Contributed photo by the Benton MacKaye Trail Association / Rick Harris, Benton MacKaye Trail Association Tennessee/North Carolina maintenance director, was presented the association’s Distinguished Service award in November for his contributions since he joined the group in 2005. Harris is only the sixth person to receive the award in the association’s 40-year history.A regional conservation association is recognizing a Chattanooga native for his contributions over more than 15 years on the Benton MacKaye Trail in the mountains of Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina.
Rick Harris, who joined the trail group in 2005, is only the fifth member to receive the association’s prestigious “Benton MacKaye Distinguished Service Award,” according to a news release from the Benton MacKaye Trail Association.
Harris, a Baylor School graduate, currently serves as the association’s Tennessee/North Carolina maintenance director and has also served as its representative to the state of Tennessee, but many of his contributions have also been made with a saw or shovel in hand.
Harris said it’s all about the future and maintaining nature’s footpaths for the next generation of nature lovers.
“Whatever I do, my goal is to train other people to take over my position,” Harris said in the release. “I want to create a group of people who will be able to carry on and do as good a job – or even a better job – of running the maintenance program.”