Lander Field Office
| Contacts: | Sarah Beckwith | |||
| 307/347-5207 |
BLM Lander Seeks Volunteers
for September 24 National Public Lands Day Event
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lander Field Office is inviting volunteers to celebrate National Public Lands Day (NPLD) on Saturday, Sept. 24, with a work day at the Castle Gardens petroglyph site east of Riverton, Wyo.
Volunteers are needed to work on fences, trails and the parking lot to improve recreational experiences and to provide better protections for the petroglyphs. Local archaeologists will also be on site to lend a hand.
Lander-area volunteers should meet at the Lander Field Office, 1335 Main Street, at 8:30 a.m. to carpool. Riverton-area volunteers should meet at the Fremont County Fairgrounds parking lot at 9:15 a.m. The Fremont County Fairgrounds parking lot is located at 1010 Fairgrounds Road on the south end of Riverton, just west of South Federal Boulevard. Bring food, water and gloves, and dress appropriately for rain or shine. Boots or sturdy shoes are required. Tools will be provided.
“The work we do at Castle Gardens will better protect the archaeological site from vandalism and help preserve a part of our history for future generations,” said BLM Recreation Technician Brandon Thielke.
Castle Garden’s sandstone outcroppings have lured visitors for thousands of years—many of them left their marks in the soft sandstone. The area is best known for the petroglyphs carved in the Castle Gardens Shield Style, the oldest recognizable example of the shield-bearing warrior figure type.
NPLD, now in its 18th year, is the nation's largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands Americans enjoy. It is anticipated that more than 180,000 volunteers will participate at more than 2,000 public lands sites across the nation in 2011, completing a projected $15 million in improvements.
For more information about volunteering for the Castle Gardens work day, contact Thielke or BLM Archaeologist Karina Bryan at 307-332-8400. To learn more about NPLD, visit www.publiclandsday.org.
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.