NATIONAL PROGRAMS

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers more than 245 million acres of public land in 

the United States, the most of any federal agency. As steward of the land, the BLM has relationships 

with millions of people and thousands of organizations, schools, and communities. This report 

offers a sampling of the BLM’s efforts during fiscal year (FY) 2012 to educate, inform, and provide 

opportunities for people of all ages to connect with public lands and waters. It also summarizes the 

participation and reach of our programs.

WORKING WITH SCHOOLS

Hands on the Land (HOL) is a national interagency network of outdoor classrooms 

on public lands. HOL sites develop education programs in partnership with local 

schools and communities. In FY 2012, the BLM’s 50 HOL sites hosted 1,131 days of 

outdoor classroom activities and engaged more than 50,000 students, teachers, and 

parents. Volunteer time associated with HOL sites exceeded 31,000 hours.

Many BLM field offices participate in a variety of educational programs in conjunction 

with local schools. In times of tight budgets, when schools cannot afford to send 

children on field trips to public lands for onsite learning, BLM’s staff and volunteers 

enhance school curricula with classroom programs. Overall, educational programs 

reached more than 94,000 students in classrooms and on field trips in FY 2012.

VISITOR OUTREACH

The BLM interpretation program allows visitors to connect in a personal way 

to the public lands. Through formal interpretive programs and lectures, walking 

tours, historic demonstrations, wayside panels, visitor center exhibits, and other 

approaches, BLM interpreters and partners enable visitors to have a meaningful, 

safe, and enjoyable experience on the public lands. In FY 2012, more than 3 million 

people attended BLM interpretive programs.

FUN FOR KIDS AND FAMILIES

The Take It Outside! program helps ensure that children, older youth, and 

families have access to outdoor experiences on public lands. In 2012, the BLM 

achieved its Take It Outside! program goals by reaching nearly 75,000 participants 

in more than 250 different activities that involved getting outdoors and active 

on BLM lands. Outdoor activities included 41 overnight and day camps and 

112 recreational outings. An additional 102 Take It Outside! activities included 

Tread Lightly! and Leave No Trace outdoor ethics education sessions in which participants learned 

how to recreate responsibly. The BLM worked with 310 partners who invested more than 15,000 hours 

of staff time. Volunteers more than doubled that with 44,000 hours.

CAREER PATHWAYS

The BLM succeeded in meeting the Secretary of the Interior’s 

youth employment goal for 2012 by hiring more than 

4,200 youths through student employment programs and 

partnerships with youth-serving organizations, including youth 

corps, universities, and other nonprofit groups. In FY 2012, a 

new initiative, “America’s Great Outdoors: Developing the 

Next Generation of Conservationists,” was launched in partnership with the 

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service. More than 

$1 million in federal funding was leveraged with more than $2 million in 

nonfederal funds to engage hundreds of young people in conservation projects, 

many of which focused on underserved and urban youth.

SOCIAL MEDIA 

SPREAD THE 

WORD

In FY 2012, the BLM 

developed innovative 

approaches to 

educating people 

about public lands, 

featuring stories 

on internal and 

external websites 

and expanding the 

use of social media, 

including Facebook, 

Twitter, and 

Tumblr. “My Public 

Lands” (http://

mypubliclands.

tumblr.com/) 

emerged as a 

top Tumblr blog, 

attracting nearly 

100,000 followers 

and national press 

coverage.

The BLM’s “Excellence in 

Interpretation or Education” 

Awards were presented 

to Leisyka Parrott, Arcata 

Field Office, California; 

Terina Goicoechea, Western 

Montana District; and Peggy 

McGuckian, Winnemucca 

District Office, Nevada, 

shown below with Aris Evia 

of the BLM Director’s Office, 

at the National Association 

for Interpretation’s National 

Workshop in Hampton, 

Virginia, in November 2012.
“When you take 

Colorado youth 

corps, tie them 

in with veterans, 

mix that with the 

Bureau of Land 

Management staff 

that’s in Colorado, 

then you begin to get 

a pretty rich soup. 

