Montana State Office
| Contacts: | Mary Apple 406-896-5258 |
Kitchens is New Pompeys Pillar National Monument Manager
Jeff Kitchens is the new manager of Pompeys Pillar National Monument. The monument, part of the Bureau of Land Management’s National Landscape Conservation System, is located about 28 miles east of Billings.
Kitchens has over 15 years experience in natural resource management, recreation, and interpretation. His career has taken him to Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida, and Oregon. Along with his resource management experience, Jeff has also been actively involved in wildland fire management since 2000. He has worked for several federal, state, and local agencies. He has also been an active environmental education volunteer for various local and county programs for over 10 years. Kitchens and his family enjoy a wide variety of outdoor activities and are excited to be living in the Big Sky State.
Pompeys Pillar contains the signature of Captain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Clark’s inscription is the expedition’s only remaining physical evidence visible on its actual route. The Pillar is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the summer. An interpretive center at the site recounts Clark’s journey through the Yellowstone Valley in 1806. A fee of $7 per vehicle is collected at the gate. More information on the national monument can be found at http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/billings_field_office/pompeyspillar.html.
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.
Montana State Office 5001 Southgate Drive Billings, MT 59101