For Immediate Release:  June 3, 2004
Contact: Steven Hall, 970-244-3052

BLM’s Little Snake Field Office to move June 4-11

CRAIG, CO—The Bureau of Land Management Little Snake Field Office will be closed for business as staff move into the new BLM building from June 4-11. Telephone service as well as the availability of staff will be interrupted for the move, though the Craig Interagency Dispatch Center will remain operational.

"We plan on getting the move done within one week to minimize the impact to the public," said BLM’s Jerry Strahan. "The office should be up and running by June 14 at the latest. Demolition of the existing structure and construction of a new parking lot will be continuing through the summer. The public entrance to the new BLM building will be on the west end of the structure during this phase. Our fire dispatch will remain operational throughout the move."

The new Little Snake Field Office will replace the sprawling modular trailers and add-ons of the current office, originally built in the 1970s. Since then, the Little Snake Field Office has had five separate additions in order to house a growing staff and public services. The most recent addition to the building consisted of two modular trailers attached to the north end of the building.

In addition to providing improved facilities for BLM staff and the public, the new building will be more energy efficient, saving thousands in utility costs. The new building will be 12,000 square feet.

Contractors working on the new building include: from Craig, Anson Construction, Behrman Construction, Dave Corey Electric, Paint Dabbers, and Pam’s Design from Craig, CJ Mudd concrete from Meeker; Timco drywall from Oak Creek, and Lundsford HVAC from Grand Junction.

The Little Snake Field Office encompasses 3,258,000 acres of federal, state and private lands in Moffat, Routt and Rio Blanco Counties. Of the total area, 1.3 million acres are public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and 1.1 million acres of the private and state lands are underlain by federally owned minerals. Resource activities include: wildlife, cultural resources, grazing, minerals, forest products, rights-of-ways, paleontological resources, and recreation.

For more information on the Little Snake Field Office building project, contact Jerry Strahan at 970-826-5000.

-BLM-