Nominations are currently OPEN for 2025. The instructions and nomination form are found here.

Ned and Marilyn Livingston Award

The Ned and Marilyn Livingston Award recognizes outstanding stewardship by a private landowner in Lake or Klamath County. The landowner must demonstrate a commitment to managing their property guided by an understanding of forest health and fire, and with a genuine interest in the responsibilities and rights associated with land stewardship. This landowner also demonstrates a commitment to inspiring other private landowners in land stewardship through demonstration, innovation, and/or engagement. In short, a landowner who models Ned and Marilyn Livingston in their dedication to land stewardship, healthy forests, and a respect for fire.

Ned and Marilyn Livingston with son Duncan at Paddock Butte, 2017

2024 Awardee -
Chuck Kelley

Congratulations Chuck Kelley, our 2024 Ned and Marilyn Livingston Award recipient!! Chuck is a Lake County landowner that has spent many years working to improve his land through forest health and fuel reduction projects, with much on his own dime, but also in partnership with local initiatives. He is always eager to learn and work, and by treating his property proactively, he not only protected the resources (forest, rangeland, sage steppe, wildlife habitat, etc.) of his own property but also protected the resources (homes, structures, habitat, etc.) of all of his boundary neighbors. Chuck has been a local leader for decades, always giving back to the community and local youth. He is a solid spokesman for the natural resources work that he is engaged in and helps spread the word amongst his neighbors and the Lake County community. We truly appreciate his commitment and spirit, and we are honored to recognize Chuck Kelley with the first ever Ned and Marilyn Livingston Award.

Ned and Marilyn Livingston - A Legacy of Land Stewardship

Ned and Marilyn were a driving force in the creation and development of the Klamath-Lake Forest Health Partnership in the early 90’s, and they stayed engaged in their board roles and attending meetings, even if online, until 2022. They rejoiced in the growing successes of the KLFHP, and Ned frequently reminded us to never forget the individual landowners in all of our planning – we can only hope that there will be other landowners that will give as much heart and insight to our group.

Ned was frequently philosophical, if not poetic, in his vision of the land and his role. The following is a quote from him from the Feb. 1999 Klamath/Lake Forest Health Management Guide:

“When it comes to the spiritual, neither Marilyn nor I have thought that much about that. But what I can say is that I’m totally involved with that land. If I had to leave it, I’d be in dire straits. I’ve identified with it that much. And if I were totally in sync with the rhythm and pace of the land, that would be the ultimate. That would be about as close to nirvana as I think I could get. I’m not there, but almost every day of my life I can sense the potential for that. When I go out there on the land to do whatever I’m doing, much of the time it feels a little bit like putting on a very nice down coat on a very cold day – very easy, enveloping and comfortable, and there is contentment in it.”