Lander Field Office
| Contacts: | Sarah Beckwith | |||
| 307-347-5207 |
Celebrate National Public Lands Day with the Lander Field Office
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lander Field Office is inviting volunteers to celebrate National Public Lands Day (NPLD) on Saturday, Sept. 29, with a work day at the Johnny Behind the Rocks Trail south of Lander, Wyo.
Volunteers are needed to help improve the trail to provide more enjoyable and sustainable mountain bike riding, hiking and horseback travel. Jobs will be available for all ages and abilities.
Volunteers will meet at the Johnny Behind the Rocks Trail parking area at 9:00 a.m. Bring lunch, a water bottle and gloves. Boots or sturdy shoes are required. Tools will be provided.
“The work we do at Johnny behind the Rocks on National Public Lands Day will build on improvement projects we’ve been doing the past few years with Lander Cycling and other volunteers,” said BLM Recreation Technician Brandon Thielke. “Plus, it’s a great way to show pride for our public lands.”
The goal of the ongoing partnership between Lander Cycling and the BLM is to maintain sustainable and enjoyable recreational use in the area. Lander Cycling provides volunteer labor and valuable input about trails so that the BLM can better manage the existing trail system.
NPLD began in 1994 with 700 volunteers and three sites. Last year, more than 170,000 volunteers worked at over 2,067 sites and collected an estimated 500 tons of trash, removed an estimated 23,000 pounds of invasive plants, built and maintained an estimated 1,500 miles of trails, planted an estimated 100,000 trees, shrubs and other native plants and contributed an estimated $17 million to improve public lands across the country.
For more information about volunteering for the Johnny Behind the Rocks workday, contact Brandon Thielke at 307-332-8400 or bthielke@blm.gov. 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.
Lander Field Office 1335 Main Street Lander, WY 82520