My Public Lands
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679 posts tagged history
The award-winning BLM General Land Office
Congrats to Daniel Fleming, Branch Chief of the General Land Office for winning the “Geospatial Integration Award” at this year’s 2019 Geospatial Integration Contest. Daniel submitted the “General Land Office Record of the Week: A General Land Office Story Map” for consideration, which is a weekly map that features unique records from the General Land Office, such as stories about Voyageurs National Park, the Middle Island Lighthouse, the Lewis and Clark Caverns and many more weekly stories.
In addition, Daniel’s efforts were also recognized by Jack Dangermond, ESRI President, at the 2019 annual ESRI User Conference.
Most recently, the GLO team represented the BLM at the 37th annual Afro-American Genealogical & Historical Society Conference in Chicago, October 11-12, where they engaged with teachers, archivists, historians, geologists and other interested members of the public.
Since the establishment of the GLO in 1812, the office has provided consistent and accurate information about our nation’s history by maintaining priceless documents that aid in researching genealogy, resource ownership, use rights, and inform the historical context of BLM-managed lands. Within its collection of over 12 million records, GLO tells the story of the westward expansion of America and the citizens that made that journey over 200+ years.
Read more: https://arcg.is/101uzf
Honoring the history of Pride Month
The month of June is designated as LGBTQ Pride Month to commemorate the June 1969 Stonewall riots, which was a milestone in the quest for LGBT civil rights and provided momentum for a movement. As the largest federal land management agency, the BLM is honored to manage public lands for all American citizens. #PrideMonth
The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 opened the door for millions of LGBT Americans to begin pressing for full and equal civil rights. In 2015, the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York City was designated as a National Monument and managed by the National Park Service. It is the first to be recognized as an LGBTQ- related national monument. Learn more about the monument: https://www.nps.gov/ston/index.htm
Photo by DOI.
On this day in 1785 and 1862
Happy Anniversary to the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Homestead Act of 1862! Both were adopted by Congress on May 20th. These two laws are a couple of the most historically significant foundations of American federal land policy.
The Land Ordinance of 1785 established the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), and allowed settlement of public domain lands for the first time.
The Homestead Act of 1862 was a revolutionarily democratic piece of legislation – public lands in 30 states which had been surveyed according to the Land Ordinance of 1785 were now able to be settled by citizens, or those who had filed their declaration of intent to become a citizen. Heads of household could claim up to 160 acres per head of household, almost completely free!
These two laws had a massive impact on American history. While they were passed more than 150 years ago (almost 250 years for the Land Ordinance of 1785!), their legacies are undeniable.
Check out the story map for more information: arcg.is/11zzSz
Tattoo Artifact Found in Southern Utah
Tattooing tool from southern Utah pushes back the first known evidence of tattooing in the region by 1000 years
Occasionally, researchers find something unexpected on public lands that fosters curiosity and national interest, such as a new discovery from Grand Gulch in southeastern Utah. A recently-identified tattooing tool is changing our understanding of the history and presence of tattooing in North America. Dating back to the Basketmaker II period, it is the oldest-known tattooing tool found in western North America and provides a more in-depth understanding of identity and social structures in the region. Researchers found that the tool was most likely used sometime between the years 79–130 in the Common Era, making it nearly 2,000 years old!
While the artifact was recovered from the area in the 1970’s, it was unidentified until Andrew Gillreath-Brown, a graduate student at Washington State University, rediscovered it while working with some of the university’s collections. It piqued his interest due to its unusual shape and structure. He followed his curiosity down a path of research and investigation, leading to more discoveries and increasing our knowledge of social markers on the skin and how they may have helped form group identity for the people living in the area during this period.
This artifact was excavated under a federal permit from a midden, or refuse pile, on BLM-managed lands in San Juan County, Utah at a cultural site in Grand Gulch, known as the “Turkey Pen site”. The site is named for the holding pen in which turkeys were raised, and still exists because visitors are careful to Respect and Protect these cultural resources when visiting the site. The tattooing tool is made out of a sumac stem, prickly pear cactus spines, and yucca leaf strips and is still stained with ink. Gillreath-Brown used non-destructive techniques and experimental archaeology to analyze the tool. Gillreath-Bown observed that a replica of the tool, when used to tattoo pig skin, developed the same pattern of wear seen on the prehistoric tool.
The recent publication about the find in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports is receiving widespread publicity, in addition to articles in National Geographic and Newsweek. You can also find out more by reading the article by Gillreath-Brown et al. on Science Direct, where it is available through an open access license. While this is only a small part of a larger study, it has helped to develop our knowledge of the people who inhabited the area.
