James Frederick Evans (1895-1972) received the state/regional level Pugsley Medal in 1956 “for outstanding and imaginative contributions to state parks and recreation exemplified by recent accomplishments in making important additions to the New York State Park System in the Islands Region and in Western New York and for valuable and unstinting service to other park organizations and related activities.” He was born in Warners Corner, Onondaga County, New York. Following high school graduation, he attended the University of Syracuse and worked his way through college, but his studies were interrupted when the U.S. entered World War I in 1917; by wartime service in the Marine Corps. He subsequently graduated with a civil engineering degree and was director of state parks in New York for 23 years and a public servant for years.
His public service began with seasonal work as part of an engineering crew on the barge canal system for the New York State Department of Public Works while still in high school. He continued with that department in highway construction from college and rose from the survey crew to a position as engineer. When the state park system was consolidated under Robert Moses (Pugsley Medal 1936), in 1924, Evans became the engineer for the Long Island Commission. In 1926, he moved to Binghamton, New York, as engineer and executive secretary of the newly established Central New York State Parks Commission and continued in this capacity until 1938, when he was appointed the director of parks in Albany. This position also included duties as secretary of the State Council of Parks.Among the projects in which he was involved were the Niagara Power Authority, Jones Beach, Fire Island, Evangola Park in Angola, and the Lily Lake Crippled Children’s State Park. He served also as a consultant to the New York World’s Fair Authority, the James Baird State Park in Dutchess County, and a number of others, including many that received Federal funds through the Civilian Conservation Corps in the mid-1930s.