Salmonid Restoration Federation's (SRF) Restorationist of the Year Award was conceived as a way to honor grassroots salmonid habitat restorationists. It was first presented in 1992 to Bill Eastwood, co-director of the Eel River Salmon Restoration Project to acknowledge his work to help salmon and for his innovative design modification to the McBain downstream migrant trap.
The award was renamed the Nat Bingham Memorial Restorationist of the Year award following Nat's death in 1998. Nat was a fisherman and a tireless advocate for salmon.
Since his death, SRF has honored a restorationist each year at our annual conference with a roast and toast during the cabaret and banquet. The honored recipient gets to steward an exceptional brass sculpture, created by noted sculptor Dick Crane, that captures the spirit of salmon, fish-loving people, and the state of California where these practitioners live and work a life dedicated to the recovery of the species. At the awards ceremony, the previous years' recipient parts with the sculpture and passes it on to the next honoree.
