Casper Field Office
| Contacts: | Lesley A. Collins, | |||
| 307-261-7603 |
Trails Center hosts annual Pony Express Re-Ride
The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center (NHTIC) will serve as a rider and mail relay site during the National Pony Express Association’s annual re-ride through Casper, Wyo., on Saturday, June 13, 2009.
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The public is invited to view the relay from the NHTIC’s outdoor plaza. Entrance fees to the Trails Center will be waived from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The event is anticipated to occur around 10:30 a.m., however, due to constant changing of riders along the trail and other factors, a set time for arrival of the mail at the NHTIC is not possible to ensure. Visitors are encouraged to arrive early, take advantage of the free admission time, and tour the facility while awaiting the westbound rider.
Every summer, members of the National Pony Express Association (NPEA) conduct a re-ride of the Pony Express National Historic Trail, commemorating the historic enterprise that transported United States mail in 1860 and 1861. This summer, riders will depart St. Joseph, Mo, on June 9 and ride west to Sacramento, California. The re-ride is typically completed in 10 days, which isthe same number of days it took the original Pony Express riders to transit the mail. This year, riders plan to arrive in Wyoming on June 12 and depart the state on June 14, according to the National Pony Express Association official website (www.xphomestation.com).
“We are proud to serve as a relay station for the annual pony express re-ride,” noted NHTIC Director Mike Abel. “This year one of the newest members of the National Pony Express Association is BLM employee Michael McAdam. The official swearing-in for new members will be this Saturday.”
This year the public can keep track of the Pony Express Riders' progress via a real-time Global Positioning System satellite tracking device. The speed and location of each rider can be monitored 24 hours per day at http://ponyexpressnationaltracking.com.
The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center is a public-private partnership between the Bureau of Land Management and the National Historic Trails Center Foundation.
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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.
Casper Field Office 2987 Prospector Drive Casper, WY 82604