U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT NEWS RELEASE
Elko District Office
Elko District Office
| Contacts: | Lesli Ellis | , 775-753-0386 | , lellis@blm.gov |
California Trail Center Open for Cowboy Poetry
ELKO, Nev. – The grandeur of America’s west has inspired people to write poetry long before there were cowboys riding the range. Come to the California Trail Center Jan. 31 through Feb. 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to find out what the pioneers had to say about the “Great American Desert!” Trail Center staff in authentic 19th century clothing will bring the pioneers’ words to life with hourly readings of poetry, letters, and journal entries from the Overland Trail. On Saturday, Feb. 4 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. staff and volunteers will perform a special program featuring readings and music from the trail.
For those looking for a better understanding of how America’s West became the cultural force it is today, the Trail Center will be showings segments of Ken Burns’ and Stephen Ives’ 11-part documentary “The West” at 10:30 and 12:30 daily. For those who are interested in the Native American perspective on the West selected oral histories from Great Basin College’s Indian Archives will be shown daily at 2:30. On Saturday there will be children’s activities. The California Trail shop will be open all week.
The California Trail Interpretive Center, operated by the Bureau of Land Management, is 8 miles west of Elko at Hunter exit 292. The center is closed for exhibit installation but will be open for Cowboy Poetry and special events, school groups and prearranged tours and meetings. Visit http://on.doi.gov/CTCElko.
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.