Nearly fifty people gathered on Thursday, April 22, 2010, at the Swansea Townsite approximately 50 miles east of Parker, Ariz. to help the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) kick off a large stimulus project. Officials from La Paz County, the State of Arizona, Congressman Trent Franks’ Regional Office, and BLM representatives from the Arizona State Office and the Colorado River District Office gathered for the “ground-filling” celebration at the Swansea Historic Townsite. The event marked the start of the BLM’s largest western Arizona stimulus project. Abandoned open mine shafts, adits, and test pits at the Swansea Mine will be filled in or have bat-friendly closures constructed with funding received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Caymus Corporation of Tempe, Ariz. was awarded the $181,305 contract for the project.

The Swansea Townsite celebration was a “ground-filling” event – the opposite of a traditional “groundbreaking.” Officials marked the start of the large American Reinvestment and Recovery Act project by tossing dirt into an abandoned mine feature. Because the ground immediately surrounding the feature is so unstable, the decorative iron fence was installed for public safety. The Swansea Townsite project consists of constructing two bat friendly gates for adit closures, nine bat friendly cupolas for mine shaft closures, and filling in nine test pits/shafts to reduce public safety risks and protect sensitive wildlife habitat and cultural resources. Numerous openings in the area pose a high risk of injury or death to the public at this time. The Caymus Corporation of Tempe, Ariz. was awarded the $181,305 contract for the project. Standing on the left (front to back) are Angie Lara, BLM Colorado River District Acting District Manager; Joe Hart, Arizona State Mine Inspector; and Shari Farrington, Congressman Trent Franks’ Regional Office Field Representative.

The Swansea Mine, in La Paz County, Ariz., is part of the Swansea Townsite which was home to 500 people in the early 20th century. The Swansea Townsite is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and is a popular winter visitor destination. For more than 15 years, BLM ambassador Mike Riddle has donated more than 800 hours of volunteer time per year under the Bureau of Land Management Volunteer Program. Riddle has assisted the archaeology program, conducting archaeological surveys and preservation and stabilization projects on the BLM's nonrenewable cultural resources. Riddle has served as the primary monitor and interpreter for the Swansea Ghost Town. Additionally, he has conducted numerous interpretative and stabilization projects at Swansea, including designing and installing trails with associated interpretative signage, constructing protective barriers, reroofing the site's 1914 workman cottages, and building new adobe walls and supports for the Swansea Railroad Station. Riddle was recognized during the ground-filling ceremony and was presented an archaeological “trowel” award by the BLM Acting Associate State Director Ray Suazo.