This discovery is another example of how archaeological collections can help us gain insights into life in the past, even decades after they were collected. The BLM Scientific Studies Support Program provided funding to help manage this collection, which is curated at the Washington State University Museum of Anthropology under a federal repository agreement with BLM-Utah. Public lands hold clues and stories that help us to better understand the cultural landscape and history of North America. Not only are the remarkable cliffs and valleys of southeastern Utah still home to Indigenous Americans, they provide a window into the lives of their ancestors. You can help preserve these stories by Respecting and Protecting public lands and leaving sites and artifacts as you find them. If you would like to visit the Cedar Mesa or Grand Gulch, please review the permit requirements on BLM.gov.
Story by Diana Barg, BLM Utah Museum Collections Manager, and Rachel Wootton, BLM Utah Public Affairs Specialist. Photos by Bob Wick, BLM, and courtesy of Andrew Gillreath-Brown, Washington State University, and Bob Hubner, Washington State University.
Women’s History Month: Kemba Anderson
March is Women’s History Month, and throughout the month, we’ll be highlighting some notable women in BLM. Every day, the women of the Bureau of Land Management help the agency make history and fulfill our multiple-use mission.
Kemba Anderson is BLM Nevada’s Branch Chief Fluids Minerals. She started with the BLM in June 2005. Since then, she’s been a Land Law Examiner, Supervisory Land Law Examiner, and now Branch Chief Fluid Minerals. She has also been on several details which include Associate Deputy State Director for Natural Resources, Branch Chief of the General Land Office, and Program Analyst to name a few. In addition, she’s also served as Special Emphasis Program Manager throughout her BLM career service as Black Employment Coordinator and Federal Employed Women Coordinator and is currently a Diversity Change Agent and a 2017 Leadership Academy graduate.
Along the way, Kemba says that she’s learned to be humble and that it is ok to fail. It takes a village to succeed. She’s also inspired by helping people, saying, “My philosophy on life is that it takes one person to make a change but a society to make a difference.” What do you hope to accomplish going forward? continue helping people and making a difference within BLM
Women’s History Month: Holly Hovis
March is Women’s History Month, and throughout the month, we’ll be highlighting some notable women in BLM. Every day, the women of the Bureau of Land Management help the agency make history and fulfill our multiple-use mission.
The smell of sagebrush, the rustle of wild grasses, a buzzing of hummingbird wings, and the brilliant yellow of rabbitbrush flowers covered in butterflies—all are sights and sounds that southwest Idaho students can enjoy through their schools’ native gardens, thanks in large part to a partnership with the BLM.
BLM Idaho Bruneau Field Office Botanist Holly Hovis is leading efforts to bring native plant gardens—with all of their ecological, economic, and educational values—to school districts in Boise and throughout southwest Idaho.
“It is rewarding to help raise students’ awareness to the natural world around them,” says Hovis. “We hope that these native plant gardens grow an appreciation for the complex natural resources we have on the public lands.”
Schools in southwest Idaho have been making room for native plant gardens as a way to enhance traditional classroom learning and to provide hands-on experiences for their students. The gardens also provide an economic benefit by reducing watering costs associated with non-native lawn grasses.
Holly started this work at the Boise District Office by first converting an existing native area to an ethnobotany garden highlighting traditional uses of native plants in southwest Idaho. With increased management attention to sage-grouse, she developed a second garden and interpretive materials to demonstrate habitat requirements of sage-grouse. Over the years, these two gardens at the Boise District have served as locations for many BLM educational programs ranging from school-age children to adult continuing education programs.
After managing a modest native garden on the grounds of the Boise District Office, in 2010 Holly reached out and formed a partnership with the local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office, Idaho Botanical Garden, and Idaho Native Plant Society to create an educational native plant garden at Roosevelt Elementary School in Boise. The project included outdoor classroom space, a kiosk, weather station, metal sculpture, and native bee houses.
Holly’s native garden work has since expanded to urban and rural schools throughout the region, including Bruneau Elementary School and Rimrock High School located in rural Owyhee County. This expansion has helped BLM to develop positive relationships with many families who rely on public lands for livestock grazing, recreation, and other uses.
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Women’s History Month: Evelyn Trieman & Jennifer Montoya
March is Women’s History Month, and throughout the month, we’ll be highlighting some notable women in BLM. Every day, the women of the Bureau of Land Management help the agency make history and fulfill our multiple-use mission.
In honor of Women’s History Month, the BLM congratulates two employees who were recently recognized for their efforts in public land conservation.
Evelyn Treiman and Jennifer Montoya, employees with the Bureau of Land Management in Las Cruces, New Mexico, were recently honored by the Wilderness Society as recipients of the 2018 Comparative Analysis of Particular Excellence (CAPE) Award. It recognizes BLM staff and offices who are leading the effort to conserve and protect the many values of public lands. Treiman, an Outdoor Recreation Planner, and Montoya, an Environmental Specialist, were recognized for their “Lands with Wilderness Characteristics” (LWC) work on public land in Otero, Sierra and Doña Ana counties.
