BLM Director Announces Winners of 2009 Rangeland Stewardship Awards

Release Date: 09/22/09

Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey today announced the winners of the BLM’s Rangeland Stewardship Awards for 2009. One award was presented to an Idaho ranch that has improved rangeland conservations conditions in the Hailey, Idaho, area. A second award went to various groups and agencies for their collaborative management of invasive and noxious weeds near Price, Utah. The awards were presented in Sacramento, California, at a meeting of the Public Lands Council.

“The BLM is delighted to present these Rangeland Stewardship Awards,” Director Abbey said. "Each of the awardees has improved rangeland conditions in a manner that shows true dedication to the principles of rangeland conservation stewardship.”

At today’s awards ceremony, the BLM recognized the rangeland conservation management practices of Lava Lake Land and Livestock of Hailey, Idaho. The award recipient holds BLM grazing permits in connection with its sheep operation in 27 grazing allotments under the jurisdiction of the BLM’s Shoshone Field Office, where the company’s work has enhanced sagebrush, aspen, and riparian habitat. Owners Brian and Kathleen Bean and their staff, through the use of innovative technology to carry out effective rangeland monitoring and by their participation in an active vegetation treatment program, “have gone above and beyond the expected in rangeland conservation stewardship,” Abbey said.

The BLM also conferred its Rangeland Stewardship Through Collaboration Award on several groups and agencies that are part of the Skyline Cooperative Weed Management Area, which focuses on treating invasive and noxious weeds on land near Price, Utah. The Skyline Cooperative Weed Management Area consists of Carbon County, Emery County, Sanpete County, Emery Water Conservation District, Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Parks and Recreation, Utah Department of Transportation, Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, Utah Association of Conservation Districts, Utah State Lands and Forestry, the Manti-LaSal National Forest, and the Castleland Resource Conservation and Development Council.

“While individual efforts are notable,” Abbey said, “the participating groups and agencies would have accomplished less if they had not worked together as a team. Consequently this award acknowledges the outstanding collaboration of all partners.”

The BLM manages more land - 256 million acres - than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. 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.

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