Check Out What Happened Last Week at the BLM: July...

BLM Director Kornze with youth at BLM Oregon Sandy Ridge Trailhead

BLM Director Kornze with BLMers and partners heading out to mountain bike at Sandy Ridge.

Pariette Wetlands in Utah, Bob Wick, BLM

Mohave Wilderness in California, Bob Wick, BLM

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Check Out What Happened Last Week at the BLM: July 7-14, 2014

Announcements, Events, and News

Last week, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced that $43.38 million will be distributed from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to all 50 States, the Territories, and the District of Columbia for state-identified outdoor recreation and conservation projects. The Secretary, BLM Director Neil Kornze, and other Interior officials attended events across the country that celebrated the fund’s successes on its 50th anniversary. President Obama has called for full, permanent funding in his proposed budget, recognizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund as one of the nation’s most effective tools for creating and protecting urban parks and open spaces for kids to play and learn. Read the full press release.

BLM Director Neil Kornze visited the Sandy Ridge Mountain Bike Trailhead in Oregon on July 8 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the LWCF. The event highlighted conservation and recreation achievements along the Sandy River and showcased the work being done by BLM and partners to conserve regionally significant Pacific Northwest landscapes and endangered species while providing high quality opportunities for public recreation, tourism, and youth employment. Read the media alert. View the photo collection from the event on BLM Oregon’s Flickr, and see footage from the event in the “This Week at Interior, July 11, 2014” video.

The BLM last week released the My Public Lands magazine, filled with little-known stories about BLM-managed public lands. Taken together, the stories echo the BLM’s mission “to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.” Like the BLM itself, the stories span the country - from caribou habitat in Alaska to mountain bike trails in Oregon to the “Great Houses” in New Mexico built by the Chacoan people 1,000 years ago. Read the My Public Lands magazine online. View and download individual stories and photos on the My Public Lands Flickr.

Social Media Highlights

The BLM featured the Land and Water Conservation Fund last week on its social media accounts. In addition to the @BLMNational Twitter and My Public Lands Instagram, My Public Lands Tumblr posts showcased several BLM-managed areas that have received LWCF allocations to benefit the lands and resources as well as local communities: Sandy Ridge Mountain Bike Trailhead and Sandy River in Oregon; Pariette Wetlands in Northeastern Utah; Mojave Wilderness in California; Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in Montana; Canyon of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado; and the Snake River Corridor in Idaho.

The BLM last week shared the story of Tom and Sissy Olney, BLM grazing permittees in New Mexico, who found a mammoth tusk eroding out of an arroyo bank on BLM land within their grazing allotment. The BLM and New Mexico Museum of Natural History included the Olney’s seven-year-old granddaughter in the excavation process as a hands-on learning experience. Read the My Public Lands post.

The BLM published several “this day in history” posts for Alaska and Wyoming statehood on its social media accounts. The posts received great responses on the growing My Public Lands Instagram account.

Follow www.blm.gov/socialmedia