BLM Colorado
| Contacts: | Denise Adamic 303-239-3671 | |||
| Jack Placchi 303-239-3832 |
BLM Colorado Volunteers Honored Nationally for Conservation Efforts
Denver, CO – A national Bureau of Land Management (BLM) panel honored Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) with the “Making a Difference” award for their exceptional contributions to conservation and management of public lands.
The electing panel had representatives from the BLM, the National Environmental Education Foundation and the National Public Lands Foundation. VOC's executive director, Ann Baker Easley, accepted the award from Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, at a special awards ceremony May 14 in Washington, D.C.
The VOC accepted the award along with six other organizations selected from more than 60 nominations submitted by BLM state offices across the country for this prestigious honor. In 2008, VOC provided BLM with more than 4,500 hours of volunteer project time and trained more than 500 volunteer crew leaders.
“Volunteers of Colorado provide an invaluable service to the BLM in helping our agency protect and conserve resources on public lands,” said Jack Placchi, BLM Colorado Travel and Access Coordinator. “Getting the public involved with public lands is an important part of the work we do and helps guide our recreation planning and management.”
Every year, VOC leads thousands of volunteers in caring for Colorado public lands by planting trees, fixing trails, battling weeds, and improving public places. The VOC provides trained volunteers and crew leaders for BLM projects across the state. Also, BLM Colorado has used VOC to train volunteers and build volunteer capacity in almost all of its field offices.
Other award winners include: "Nick's Interns": King's Range National Conservation Area (NCA), CA; The Sea Ranch California Coastal Monument Task Force, The Sea Ranch, CA; Joanne and Don Murray, NV (multiple BLM sites); and Kathy & Bruce Salsbury, Lake Valley Historic Townsite, NM; Willamette Resources and Educational Network (WREN), Eugene, OR; and Cindy Oster, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, UT.
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* Editor’s note: For photos of the awards ceremony, please contact Shelly Fischman in the Environmental Education and Volunteers Division of BLM at (202) 452-0359
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.