George LeRoy Collins (1903-2000) received the state/regional level Pugsley Medal in 1959 “for sustained imaginative direction of important planning projects for the conservation of park and recreation resources of national, state, and local significance, especially in Alaska, and for his consultative and advisory assistance to the states.” He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, but when he was an infant, his family moved to Corning in northern California, and he started his public schooling in that rural community. At the age of six or seven he contracted polio and then typhoid fever, which caused a loss of physical coordination that he never recovered. In 1919, his family moved to the Bay area and Collins attended Oakland Technical High School. His father was in the printing business, so Collins worked in printing offices part-time while he was growing up. His intent was to study printing at the high school, but his interests shifted to the fine arts, and consequently he changed schools to attend the California School of Arts and Crafts.
His rural roots and heritage led him to seek work in the mountains during his high school summer trips made there with his family. After completing art school in 1924, Collins found that he could make a living at drawing and design. His first employee and property in Lassen County, but he also worked for the NPS as the first superintendent of Lassen Volcanic National Park. He needed someone to design and make signs for the park, which was how Collins launched his NPS career. While there, he interacted on several occasions with Horace Albright, who encouraged him to take the NPS ranger exam. After passing it, he was assigned first to Yosemite and then after a short period to Grand Canyon, where he was a ranger from 1930 to 1935.
From 1937 to 1945 Collins was assigned to the NPS director’s office in Washington D.C. as deputy assistant director for land planning. One of the major projects for which he was responsible at this time was the Colorado River Basin Study.