| Contacts: | Shayne Banks | , 601-977-5405 |
Loxahatchee River Historical Society Wins Excellence Award For Partnership with BLM
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| Southeastern States Field Office Manager Bruce Dawson with Jamie Stuve of the Loxahatcheee River Historical Society after the partnership awards ceremony March 6. |
“The Bureau of Land Management is very proud to be a part of such a great partnership doing great things,” said Bruce Dawson, Field Manager for the Southeastern States Field Office in Jackson, Mississippi.
The Loxahatchee River Historical Society has a long history with the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and an equally long history of accomplishments. Founded in 1972 with the goal to preserve the area’s history and provide interpretive tours of the lighthouse when it was still under Coast Guard administration, the Society has been an active partner with the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse ever since. The Society was instrumental in the effort to build community support for the site’s becoming part of the BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) in 2008, at which time it was designated the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area (JILONA) by Congress.
Through consistent public outreach efforts and active participation in key organizations at the local, State and national level, the Loxahatchee River Historical Society has enhanced visibility and understanding of the BLM, the NLCS, and JILONA in a part of the country that is largely unfamiliar with the BLM.
The awards ceremony was held in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 6, 2012 in conjunction with the 2012 national convention of the Association of Partners for Public Lands (APPL); APPL serves as an umbrella organization for the many interpretive associations and friends groups that work to foster stewardship and appreciation of Federal and State public lands and historic sites nationwide.
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.
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