Washington Office
| Contacts: | Bryce Barlan (BLM) | , 202-912-7154 | , bryce_barlan@blm.gov | |
| Barry Burkhardt (USFS) | , 303-275-5147 | , bburhhardt@fs.fed.us | ||
| Kevin Flynn (BLM) | , 202-912-7417 |
Nominations Sought for BLM Environmental Practices Awards
The Bureau of Land Management is accepting nominations for its fifth annual award program for outstanding oil, gas, geophysical, and geothermal operators who demonstrate leadership and creativity in reducing the impacts of their projects. The awards showcase the best management practices (BMPs) on BLM-managed public lands, other Federal agency lands, Indian Trust lands, or Federal lands where the surface is privately owned and the BLM manages the mineral estate.
Environmental BMPs are state-of-the-art mitigation measures applied on a site-specific basis to reduce, prevent, or avoid adverse environmental or social impacts. By reducing the area of disturbance, adjusting the location of facilities, and using various other techniques to minimize environmental effects, the BLM and operators are significantly reducing impacts to wildlife, soil, water, air, and scenic quality that may be associated with new energy development.
Previous award winners have been recognized for outstanding wildlife protection; reducing and controlling air emissions; landscape restoration; and reducing the “footprint” of development on public lands.
Operators, government agencies, tribes, trade organizations, landowners, individual Indian mineral owners, and members of the general public may nominate operators for these awards. Company officials and employees may nominate their own operations for recognition. Guidelines for entries are available at www.blm.gov/bmp.
Nominations for the 2010 awards program must be filed with the BLM State Offices by December 1, 2009. Award winners are expected to be announced at an oil and gas conference in 2010.
For additional information, contact Bryce Barlan (BLM), Natural Resource Specialist, Division of Minerals (WO-310), bryce_barlan@blm.gov, or by telephone at 202-912-7154, or Barry Burkhardt (U.S. Forest Service), Assistant Director for Leasable Minerals, bburhhardt@fs.fed.us, or by telephone at 303-275-5147.
The BLM manages more land - over 245 million acres - than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. 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.
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