At its 45th Annual Awards Dinner on January 23, 2010, the South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF) presented its 2009 Organization Conservationist award to the Friends Of Lake Keowee. Accepting the award was FOLKS Executive Director Ben Turetzky. The requirement for receipt of the Organization Conservationist award is that the recipient organization should have demonstrated keen interest in projects or programs that deal with basic and serious natural resource problems and issues. An action program should have evolved from that interest.

SCWF noted the Mission of FOLKS and cited the following: Through various grants awarded to FOLKS, the organization has been able to survey all of the feeder streams entering Lake Keowee. Water clarity measurements at over 100 sites have been conducted by members of FOLKS since its inception in 1993. FOLKS also boasts a strong education outreach program, including a bi-monthly 24-page newsletter, forums occurring four to six times a year, and other service learning programs involving Clemson University students as well as Lake Sweeps and the recently announced Adopt-An-Island program. The accompanying photos show the award itself and the presentation at the awards dinner. In the latter photo are (from left to right): Mr. Bill McCabe, 1st Vice Chair of SCWF, Ben Turetzky, Ben Gregg, Executive Director of SCWF, and Dr. Drew Lanham, Associate Professor Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Clemson University.