Elko District Office
| Contacts: | Lesli Coakley (775) 753-0386, lesli_coakley@blm.gov |
California Trail Center hosts free cultural presentations in April
ELKO, Nev. - The California National Historic Trail Interpretive Center is hosting two free presentations during April. Both presentations are centered on historic life in the Great Basin and will begin at 7 p.m. and last approximately two hours.
On Wednesday, April 6, BLM archaeologist Jill Jensen will present “Hunting Pronghorn in the Great Basin: Lessons from the Past.” Jensen will focus on antelope traps used by native peoples and what they reveal on fire history, social organization and juniper expansion. Great Basin Native Americans used these large traps, constructed of juniper boughs and vegetation arranged to funnel antelope into a low-walled corral where the swift animals were easily hunted.
Kent McAdoo from the University of Nevada, Reno Extension Service will present, “Basque Herders: The End of an Era” on Wednesday, April 13. McAdoo will interpret Basque contributions to Elko, the marks they left on our landscape and why their number as workers in the sheep ranching industry declined in the last forty years.
Also available during this time is a temporary exhibit entitled, “Seeds of Change.” This exhibit focuses on the contributions of the native people of the Western Hemisphere, in terms of food, particularly corn and potatoes. This exhibit is on loan through September from the BLM’s Anasazi Heritage Center of Dolores, Colo.
Operated by the Bureau of Land Management, the California National Historic Trail Interpretive Center is eight miles west of Elko, at Hunter Exit 292. The Center will be open this summer starting with California Trail Days on Saturday and Sunday May 21 and 22, 2011. The Center will then be open Wednesday through Sunday, from May 21 until Labor Day. Please call (775) 738-1849 for more information.
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.
Elko District Office 3900 E. Idaho St. Elko, NV 89801