Local ranger district employee honored for her commitment to environmental education
LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – Officials with the Los Padres National Forest announced Thursday that Santa Lucia Ranger District employee Helen Tarbet has been nominated to represent the local region for the national Gifford Pinchot Award for Excellence in Interpretation and Conservation Education.
Tarbet will now represent the Pacific Southwest Region in the nationwide competition.
The winner will be announced during the Interagency Awards Ceremony on Dec. 4 of this year in St. Augustine, Florida.
The award is used to recognize outstanding individual contributions by forestry professionals who have developed and sustained interpretive educational programs in their region.
Over Tarbet's 26-year career, she spearheaded the Santa Lucia Ranger District's youth outreach program by building local agency partnerships and personally delivering bilingual environmental lessons.
In 2024 alone, Tarbet brought those lessons to 2,829 students, providing a better understanding of the Forest Service's mission and bringing the surrounding wildlands a little closer to local learners.
Tarbet also conducts guided tours and, for the last two decades, has written newsletter updates each Spring during wildflower season on Figueroa Mountain.
Her newsletter details the wide variety of unique flowers that grace the hillsides in March and April each year and the distribution list of her newsletter now connects thousands of flower fans from around the country to the beauty of the local area.
"We are incredibly proud of Helen’s commitment to these programs that connect local youth with the
natural wonders found in Los Padres National Forest," beamed Santa Lucia District Ranger Ben Gray. "We wish her all the best as she competes for the national award."
