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Daher Aircraft CEO Nicolas Chabbert has been presented with the Recreational Aviation Foundation’s Golden Pulaski Award in recognition of his role in supporting backcountry aviation projects across the United States.
The award was given during Daher’s press conference on the opening day of the EAA AirVenture event at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It honours service, courage and resourcefulness, and is named after U.S. Forest Service ranger Edward Pulaski.
RAF chairman John J. McKenna, Jr. says: “The Daher-built Kodiaks are extremely versatile aircraft that have enabled the RAF to deliver people and materials for remote backcountry improvement projects that otherwise would be impossible to accomplish. To say that the Kodiak is a game changer is an understatement. We deeply appreciate the support of Nicolas Chabbert and Daher Aircraft in accomplishing our goals, including a notable mission to help reestablish operations the U.S. Forest Service's Moose Creek, Idaho backcountry airstrip after a forest fire.”
Daher began its partnership with the RAF in 2003 by donating Kodiak airlift services to carry an AmeriCorps trail crew from Missoula, Montana to Moose Creek. It later used Kodiak aircraft to move building supplies and fencing materials for that site, as well as shingles to the Shearer Airstrip guard station in the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness.
More recently, in October 2024, Kodiaks were again used to transport supplies and personnel into Moose Creek for post-wildfire infrastructure work. Additional support flights are scheduled for the latter half of 2025.
The RAF, founded in 2003 and headquartered in Bozeman, Montana, has 13,000 supporters and volunteers in all 50 U.S. states.