OGUNQUIT — A man and an organization, each feted with Environmental Protection Agency awards May 10 in Boston, were celebrated on the homefront Thursday during a ceremony attended by about 75 people.

Martin “Tin” Smith, who helped found the Great Works Regional Land Trust in 1986, had received the EPA Lifetime Achievement Award while the Ogunquit Conservation Commission had been granted the agency’s Environmental Merit Award.

But for those unable to attend the midweek Boston ceremony, Thursday’s local event offered an opportunity for area folks to recognize the achievements.

Smith had been nominated for the award by the board of directors of the GWRLT, which focuses on protecting and preserving land in the area, and has completed 119 property purchases of 5,974 acres. Smith also helped create the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve and is involved in the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association.

Lifetime Achievement Awards are given to individuals who demonstrate “sustained commitment to environmental issues over a career or a lifetime,” according to the EPA’s website. GWRLT Executive Director Lisa Erickson-Harris called Smith’s award “well deserved.”

“He was a driver for establishing the land trust,” said Erickson- Harris. “It’s recognition for all of the work that we have been doing under his drive and leadership. It will help our members … realize all that has been going on for the past several decades.”

Smith himself attributed his passion and dedication to conservation to the beauty of the land itself.

“I moved up here from Massachusetts and saw a lot of incredible beauty that was still here, a nice combination of forests, farms and the ocean,” Smith said .

As for the award, Smith is “surprised and certainly humbled.”

“The things that I got credited for, a lot of it was a group effort, not just one person,” Smith said.

Though the GWRLT was not recognized as a group, Erickson- Harris said the most important factor was that Smith brought “the award back home.”

“By and large the community is very happy he is being recognized for all the work they see him doing locally,” said Erickson- Harris. “I honestly think leading by example is the best way to inspire others, demonstrating what can be done by a single person like Tin, or a small group.”

And while the community is very proud of Smith, he is equally proud of them.

“We have great community and people want to live here, and it’s important to protect those things that make people want to live here,” said Smith. “I think it’s important that this work gets out to the public as much as possible.”

The Ogunquit Conservation Commission is another community orientated group that is well-deserving of its Environmental Merit Award, supporters said.

The criteria for an organization to receive such an award, according to the EPA website, include efforts taken to address a problem or need, measurable and lasting public health or environmental benefits, collaboration with others, promotion of innovative ideas or approaches and ability of the program or activity to be replicated or widely shared.

An EPA press release from May said that “the commission strives to conserve lands, protect waters and serve town residents and visitors through a greener and healthier community” and listed several of the commission’s achievements, including the annual $25,000 town referendum question for the Conservation Land Trust, water testing programs and monthly water samplings of 12 beach and river locations, a referendum that provided $3 million for 49 acres of conservation land and making Ogunquit the first town in Maine and second in the nation to ban the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

All of these things earned Ogunquit recognition by Down East magazine as the most environmental town in Maine in 2015 and a Dragonfly Award from Beyond Pesticides, a nonprofit group dedicated to ending the use of toxic pesticides, according to a write-up in the Summer 2016 GWRLT newsletter.

Former chairman of the Ogunquit Conservation Commission Mike Horn said the awards were “a pleasant recognition of the work the commission has done” toward their mission to “preserve and enhance the environmental structure of this town.”

“It’s recognition to a hardworking group of volunteers that people at the state level are aware of the work and effort that’s been put in by locals,” Horn said.

Dave Deegan, EPA media relations director for the New England Regional Office, said in an email that the EPA “certainly hopes that our regional awards motivate other citizens and organizations to do terrific work to protect New England’s environment and the health of citizens. We are very proud that this award program has recognized the excellent work by New Englanders for 40+ years.”

Horn had a slightly different idea about what it takes to inspire others in a community to get involved.

“If you live in a community and care for it and love it, then there’s a need on the citizen’s behalf of getting involved with the conservation efforts of a community,” said Horn. “It’s to enhance its livability and protect all of the natural resources.”

Similarly, though Smith is honored to have received his Lifetime Achievement Award, he still thinks that the best way to inspire others to get involved is not necessarily with awards, but by “just going out and enjoying these protected properties.”