The LWC update was part of the land use planning for the TriCounty Resource Management Plan (RMP). Its objective was to assess public lands within the planning area in order to determine whether wilderness characteristics are present outside of existing wilderness study areas (WSAs). These characteristics include size (at least 5,000 acres), naturalness, outstanding opportunities for solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation and supplemental values.
As the planning lead for the TriCounty RMP, Montoya assisted Treiman with the LWC data analysis. She coordinated the District management review and recommendation process and posted the “Wilderness Characteristic Inventory” report on eplanning, using the data in the RMP Supplement. The two-year LWC inventory update consisted primarily of field work with some additional office consultation and documentation, including a review of the 1979 New Mexico Wilderness Review Summary and the 1980 BLM New Mexico WSA Decisions. It also included verifying and updating the Geographic Information System (GIS) layers and maps for accuracy.
Altogether, the team inventoried more than 1.3 million acres of public land, evaluated 1,054 routes and ultimately identified 102 areas with wilderness characteristics within the RMP planning area. The total inventory also included 1,715 photos and 465 maps to support the evaluations.
The BLM congratulates Evelyn Treiman, Jennifer Montoya and their dedicated team who contributed to the success of this review.
Women’s History Month: Janet Ady
March is Women’s History Month, and throughout the month, we’ll be highlighting some notable women in BLM. Every day, the women of the Bureau of Land Management help the agency make history and fulfill our multiple-use mission.
Janet Ady is the BLM’s Division Chief of Education and Community Partnerships in Washington, DC and was recently awarded as the Corps Network’s 2019 Federal Champion for her support of opportunities to engage young people in managing our public lands.
As Division Chief, she oversees the BLM’s youth, volunteer, outdoor ethics and interpretation programs across the nation. In addition, she regularly partners with other federal agencies with like responsibilities, plus non-government programs. One big thing that Janet says she’s learned along the way is to keep an eye on the mission and focus on the long-term vision, and not to get buffeted or discouraged by distractions.
Inspired by the on-the-ground efforts to engage and educate members of local communities across the nation, Janet has dedicated her career to strengthening education and community partnership programs across the BLM. When asked about her favorite part of her job, Janet says, “I really enjoy working with really motivated, talented, creative people who are excited about what they do. Sharing a vision with such capable individuals can make things happen and together accomplish our goals. Personally, connecting to public lands myself is fun!”
Getting young people involved in citizen science is also a priority for Janet. “The integration of education and youth engagement with our work can be really powerful, and something that I’m always trying to facilitate or promote. Since many women have historically been the educators and teachers, it’s also important to recognize their role in citizen science.” According to Janet, a woman, Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey, created the first ever field guide to birds and and encouraged youth and women “citizen scientists” to contribute bird observation data to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Janet says it is important for her to understand the history of youth education and community engagement efforts, especially recognizing the women trailblazers of the natural science world.
Women’s History Month: Marjorie Chiles
March is Women’s History Month, and throughout the month, we’ll be highlighting some notable women in BLM. Every day, the women of the Bureau of Land Management help the agency make history and fulfill our multiple-use mission.
Marjorie Chiles, Branch Chief of Engineering & Asset Management Policy for the BLM’s national office in Washington, DC has more than 18 years of facilities and construction contract management, planning and programming experience. Her areas of expertise include construction management, facility management, emergency management, and engineering policy.
Marjorie began her career in the US Navy as a Civil Engineer Corps Officer which was followed by a short period of time as a consultant for the Navy. The last nine and a half years of her career have been with BLM. When Marjorie started with BLM, she wrote and implemented guidance and policy on the BLM Dam Safety Program, Deferred Maintenance Program, and Construction Program.
“One accomplishment I am proud of is the work I did with the Interagency Committee on Dam Safety’s (ICODS) Non-Federal Dams on Federal Land Task Group,” she says. “I was the task group chair and developed best practices and recommendations for federal agencies to manage non-federal dams on federal land. I was proud of the work I did when I first came to BLM and having some influence on shaping the future of BLM’s engineering programs but I am pleased to now be in a position where I have more influence in decision making.”
Marjorie says that one particular challenge she accepts is managing deteriorating assets with declining budgets that need resolution and/or action. “There were times when I was in the Navy,” Marjorie reflects, “that I had to leave for the next assignment before I could see my projects reach completion. I am encouraged by the opportunity I have to effect change and see change implemented in BLM.”
International Women’s Day 2019: Antoinette Funk
March 8, 2019 is International Women’s Day, a day which has been observed since the early 1900s. International Women’s Day is a day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women to promote unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy and action all around the world. In honor of International Women’s Day, this week’s BLM General Land Office record of the week celebrates the life Antoinette Funk- a women’s rights advocate and a lawyer during the 20th century. Check out the full story map to take a tour through her life and legacy.
Learn more about Women’s History Month at https://womenshistorymonth.gov, and follow along as we continue to share profiles of some of the exceptional women of the BLM who help us make history every day.