone well beyond this, however, volunteering for her local chapter, twice! Lelia offered to serve the Northeast Chapter as its Vice President for a term beginning in 2010. When her Chapter President stepped away unexpectedly the next year, Lelia assumed the presidency and continued as the chapter’s leader for another, extended term, during which she led and/or helped organize river trips on the Great Egg Harbor (2013) and Connecticut (2014) Rivers, on the Missisquoi and Piscataqua (during the 2015 National Board meeting), the Bronx River (2016), and on the Anacostia and Potomac in 2017). She was also an eager participant of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway chapter trip in 2021.

Lelia turned a page in her own book by moving to Montana the very next year and, without skipping a beat, offered to serve as the Events Coordinator for the Northwest Chapter! Together with her fellow stellar officers, she organized or supported an ambitious, unprecedented suite of trips on the North Fork Flathead and Snake in 2023, Middle Fork Flathead, Nooksack, Rogue, and Main Payette in 2024!

Lelia is, easily, the National Park Service’s most committed advocate for the opportunities water trails offer as portals for public awareness and appreciation for rivers as safe and welcoming places for both recreation and learning platforms for the role of outdoor stewardship.

RMS was awarded a grant from the Rivers, Trails, Conservation Assistance program to establish a state-based river managers’ working group in 2020 and again in 2021, with Lelia as its partnership coach. As it turned out, there were not enough ‘state’ partners to amass a following for collaborating on water trails or other state-based systems, and monthly meetups morphed into the River Management Roundtables which have now become embedded in the organization’s means to address and encourage discussion about timely issues river, watershed and water trails leaders. However, due to the growth of both state-based Offices of Outdoor Recreation and designation of water trails as public amenities, Lelia has joined the still-evolving RMS Water Trails Working Group to nurture and evolve the community of water trails leaders, and will be leading a mini-workshop regarding state-based water trails at the upcoming River Management Symposium in Ashland, Oregon.

Thanks to her vision, commitment and patience, Lelia has supported RMS revisitation of its roots in state/regional river programs like no other member since the earliest days of the River Federation in the 1980s and 1990s.

By encouraging, attending, and leading chapter events and supporting RMS’ effort to develop a sense of community among water trails leaders, Lelia Mellen stands tall.

Outstanding Contribution to River Management: Joan Stemler

Chief of Water Control Operations, St. Louis District Corps of Engineers

This award recognizes a history of contributions to the field of river management.

Joan is the Chief of Water Control Operations in the St Louis District Corps of Engineers (MVS). As such she oversees the day-to-day operations of the lower 3 locks and dams (L&D) on the Upper Mississippi River (UMR). Since the 1930s the operation had been totally focused on the projects single congressionally authorized purpose, navigation. Joan is a strong advocate for stake holder involvement and heard the concerns of other resource managers about the loss of habitat on the UMR. She decided to do something almost unheard of in the federal government; she acted without conducting a long study or asking permission. She knew what was in her authority and what was legal even though it had never been done before and she just did it. Joan was instrumental in changing what environmental projects look like on the UMR. Starting in 1994 she developed the implementation plan for Environmental Pool Management (EPM). The UMR is characterized by a series of L&Ds which has lost most of the vegetation that existed before the L&Ds. In the past vegetation projects on the UMR were leveed off areas that were pumped dry and later flooded to provide habitat. Typically, these projects cost 3-5 thousand dollars per acre per year and are connected to the river through outlet structures. She developed the program that through manipulation of pool levels exposed thousands of acres of mudflats and turned them into lush vegetation for ZERO additional dollars while fully integrated into the river ecosystem.

What started as a one-year demonstration project is now standard operation procedure for MVS. EPM has changed and improved through adaptive management over the past 30 years. It has produced thousands of acres of vegetation each year it has restored some species of plants that many thought were lost in this section of the UMR. EPM utilizes the natural seed base of the UMR. The concept is to work with what nature provides and not against it. While this habitat provides many benefits including the food for waterfowl. In a typical year EPM produces enough seed to produce nearly 10 million duck energy days. Joan has organized and lead river management conferences for the sustainable river program (SRP) as well as river professionals throughout the Greater Mississippi River Basin take a fresh look at what is possible. Serving as the long-term Water Control Champion for the Mississippi Valley Division (MVD) she has organized and lead meetings of river managers though out the basin that has led to a more systemic approach to river management. She has been a change agent in leading her peers to think environmental enhancement in everything they do.

Joan contribution to River Management are well documented over the past 30 years. She has won awards from a diverse group of stakeholders from the navigation industry (The Stemler Award) to American Rivers (Mississippi River Restoration Award). She has also won the Corps H&H professional employee of the year as well as leading her team to the top design project of the year for her innovative and groundbreaking work with EPM. Lastly, she was named the Corps Sustainability Hero of the Year.
Her work over the past 30 years in creating and refining EPM has had a large impact well outside her district. Currently the United Sates Army Corps of Engineers Navigation Environmental Sustainability Program (NESP) is focusing on this type of river management across UMR to address critical habitat needs.

Joan has been a true trailblazer not only in the science of river management but also for women in the Corps of Engineers. She was the first female chief of Water Control in MVD. She also was the first female section chief in the Engineering and Construction Division of the St Louis District. She has broken the mold of what a Water Control Manager can achieve. She is likely the most highly decorated Water Manager in the history of the Corps of Engineers because of her groundbreaking achievements in river management.

A note of gratitude for RMS Award plaques

Dennis Willis, past RMS President, has overseen and paid for all aspects of fabrication of our lovely RMS awards for well over a decade. He works with the fabricator to create the awards, always improves the language that is engraved on the awards, and makes sure they get to where they need to go for the presentations – always a challenge in years when there is no symposium. His dedication and attention to this important task is always much appreciated.