| Contacts: | Katie Stevens, NCA Manager, (970) 244-3049 |
Fruita Third Graders to Scramble Through Devil’s Canyon on Environmental Scavenger Hunt (05-12-10)
Grand Junction, CO -- Nearly 50 third-graders from Fruita will get hands-on experience in the outdoors tomorrow during an environmental scavenger hunt in the Bureau of Land Management’s McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area.
Sponsored by the BLM and the Friends of McInnis Canyons, the scavenger hunt this Thursday will send students scrambling to find items from the natural area as they learn about ways humans depend on and affect their environment.
When: Thursday, May 13, from 10:15 (students arrive)-11:30 am
Where: Devil's Canyon trailhead
Visuals: Scavenger hunt in action! Students and teachers working with volunteers and BLM staff in the "outdoor laboratory" of the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area.
Media Opportunity: Media reps can talk to students about what they learned, with volunteers with the Friends of McInnis Canyons, and with BLM staff about the purpose of the event.
## BLM ##
Encompassing more than 123,000 acres of BLM-administered public lands on the western slope of Colorado, McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area is one of the BLM's 16 National Conservation Areas in the West. In addition to spectacular scenery, world-class recreational opportunities, and important cultural resources and wildlife habitats, McInnis Canyons NCA offers outstanding educational and scientific opportunities. National Conservation Areas are part of the BLM's National Landscape Conservation System, a unique network of special places that serve as scenic showcases for the conservation, protection, and restoration elements of BLM's multiple use mission. These treasured landscapes make up more than 27 million of the 253 million total acres of western public lands managed by the BLM in the western United States.
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.
2815 H Road Grand Junction, CO 81506