High Desert District
| Contacts: | Shelley Gregory | |||
| 307-315-0612 |
BLM Trains Firefighters for 2012 Season
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in cooperation with the Rawlins Fire Department and Carbon County Fire Department, is conducting an S-130/S-190 firefighter training in Rawlins, Wyo. this week.
Fifteen students from the BLM’s High Desert District and the Rawlins and Carbon County fire departments will participate in basic firefighter and wildland fire behavior training. Students will also take the work capacity “pack” test, a three-mile trial which must be completed in less than 45 minutes while carrying a 45 pound pack. After successfully completing the course work and pack test, students will receive a Red Card which qualifies them to work on fire lines for one year.
Weather permitting, a fire exercise will be conducted at the Old State Penitentiary in Rawlins in an attempt to eradicate sagebrush encroachment on the historic baseball field. Students will learn to implement firefighting techniques such as cold trailing, dry mopping, fire line construction, engine and pump operation and firing methods.
For more information, please contact Zachary Hartshorn at 307-328-4321.
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 280 Highway 191 North Rock Springs WY 82901