Wind River - Bighorn Basin
| Contacts: | Sarah Beckwith 307-347-5207 |
Wyoming Conservation Corps Assists BLM with Fuels Projects
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wind River/Bighorn Basin District fire crew and the Wyoming Conservation Corps (WCC) partnered this month for ten days of forest enhancement and fire preparedness projects. The projects ran from July 6 through July 15.
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In total, the crew completed 640 hours of service for the BLM. "It was hard work but they were really enthusiastic, willing to learn, and jumped right into the projects," said Rothleutner.
"Working with the BLM in Worland was by far one of our most rewarding ten day assignments," said WCC Crew Leader Laura Lynch. "We worked hard and had a great time!"
According to their website, the mission of the WCC is to "connect young adults with a diverse array of hands-on natural resource and environmental management experiences, and to promote leadership, through the completion of service projects that benefits lands in Wyoming."
In addition to all the hard work, the partnership between BLM and WCC included an education day for the college students at Medicine Lodge State Park. "Our crew was given good information regarding the restoration projections we were working on and the staff of Worland Field Office has a great deal of dedication and passion," Lynch said. BLM Archaeologists Marit Bovee and Dora Ridenour talked with the students about the archaeology of Medicine Lodge and of the Bighorn Basin, as well as about careers in archaeology. Out at the project sites, BLM Forester Jim Gates discussed the vastly diverse challenges and rewards of forestry careers associated with different regions of the country.
For more information about the project, please contact Andy Rothleutner at 307-347-5100. More information about the WCC can be found on their website: http://www.uwyo.edu/enr/wcc.
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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.
Wind River - Bighorn Basin 101 South 23rd Street Worland, WY 82401