Nine CPW park rangers honored for valor and life-saving actions in 2023 by national park ranger association

Feb. 29, 2024 Bill Vogrin
Southeast Region Public Information Officer
719-466-3927 / [email protected]

Feb. 29, 2024

CPW park rangers win national life-saving and valor awards

SALIDA, Colo. – A national park ranger association on Wednesday honored nine Colorado Parks and Wildlife rangers for assorted acts of valor and for life-saving acts in 2023 including Jeffrey Hammond of the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area who rescued a motorist from the Arkansas River after a car wreck.

Hammond’s heroics occurred Jan. 29, 2023, when a car left U.S. Highway 50 in Bighorn Canyon east of Salida, trapping the driver and throwing a passenger into the river. Hammond quickly put on his swiftwater rescue suit, entered the freezing cold river and swam to the car.

He forced open the driver’s door and found the driver suffering from head trauma and hypothermia. Hammond put a life jacket on the driver and helped her out of the wrecked car. He then tied her to a rope system tethered to first responders on the shore and they pulled her to safety.

“(Ranger) Hammond was quick to respond, decisive in his actions, calm and convincing when needed, and went above and beyond the call of duty to help a woman trapped inside a vehicle in a frigid river environment,” Carl Nielsen, executive director of the Park Law Enforcement Association, said Wednesday night in awarding Hammond at the group’s annual conference in Alabama. “The steps taken by (Ranger) Hammond deserve to be recognized and his actions helped save the life of the driver.”

The Florida-based Park Law Enforcement Association (PLEA) also honored six other CPW rangers with its Life Saving Award. 

In addition, two CPW rangers received the PLEA Valor Award.

The PLEA Valor Award were bestowed on:

• Howard Asal, ranger at Highline Lake

• Ashlee Wallace, ranger at Highline Lake

Besides Hammond, other CPW recipients of the PLEA Life Saving Award were:

• Jed Potter, senior ranger at Paonia State Park

• Dave Norman, seasonal ranger at Paonia State Park

• George Voigt, seasonal ranger at Paonia State Park

• Jeff Walters, ranger at Harvey Gap State Park

• Justine Butchart, ranger at Harvey Gap State Park

• Courtney Harris, ranger at Harvey Gap State Park

Asal and Wallace were honored for their quick responses on Sept. 9 when a wildfire erupted near the park. Responding to reports of smoke, Asal went to investigate and spotted wind-driven fire about a mile south of the park moving quickly through grass toward a private residence. Asal sped to the house to alert anyone inside then began suppression efforts with a passerby.

Wallace joined the effort and they sprayed buildings with water from hoses at the home and used buckets to protect propane tanks until firefighters arrived about 15 minutes later.

Walters, Butchart and Harris were honored for their actions on July 24 during a boat patrol on Harvey Gap State Park when they came upon an unconscious woman floating face down in the water with no life jacket in sight. A 4-year-old child was in the water next to her. They had fallen off a paddleboard in high winds. The rangers pulled both victims into the boat and began life-saving measures to revive the woman.

Potter, Norman and Voigt were honored for their actions Sept. 5 when a report came in of a woman experiencing a mental crisis in a campground at Paonia State Park.

During a lengthy encounter with the woman, she became violent, stripped and entered a creek, covered much of her body in mud and began exhibiting symptoms of hypothermia.

Rangers described her lying in the mud, semi-conscious and unable to help herself. Ultimately, rangers called for an ambulance to the remote location to take her to the hospital.

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PHOTOS:
Photos are courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Top left and right: 
Howard Asal and Ashlee Wallace

Bottom left and right:
Jed Potter and Jeff Walters