High Desert District Office and Rock Springs Field Office
| Contacts: | Serena Baker | |||
| 307-350-0448 |
BLM National Public Lands Day Beautifies Bitter Creek Watershed
National Public Lands Day (NPLD) was celebrated in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) High Desert District and Rock Springs Field Offices when nearly 100 high school students, teachers, and state and federal employees planted native trees to help restore the Bitter Creek Riparian Area recently.
Students from Rock Springs High School’s Environmental Science Class and Green River’s Expedition Academy planted almost 1,000 native willow and long leaf cottonwood trees, silver buffaloberry shrubs, and currant bushes. The plantings will help stabilize Bitter Creek’s banks, replace tamarisk (salt cedar) noxious weeds with native plants, improve riparian conditions, provide cover and nesting areas for birds, and eventually be a food supply for wildlife. The project area encompasses approximately one-half square mile section of public land south of I-80 between Rock Springs and Green River.
The plants were donated by Sweetwater County Conservation District, reclaimed from the Trees-to-Trash Program, and grown from cuttings by BLM recreation specialists. The Bitter Creek Riparian Restoration Project for NPLD was sponsored by the BLM and the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI).
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|  Rock Springs High School students Harleigh Powers, and Ryan Jenkins plant a tree along the Bitter Creek. |
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 BLM Recreation Planner Jo Foster passes plants to students. |  Rolando Gallarza, Rock Springs High School plants trees on an island in the Bitter Creek. |  Expedition Academy students plant trees along the Bitter Creek Riparian Area. |  Carolyn Liedtke, WLCI, models National Public Lands Day t-shirts given to volunteers. |
 Expedition Academy students Noel Padilla, and Dare Mechling, have fun planting trees. |  Nancy Rodriguez, Expedition Academy makes sure the soil is loose around her newly planted tree. |  The plants are donated by Sweetwater County Conservation District, reclaimed from the Trees-to-Trash Program, and grown from cuttings by BLM Recreation Specialists. |
NPLD is the nation's largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands Americans enjoy. Last year 150,000 volunteers built trails and bridges, removed trash and invasive plants, planted trees and restored our water resources.
The WLCI is a long-term science-based effort to assess and enhance aquatic and terrestrial habitats at a landscape scale in southwest Wyoming, while facilitating responsible development of the region’s valuable energy resources. The WLCI includes an interagency working group of partners. An Executive Committee oversees the effort. The WLCI Executive Committee is comprised of representatives from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Department of Agriculture, Wyoming Game & Fish Department, conservation districts, and county commissioners. For more information contact Wyoming Department of Agriculture/WLCI Coordination Team member Justin Caudill, (307) 350-5480.
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.
High Desert District Office and Rock Springs Field Office 280 Highway 191 North Rock Springs, WY 82901