The National Trust for Historic Preservation will present its Peter H. Brink Award for Individual Achievement to Matthew Adams. Adams is one of nine award winners to be honored by the National Trust during its 2018 PastForward National Preservation Conference next week in San Francisco.

Matthew Adams, a partner at Dentons, and chair of the firm’s US Environmental and Natural Resources Practice, works on issues ranging from environmental and land use law to legal issues impacting cultural and historic resources. Adams has engaged with the National Trust since 2010, when he successfully led a legal campaign to protect Pågat, one of the most treasured cultural sites of the Chamorro people on the island of Guam. Currently, Adams is serving as pro-bono legal counsel for the National Trust in litigation that seeks to prevent the construction of massive power lines across the James River at Jamestown in Virginia.

“Since 2010, Matthew has impressed the National Trust with his depth and breadth of knowledge, and his commitment to protecting cultural resources,” said Stephanie Meeks, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “His dedication to helping communities save their most significant and endangered historic places is unparalleled.”

The Peter H. Brink Award for Individual Achievement in Historic Preservation recognizes an individual who has made extraordinary contributions toward saving a historic place in the past year. The award is made based on significant personal intervention, advocacy or development efforts. Adams has been acknowledged as a Law and Policy MVP and one of the nation's top attorneys under 40 by Law360 and is ranked as a leading lawyer for business by Chambers USA.

The National Preservation Awards are bestowed on distinguished individuals, nonprofit organizations, public agencies and corporations whose skill and determination have given new meaning to their communities through preservation of our architectural and cultural heritage. These efforts include citizen attempts to save and maintain important landmarks; companies and craftsmen whose work restores the richness of the past; the vision of public officials who support preservation projects and legislation in their communities; and educators and journalists who help Americans understand the value of preservation.

The 2018 National Preservation Award Winners:

• Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award: Jay Turnbull, San Francisco, CA
• American Express Aspire Award: Sarah Marsom, Columbus, OH
• John H. Chafee Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement in Public Policy: Sen. Bill Cassidy, LA
• Trustees’ Award for Organizational Excellence: Historic Macon Foundation, Macon, GA
• Trustees Emeritus Award for Excellence in the Stewardship of Historic Sites: Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center, Nyack, NY
• Peter H. Brink Award for Individual Achievement in Historic Preservation: Matthew Adams, San Francisco, CA

The 2018 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award Winners:

• Crosstown Concourse, Memphis, TN
• The Douglass at Page Woodson, Oklahoma City, OK
• Richardson Olmsted Campus, Buffalo, NY