Billings Feild Office
| Contacts: | Jeff Kitchens, Pompeys Pillar National Monument Manager | |||
| 406-896-5235 |
National Public Lands Day at Pompeys Pillar National Monument
Pompeys Pillar National Monument is celebrating the end of its summer season with National Public Lands Day (NPLD) this Sat., Sept. 29. Entrance fees will be waived all day.
Sept. 29 is the last day that the monument’s visitor center will be open for the 2012 season. Hours of operation are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The monument will also host several volunteer projects as part of NPLD. Folks are invited to come out and help with projects including fence removal, landscaping, boardwalk repair, and weed removal. All participants will receive lunch and a voucher good for free admission to any public land site in the country.
According to Jeff Kitchens, Pompeys Pillar National Monument Manager, the monument is offering volunteer activities as well as fee free admission as a way to celebrate a very successful fun season.
“As another amazing year comes to an end I want to say thank you to our partners and neighbors,” said Kitchens. “Pompeys Pillar is a very special place and I want to invite all of those in the surrounding areas to come out and visit us before we close the interpretive center for the season.”
Started in 1994, NPLD has become the nation's largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands. It’s an opportunity to educate the public about key natural and historical resource issues, build partnerships, and improve our public sites through stewardship and the hard work of thousands of volunteers.
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 of its actual route. An interpretive center at the site recounts Clark’s journey through the Yellowstone Valley in 1806. More information on the national monument can be found by visiting the Pillar's website.
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.
Billings Feild Office 3255 F. Missoula Road Missoula, MT 59804