BLM Announces National Volunteer Award
Winners Who Are
“Making a Difference” on Public Lands
Seven volunteers, one volunteer organization, and two employees of the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will receive a prestigious national award
for their public service contributions at a ceremony to be held June 3,
2004 at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C.
The volunteer winners announced today are Carole Adams and George Baland
of California, Diane Delano of Florida, Alvin McLane of Nevada, James
Hutchins of Oregon, Bob and Kathy Bailey of Utah, and the Raptor Inventory
and Nest Survey Group, also from Utah. BLM employees selected for recognition
are John Rose of Arizona and Gayle Irwin of Wyoming.
“The contributions of the people being honored this year reflect
the diversity of outstanding work being performed by thousands of volunteers
every day across this great country in service to public lands and to
the American public,” BLM Director Kathleen Clarke said in announcing
the winning nominations. “I am honored to be able to present our
‘Making a Difference’ national award for these exceptional
accomplishments. And I say ‘thank you’ to all of
our volunteers who work so hard on behalf of public lands. They understand
what the word ‘stewardship’ really means, and they speak loudly
and clearly through their actions.”
Those honored this year are recognized for restoring native plants and
eliminating weeds, rebuilding historic cabins, gentling wild horses, conducting
environmental education programs, documenting and monitoring cultural
sites, taking care of campgrounds, monitoring birds of prey, and supervising
additional volunteer crews.
Thousands of volunteers make significant contributions on America’s
261 million acres of public lands each year, performing numerous functions
in every aspect of public land management. Many of these jobs, such as
campground management or trail repair, would simply not get done without
volunteer support. Last year alone, BLM volunteers donated 1.5 million
hours with an estimated value of close to $25 million. This is the equivalent
of the work of 866 full-time employees.
Each year the BLM honors the most exceptional of these volunteers in
a national awards ceremony. The BLM’s “Making a Difference”
national awards program has honored 87 individuals or groups since the
program began in 1996. This program supports the President’s call
for increased service to America and is part of the “Take Pride
in America” initiative.
Honorees are listed below. For more information and photos, go to www.blm.gov/volunteer
and follow the link or consult the list of State and Local contacts that
follows.
Carole Adams, a volunteer with the BLM’s Bakersfield
Field Office in California, manages a native plant restoration and weed
eradication program at the Piedras Blancas Light Station. Her crew has
pulled literally tons of invasive plants. In addition, Adams wrote and
oversaw publication of a field guide to invasive plants in the area.
George Baland, a volunteer with BLM’s Ridgecrest
Field Office in California, assembled a cadre of more than 200 volunteers
to restore the Siebert Mine site, which contains three historic structures,
hiking trails, and primitive campsites. He also conducted public outreach
campaigns and a comprehensive volunteer training program.
Diane Delano, a volunteer with the BLM’s Jackson,
Mississippi, Field Office’s Wild Horse and Burro Program in Florida,
conducts wild horse “gentling” clinics for new horse adopters.
She also conducts outreach programs and rescues and rehabilitates mustangs.
Alvin McLane, a volunteer with the BLM’s Carson
City Field Office in Nevada, recorded more than 120 separate cultural
sites—including petroglyphs, rock rings, and lithic scatters—in
the Dry Lake Area of northwestern Nevada, and started a full scale monitoring
program for the area.
James (Jim) Hutchins, a volunteer with the BLM’s
Medford District Office in Oregon, started the Oregon Stewardship Program,
delivering environmental education programs to schools throughout southwestern
Oregon. Activities include trail work, habitat studies, “fish watch”
projects, data collection, mapping, and creative writing.
Bob and Kathy Bailey, volunteers at the BLM’s
Moab Field Office’s Canyon Rims Recreation Area in Utah, have served
as campground hosts since 1995. In addition to regular duties such as
litter patrol, painting, weeding, campsite maintenance, and nature trail
repair, they conduct a multi-year study of neotropical bird migration,
maintain wildlife guzzlers and monitor riparian areas in the district.
Raptor Inventory and Nest Survey Group (RINS), volunteers
with the BLM’s Salt Lake District in Utah, members have worked long
hours in remote desert locations to identify, protect, and monitor nesting
raptors and nest sites within the 3.2-million-acre district. In 2003 alone,
the RINS Group hosted 108 volunteers, who together contributed 808 days
of field work, driving close to 75,000 miles to monitor 1,386 raptor nests.
In addition to honoring volunteers, the BLM honors employees who have
made significant contributions to the volunteer program. This year’s
recipients are:
John Rose, an archaeologist with the BLM’s Kingman,
Arizona, Field Office. John supervises volunteers who conduct numerous
archaeological and historic site surveys and at-risk site documentations.
In addition, John is actively involved in outreach and education through
the Arizona Site Stewards program.
Gayle Irwin, volunteer coordinator for the BLM’s
National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming. Gayle
supervises and schedules work for a volunteer staff of 60 who donated
4,660 hours of their time in 2003 alone.
A list of volunteer opportunities with the BLM and other federal agencies
is available at www.volunteer.gov/gov.
Information on the BLM’s volunteer program can be found at www.blm.gov/volunteer.
State and Local Contacts for BLM 2004 “Making a Difference”
Volunteer Award Winners
CALIFORNIA
Award Winner: Carole Adams, BLM Bakersfield Field Office
Local BLM contact: John Bogacki 661-391-6043
BLM State Volunteer Coordinators: Tony Staed, Ron Huntsinger 661-391-6006
Winner: George Baland, BLM Ridgecrest Field Office
Local BLM contact: Steve Smith 760-384-5440
BLM State Volunteer Coordinators: Tony Staed, Hector Villalobos 760-384-5405
FLORIDA
Award Winner: Diane Delano, BLM Jackson, Miss. Field Office
(Volunteer work was done in Florida)
Local BLM contact: Shayne Banks 601-977-5405
BLM State Volunteer Coordinator: Milli Alam 703-440-1719
ARIZONA
Award Winner: BLM employee John Rose, BLM Kingman Field Office
Local BLM contact: Ruben Sanchez 928-692-4439
BLM State Volunteer Coordinator: Marge Dwyer 480-515-1856
NEVADA
Award Winner: Alvin McLane, BLM Carson City Field Office
Local BLM contacts: Mark Struble 775-885-6107 and Marie Andrews 775-885-6158
BLM State Volunteer Coordinator: Debra Kolkman 775-289-1946
OREGON
Award Winner: James Hutchins, BLM Medford Field Office
Local BLM contact: Cheryl Stanley 541-618-2215
BLM State Volunteer Coordinator: Maya Fuller 503-808-6437
UTAH
Award Winner: Bob and Kathy Bailey, BLM Moab Field Office
Local BLM contact: Katie Stevens 435-259-2172
BLM State Volunteer Coordinator: Sherry Foot 801-539-4195
Award Winner: Raptor Inventory and Nest Survey Group, BLM Salt Lake District
Office
Local BLM contact: Randy Swilling 801-977-4373
BLM State Volunteer Coordinator: Sherry Foot 801-539-4195
WYOMING
Award Winner: BLM employee Gayle Irwin, Casper
Local BLM contact: Jude Carino 307-261-7787
BLM State Volunteer Coordinator: Terri Trevino 307-775-6020
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