2020 Rockwell Award

The Rockwell Award goes to a pilot who embodies the generous spirit and flexibility of pilot Bill Rockwell, who was always willing to go the extra mile for LightHawk.

In the past year, Mike flew a total of 23 passengers (pre-Covid), including 7 wolf pups. These missions ranged from flying program staff for land trusts in Arizona over the fragmented Upper Santa Cruz River to flying journalists and key decision-makers over the Salton Sea to better understand the scale of environmental and public health challenges there. A set of flights to cross-foster Mexican wolf pups from a captive facility to a wild den within 20 hours of leaving their birth mother was the most complicated, requiring intensive preparations and multiple last-minute changes. Mike endured all of this with flexibility and a ‘can-do attitude’. And then he signed up to do this all again, flying a total of 7 pups from the birth mothers to their new wild packs in Arizona.

Congratulations Mike and thank you for all of your support and the dedication to our lands and wildlife.