After 13 years in the Boy Scouts, physics major Mark Hendricks ’10 had collected a vast array of pins, badges and awards. But they all paled in comparison to his latest recognition.

Hendricks, along with two fellow members of the Order of the Arrow—the Boy Scouts’ national honor society—was recently honored with the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.

Recognized for his leadership in the ArrowCorps5 project, a collaborative conservation effort between the Boy Scouts and the National Forest Service, Hendricks became one of only 650 people in the nation to receive the presidential honor since 2002, when former President George W. Bush challenged all Americans to make time to help others.

“It was a huge honor to be recognized by the [former] President of the United States, and humbling because so many others have volunteered so much time towards the ArrowCorps5 project,” says Hendricks, of Richland, Wash.

The project took place in five national forests over the course of five summer weeks with the help of 5,000 Boy Scouts.

The scouts cut down more than 249,000 invasive cedar trees, cleared more than 13,000 acres of invasive tamarisk, removed 22 tons of illegally dumped garbage, repaired 100 miles of trail and constructed 20 miles of new trail.

Hendricks served as crew leader at four of the five sites, managing approximately 20 participants.

At the Shasta-Trinity site in Northern California, he served as the presiding national officer, which garnered President Bush’s recognition.

Hendricks was also responsible for training squad leaders at each of the five sites—an endeavor he spent the previous year working on, writing training courses and traveling around the west to lead trainings.

“I think it's an awesome opportunity for scouts to provide service to their country's natural resources and learn about conservation, as well as an opportunity to inspire them to become leaders of conservation back home,” says Hendricks. “It's also a very visible project, which enables us to set a national example of significant volunteer service for others to follow. Personally it's been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life; getting to work with thousands of people who want to provide cheerful service to their country and make it fun at the same time has been remarkable.”

Hendricks has held numerous leadership roles in the Boy Scouts and was honored in 2003 for helping people evacuate after a landslide struck a Boy Scouts camp in Oregon.

“The Boy Scouts is a great way to inspire young men and teach them about the outdoors,” he says. “The outdoors can inspire and challenge people in such a way that they learn far more about themselves than is usually possible in everyday life.”