Dr. James C. Lewis, retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, former U.S. Coordinator of whooping crane research and reintroduction activities, and former leader of the U.S. Whooping Crane Recovery Team, received the L. H. Walkinshaw Crane Conservation Award in honor of his decades of achievement including serving as chief editor of 4 of the 8 volumes of the North American Crane Workshops. The award was presented on 14 January 2000 at the Eighth North American Crane Workshop in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Dr. George F. Gee, retired biologist of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and former director of the crane propagation program at Patuxent received the L. H. Walkinshaw Crane Conservation Award in honor of his long-time contribution to the study and conservation of cranes. George has spent more than 30 years conducting research and authored numerous papers on cranes. The award was presented on 25 January 2003 at the Ninth North American Crane Workshop in Sacramento, California.

Stephen A. Nesbitt, avian biologist of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, received the L. H. Walkinshaw Crane Conservation Award in honor of his career spanning more than 30 years of crane research and conservation. Steve is the world authority on the Florida sandhill crane and has authored or coauthored more than 60 publications on cranes. The award was presented on 10 February 2006 at the Tenth North American Crane Workshop in Zacatecas, Mexico.

Ernie Kuyt, retired Canadian Wildlife Service Biologist, received the L. H. Walkinshaw Crane Conservation Award in honor of his long-time contribution to the study and conservation of whooping cranes. Ernie spent 25 years conducting research on whooping cranes on their breeding grounds and has authored over 30 papers including 19 cited in the International Whooping Crane Recovery Plan. The award was presented on 26 September 2008 at the Eleventh North American Crane Workshop in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.