Foothills Conservancy presents Valdese local Beth Heile with 2020 Ruby Award for conservation volunteer service

Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina is honored to announce Beth Heile as its 2020 Ruby Award recipient. Named for late biologist, educator and founding conservancy member Ruby Pharr, the Ruby Award is Foothills Conservancy’s highest honor for conservation volunteer service. Each year, its board of directors nominates candidates, and then votes to choose the recipient of this award.

In 2015, Heile approached Foothills Conservancy for assistance with the purchase of a 300-acre tract of land in Valdese for a new public park. Heile led the networking and fundraising effort required to purchase the land and later guided the efforts to develop park amenities and trails throughout the scenic tract on Lake Rhodhiss. Since its official ribbon cutting in mid-2018, Heile and her team have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the now-popular site, including funds for a footbridge to connect the park to the popular McGalliard Falls.

In addition to her passion for Valdese Lakeside Park, Heile volunteers as president of the Friends of the Valdese Rec. Her enthusiasm for outdoor recreation led her to create the Conservation Kids book club, which provides opportunities for children ages 3-11 to learn more about the natural environment within the park. Heile has coordinated group walks and community picnics, hosted an Eagle Scout project, led lake and shoreside clean-ups and more.

Heile also volunteers her time as a board member for the Friends of the Fonta Flora State Trail and is a founding member of the Catawba River Wildlife Coalition, a new chapter with the N.C. Wildlife Federation focusing on the Catawba River in Burke and Caldwell counties. In fall 2018, she was appointed to the N.C. Parks and Recreation Authority by the governor and earned the Wildlife Volunteer of the Year Award. Heile serves on the Lakes Advisory Committee for the North Carolina Habitat Enhancement Program, an initiative by Duke Energy to provide private recreational access — while maintaining habitat protection — in and around the Catawba-Wateree River.

“Beth is a tireless advocate for conservation and open space for public recreation,” says Foothills Conservancy Executive Director Andrew Kota. “We first partnered with Beth and the Friends of Valdese Rec several years ago during the effort to acquire Valdese Lakeside Park. Since that time, Beth has made a name for herself in the North Carolina conservation community due to her passion for land preservation and public trails, as well as her time spent volunteering hundreds of hours each year to ensure citizens of this region have green spaces and parks where they can play outside and enjoy nature. Through this work, she is part of Foothills Conservancy’s legacy of conservation, and I am proud to present her with this year’s Ruby Award.”

Beth Heile has dedicated considerable amounts of time and energy to conservation in Western North Carolina in the few short years that the conservancy has had the pleasure of calling her a friend. She is truly a conservation champion and the ultimate volunteer.