| Contacts: | Mike Pellant, 208-373-3823 |
Great Basin Ecosystems and Human Communities
BOISE, ID – The Great Basin Consortium will host its annual conference January 14-15, 2013, in the Boise State University Student Union Building. The conference is part of the Consortium’s efforts to develop a science-based strategy that supports sustainable and resilient ecological and human communities in the Great Basin. The Great Basin, North America’s largest desert, covers roughly 140 million acres between the Rocky and Sierra Nevada Mountains, including southern Idaho.
Afternoon sessions on Monday, January 14, will address current and emerging issues for resource managers in the Great Basin, including the impacts of rangeland mega-fires, quality of sage-grouse habitat, invasive annual grasses, managing for resilient ecosystems and a vision for the future. Leaders of Consortium partner groups will also update conference attendees on their work in the areas of ecosystem studies, landscape conservation, restoration, fire science and management. A poster session and reception will round out Monday’s schedule.
Project highlights and panel discussions on Tuesday, January 15, will focus on the Central Basin and Range Rapid Ecoregional Assessment, native plant selection and increase, cheatgrass modeling, monitoring, and work by the Utah/Nevada Partners for Conservation and Development. An early afternoon panel discussion will examine options for addressing these regional issues and charting a path forward.
Attendees may register online at https://gbcconference2013.wordpress.com/registration/ or on-site in Boise on January 14. For additional details about the agenda, transportation and lodging, contact Aoife Blake at ablake@enviroissues.com or (206) 269-5041; or visit the conference website at https://gbcconference2013.wordpress.com/about/.
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.