NRCM’s Annual People’s Choice Award
Our annual People's Choice Award honors a Mainer who has worked tirelessly to protect a special place, or has helped pass legislation safeguarding Maine’s environment, or has helped stop polluting companies from contaminating our state—someone who selflessly goes above and beyond to make sure future generations will enjoy the kind of Maine we know and love today.
Marcel Polak, 2025 People's Choice Award recipient
Our 2025 People's Choice Award was presented to:
Marcel Polak, Woodstock (nominated by Rick Van de Poll) Since 1978 when Marcel and his wife Emily, as back to the landers, built a home and gardens in the Bethel area, he has been an ardent advocate for Maine's environment. Prior to graduating from Antioch New England Graduate School with an M.S. in Natural Resources Management and Administration, he and several other ardent land conservationists founded the Mahoosuc Land Trust for which he served as first Executive Director from 1991-1995. As a Board member after that he helped MLT achieve its accreditation from the Land Trust Alliance in 2013. Locally, he joined the Woodstock Conservation Commission in 1984, helped write and have the town adopt the Woodstock Comprehensive Plan in 2003, chaired the Woodstock Conservation Commission (WCC) from 2004 - 2018, and drafted the first Open Space Plan for the Town of Woodstock in 2012. In 2021 he successfully applied to LMF to purchase the 646 Acre Buck’s Ledge Community Forest (BLCF) which has rare plants, old growth trees, and important recreational trails. Since then he helped purchase 55 abutting acres guaranteeing permanent access for Woodstock Elementary School students. He and other WCC members just completed a universally accessible trail with a magnificent view on BLCF.
Past People's Choice Award winners include:
NRCM Communications Manager Beth Comeau presents Buck O'Herin with the 2024 People's Choice Award
2024: Buck O'Herin, of Montville, for his lifetime of visionary conservation work in the Midcoast
2022: Don’t Waste ME of Old Town, for advocating for policies that protect communities most at risk from the negative impacts of waste facilities, including their recent work to close the out-of-state waste loophole in Maine law.
2021: Sam Saltonstall, of Brunswick, for for almost two decades of tireless advocacy for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate change mitigation
2020: Eric Sherman, of Greenville, for incredible work to on the No CMP Corridor campaign ranging from gathering petition signatures to delivering signs to fundraising and keeping others informed, and for his dedication and hard work for the greater good of Maine's North Woods
2019: Sandi Howard, of Caratunk, for her dedication to administering the Say NO to NECEC Facebook group and organizing one of the groups of intervenors in the CMP corridor proceedings at the Department of Environmental Protection and the Land Use Planning Commission
2018: Robin Robinson, of Brunswick, for creating a flourishing online educational community of people who share photos and information about all aspects of Maine’s wild birds, including threats to their habitats and opportunities to make a difference
2017: Addie Farmer and Lainey Randall, of Portland, for their work keeping plastics and other pollution out of Casco Bay. Read a blog post, written by Lainey and Addie, about their work.
2016: The Larouche family, of Old Town, for the family’s commitment to wildlife protection and habitat conservation as well as environmental education for children and adults through the Hirundo Wildlife Refuge.
2015: Bonnie Pooley of Bethel, for her outstanding success in engaging young people in the work of protecting Maine’s environment.
2014: Robert Godfrey of Eastport, for his perseverance in protecting the beauty and heritage of Down East Maine by leading the grassroots organization, Save Passamaquoddy Bay.
2013: Thanks But No Tank of Searsport, for exceptional efforts mobilizing and engaging citizens to protect Searsport and surrounding coastal communities from potential harm posed by a proposed LPG tank and terminal.
2012: Bob Iles of Bethel, for exceptional efforts preserving the summit of and maintaining trails on Whitecap Mountain in Rumford, and for continued work to obtain public access to area lands and waterways as a member of the board of the Mahoosuc Land Trust.
2011: Belfast Co-housing and Ecovillage, for exceptional efforts and tireless work to establish a model environmentally sustainable, affordable, multi-generational cohousing community.
2010: Vera Francis of Perry, for serving as a leader in a true citizens’ movement in her efforts to protect Passamaquoddy Bay from a proposed LNG terminal.
2009: Evelyn Dunphy of West Bath, for her exceptional efforts in protecting Katahdin Lake from development.
2008: Willy Ritch of Woolwich, for exceptional leadership in mobilizing the citizens of Wiscasset to defeat plans for a coal gasification facility in their town.
2007: Maggie Shannon of Belgrade Lakes, for her dedication to the work of the Congress of Lake Associations and the inspiration she provides to others
2006: Eric Brown of Waterville, for starting Gang Green, an environmentally focused group of teachers and students at Lawrence High School. Note: Eric was the winner of our first annual People’s Choice Award.
