BLM Director Gives Agency's Highest Award to Jimmy Carter

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Tom Fry presented a Legacy of the Land Award to former President Jimmy Carter at an event in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 23.  The Legacy of the Land award is the BLM's highest honor and recognizes President Carter for his extraordinary contribution to the protection of the land and its resources in signing into law the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) on December 2, 1980.  The law established conservation units throughout Alaska to be administered by the BLM, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

ANILCA guaranteed that the BLM would manage in perpetuity more than 70 million acres of public lands in Alaska -- more public land than in any other State -- under multiple-use principles.

"The vast lands protected by ANILCA are some of the world's most spectacular natural treasures," said Fry.  "President Carter's foresight 20 years ago has given the American people a lasting gift of immeasurable value."

BLM conservation units established by ANILCA include:

• The 1.2-million-acre Steese National Conservation Area about 70 miles northeast of Fairbanks; BLM manages the area under principles of multiple use for minerals, recreation, wildlife and other resource values.  Here the 26-mile Pinnell National Recreational Trail offers outstanding views of the surrounding countryside and is known for its summer wildflowers and views of the "midnight sun."
• The one-million-acre White Mountains National Recreation Area, BLM's first.  Since then the BLM has developed an extensive network of winter trails and shelter cabins to help winter visitors enjoy this unique area named for its unusual limestone cliffs.  It has become a winter playground for snow machiners, dog mushers and cross country skiers.
• Six National Wild and Scenic Rivers for BLM management including Beaver Creek and Birch Creek northeast of Fairbanks, the Gulkana and Delta rivers near Paxson, the Unalakleet River in western Alaska and the Fortymile River near the Canadian border.  The Fortymile River has more miles in NWSR status than any other river in the system (392 miles). These six rivers combined represent 48 percent of the wild and scenic rivers managed by BLM nationally.  The Gulkana and Delta are some of Alaska's most popular rivers because they have road access at the put-in and take-out points.

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land - 264 million surface acres - than any other Federal agency.  Most of this public land is located in 12 Western States including Alaska.  The Bureau, which has a budget of $1.4 billion and a workforce of about 8,700 employees, also administers more than 700 million acres of sub-surface minerals estate throughout the nation.  The BLM preserves open space by managing the public lands for multiple uses, including outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, and mining, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources found on the public lands.