Service Award: Henry Roye, 20 Years

Henry Roye received a Service Award and Service Pin at the April 2009 meeting of the Conservation Commission. From left are Dan Lowrance, OCC chairman; Henry Roye, OCC/AML emergency coordinator; Mike Kastl, OCC/AML director; and Mike Thralls (holding pin), OCC executive director.

At the April 2009 meeting of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, Henry Roye, emergency coordinator for OCC's Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program AML, was recognized for 20 years of service to the state of Oklahoma. Roye, a rancher and businessman in the Stigler area, came to work for OCC as a part-time AML inspector in 1983. He moved over to the Department of Agriculture for about a year, according to Mike Kastl, AML director, then returned to OCC around 1991. In 1998, when the federal Office of Surface Mining decided to turn over operation of the Emergency Reclamation Program in Oklahoma to OCC, Henry was named as coordinator for the program. In that role he is on-call around the clock in the case of emergencies related to abandoned mine activities such as subsidence or fires involving abandoned mining waste materials.

Kastl emphasized the value of Roye's acquaintances in the areas that were mined previously in the state. "City managers and county commissioners know who to call when AML emergency events happen," Kastl said. Roye has also presented papers at state and national AML workshops and conferences, Kastl said.