The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) has awarded the late Walter Cross of Asheboro this year’s prestigious Lawrence G. Diedrick Small Game Award. The award recognizes meaningful contributions that benefit small game in North Carolina.
Cross, a Randolph County native, was the longest-serving active member of the North Carolina Forest Service (NCFS) before he passed away on May 27, 2025.
“Since 1915, the NCFS has protected, managed and promoted the forest resources for the citizens of North Carolina, and continues to do so through leadership, integrity, professionalism, service and unity. Cross upheld all of that and more for 37 years,” said N.C. Forest Service Public Information Officer Philip Jackson.
NCWRC Wildlife Management Division Chief Brad Howard presented the Cross family with the award during the agency’s Oct. 16 Commission meeting.
"Walter was a consummate professional who dedicated his life to the conservation of our natural resources and the private landowners who manage them,” said Howard. “Through his career, he developed a skill set that was used to improve and protect the natural resources he cared so deeply for, especially when it came to the management of early successional and other critical wildlife habitats. His ability to safely, efficiently and effectively carry out highly technical prescribed burns has not only greatly improved habitat on the acres he managed, but it influenced countless landowners who saw his handy-work and wanted the same for their property.”
The Diedrick Award is presented annually by NCWRC. Recipients of the award are given a plaque and the traditional gift of a new drip torch, recognizing their efforts to significantly and positively impact North Carolina’s small game populations through habitat management, education and research.
Nominations for the 2026 award will be accepted from March 1 through May 1, 2026. Information on nominating candidates may be found on the agency’s website, and posted on its social media channels and conservation e-newsletter.
About the Lawrence G. Diedrick Small Game Award
The Small Game Award is named in honor of Lawrence G. Diedrick of Rocky Mount, who served as a Wildlife Commissioner from 1993-2001. Diedrick promoted efforts to address declining populations of bobwhites, and other species dependent on early successional habitat. After his death in September 2002, a group of Diedrick's friends made memorial contributions to the Wildlife Endowment Fund to support an annual small game award in his honor. The Wildlife Commission created this prestigious award in 2003.
For more information about small game management in North Carolina, visit www.ncwildlife.gov/hunting.