Sarah Dopp wanted to make one thing clear in accepting an award at the first annual Green Mountain Environmental Leadership Awards on Thursday evening: The South Burlington Land Trust doesn't have anything against the city's police force.

But when South Burlington planned three years ago to build a police station on the city's largest natural area, the group mobilized to protect it and won two-thirds of city voters to that position. The police station project went elsewhere, and the property is now the Wheeler Nature Park.

For that work, Dopp's group was recognized with a Courage in Leadership Award in a ceremony at the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain.

"Who knew that South Burlington would have a land trust?" Dopp said.

About 100 nominees and others gathered to celebrate such success stories in an awards ceremony Thursday night arising from a nearly yearlong collaboration between ECHO and FreePressMedia, which publishes the Burlington Free Press. It was timed to coincide with other local Earth Day observances.

Selected from 48 nominations, three groups received top honors. Besides the South Burlington Land Trust, the honorees were:

Citizen Science Award: The Lake Champlain Committee, for its volunteer-driven efforts to test the lake's shoreline for toxic algae blooms.

What a Great Idea! Award: Freeaire Refrigeration and its president, Richard Travers, for pioneering work in cold-air "polar energy" savings in cooling systems.

The winners each received $1,000 to further their causes.

The evening's keynote speaker, David Donath, credited the Green Mountain State's past with shaping Vermont's current role as a passionate, stubborn vanguard of environmental commitment.

"Like the proverbial old road, it's been here for years," said Donath, referring to the environmental ethos of Vermonters. Donath is president of the Woodstock Foundation, which owns and operates the Billings Farm and Museum.

The state motto, "Freedom and Unity," he added, helps explain the culture of civil collaboration Vermonters have forged in a difficult climate.

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Opposite viewpoints by two finalists for the Courage in Leadership Award gave credence to Donath's model: Lowell Mountain wind turbine developer Green Mountain Power shared kudos for public engagement with Vermonters for a Clean Environment, a group rallying to preserve ridgelines from wind development.

The entries were judged by Declan McCabe, a biology professor at St. Michael's College, and Julie Moore, who leads water resource management efforts at Montpelier-based Stone Environmental.

ECHO Executive Director Phelan Fretz said he was "astounded" by the quality of this year's nominations, including representatives of schools, businesses and nonprofits.

The nominees' efforts in the field of recycling, renewable energy, urban forestry and wildlife and invasive species management surface regularly in the science center's research and educational programs, as well in daily and weekly coverage in the Free Press.

Free Press Media President and Publisher Jim Fogler told the gathering that the newsroom's involvement with environmental issues had grown with that of the greater community. He noted that the two-year-old Green Mountain section on Sundays includes many contributions from readers, a number under the heading of "I Believe."

Fogler was joined at the event by other FreePressMedia colleagues: Executive Editor Mike Townsend, Advertising Director Tammy Shannon, Green Mountain Editor Adam Silverman and Senior Client Strategist Kathy Soulia.

Thursday's celebration was supported in part by the Burlington office of KPMG and Pomerleau Real Estate.

Contact Joel Banner Baird at 660-1843 or joelbaird@burlingtonfreepress.com . Baird's blog: http://bit.ly/BairdsEye . Become a fan of the Burlington Free Press page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bfpnews.