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Last updated on Wednesday, May 7, 2014
(BEDFORD) - Brad Lidell, Supervisory Engineer on the Hoosier National Forest, received the Eastern Region Engineer of the Year Award for 2013.
He was nominated by District Ranger Chris Zimmer.
Zimmer notes, Lidell's contributions over his 24 years on the Hoosier have been significant. In 2013, he and his engineering staff helped improve water treatment needs at Hardin Ridge Recreation Area and took the lead in designing and issuing contracts for roof repairs on several toilet and other recreation facilities across the Forest.
Lidell also worked with Federal Highway Administration staff, county road superintendents, and Indiana state highway staff to address long-term road maintenance needs throughout a nine county region.
In 2013 he successfully secured partnership funding to reconstruct or maintain roads accessing Forest lands in Perry, Orange, Brown, Jackson and Monroe counties. He has also taken the lead on gathering information that will help focus future access needs on highest priority road systems in the Hoosier National Forest.
In addition to achieving so many milestones, Zimmer said Lidell is helping lead the effort to bring a high hazard dam into federal and state compliance.
Lidell has also led the initiative to protect Forest areas from damage by illegal off highway vehicles (ATVs and other motorized vehicles) by placing barrier posts across the Forest to restrict their access.
Zimmer added, "Brad has long been active in our fire program. He and his staff participated in several prescribed burns during 2013 and 2014 and he often reviews and prepares prescribed burn plans. He serves as the Hoosier National Forest Safety Officer and on a team that responds to national emergency incidents." In 2013 he worked for three weeks as a Safety Officer in New York City following Hurricane Sandy and also worked on two western fire assignments.
Lidell has worked on the Hoosier since 1990; he previously worked on the Shawnee and Chequamegon National Forests.
The U.S. Forest Service is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a mission of sustaining the health, diversity and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The Forest Service's Eastern Region includes twenty states in the Midwest and East, stretching from Maine, to Maryland, to Missouri, to Minnesota. There are 17 national forests and one national tallgrass prairie in the Eastern Region. For more information, visitwww.fs.usda.gov/R9.
The U.S. Forest Service manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation's clean water supply, a value estimated at $7.2 billion per year. The agency has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million forested acres within the U.S., of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (toll-free customer service), (800) 877-8339 (TDD), or (800) 845-6136 (TDD in Spanish).
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