Mix in some private 

industry funders to 

provide resources or 

donations, add the 

Conservation Lands 

Foundation. Now it’s 

seasoned, now it’s 

got heat and energy.”

—John Hickenlooper

Governor, State of 

Colorado

STATE HIGHLIGHTS

ALASKA

Fairbanks: The BLM’s Central Yukon Field Office 

partnered with the Student Conservation 

Association and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation 

to host its first group of high school volunteers from 

Anaktuvuk Pass for 2 weeks at the Arctic Interagency Visitor 

Center in Coldfoot.

Anchorage: The Iditarod Trail to Every Classroom (iTREC!) 

program provides yearlong training for Alaskan teachers 

from rural and urban schools along the historic trail. Teachers 

in the 2012 program attended a weeklong summer institute and 

two weekend workshops during the year.

Anchorage: Parents were offered the experience of playing with

their children outside and encouraged to continue to explore nature with very 

young children at the Moms, Pops, and Tots program at Campbell Creek. A total 

of 309 people participated. Campbell Creek offers comprehensive educational 

programs for students in the Anchorage area.

ARIZONA

Yuma: BLM’s Yuma Field Office sponsored an Eagle Scout project to clean up a popular offhighway vehicle (OHV) area in December 2011. A troop of Scouts also installed an interpretive 

kiosk to promote responsible OHV use. Local communities had expressed concern over two OHV-userelated fatalities that had occurred at the site; there have been none since the kiosk was installed.

Las Cienegas National Conservation Area: The Empire Ranch Roundup drew more than 

3,500 visitors and featured interpretive talks, living history presentations, horse riding 

demonstrations, riata “rope making” sessions, chuckwagon cooking, fiddle 

music, and more.

CALIFORNIA

Bakersfield: The San Joaquin River Gorge 

Hands on the Land site provides 

interactive ways for participants to investigate 

the local environment and learn about local 

history and culture. The program, conducted 

along the scenic San Joaquin River in 

central California, reaches about 6,000 

students and teachers each year.

California Desert 

District: The BLM is a major partner in 

presenting the “America’s Great Outdoors” exhibit to 

approximately 1.5 million visitors to the Los Angeles 

County Fair each fall. The fair site is hosted by several 

agencies on 1.5 acres for 3 weeks in September.

Palm Springs–South Coast Field Office: The BLM, in 

partnership with the Coachella Valley Unified School 

District, inaugurated a “Public Lands Boot Camp” for Riverside 

County High School graduates who are now attending 

California State University at Chico and College of the Desert.
TAKING THE 

PUBLIC LANDS 

TO HEART

A new BLM Artistin-Residence 

program began 

with a pilot project 

involving four artists 

at the Canyons 

of the Ancients 

National Monument 

in Colorado and 

one artist at Grand 

Staircase-Escalante 

National Monument 

in Utah. The 

program encourages 

awareness of the 

exceptional places 

on the public 

lands. Five posters, 

each featuring the 

work of one of 

the artists, were 

printed. A traveling 

exhibit appeared 

at several venues, 

and a national web 

page featured the 

artwork and program 

information.

COLORADO

McInnis Canyons National 

Conservation Area: In June 

2012, nearly 370 families became “Nature Trackers” 

at the Fruita Paleontological Area. Rocky Mountain 

Public Broadcasting System partnered 

with the Dinosaur Journey Museum, 

BLM, National Park Service, Colorado 

Canyons Association, and John McConnell Math 

and Science Center to provide activities for 

students from preschool to high school.

Montrose: From April through October 2012, five river rangers patrolled the BLM’s 

Gunnison Gorge Wilderness, Dominguez Canyon Wilderness, and San Miguel River 

Special Recreation Management Area. The river rangers made 3,294 visitor contacts and 

conducted 17 outreach activities, including float trips, hikes, and stewardship projects, with the 

assistance of 94 volunteers who logged 1,350 hours.

Montrose: The Gunnison Gorge National Conservation 

Area hosted its fourth annual Cottonwood Education 

Days, a Take It Outside! event, in the fall of 2012. Over the course 

of 4 days in September, 600 sixth-grade students from communities 

surrounding the area participated in daylong learning modules on 

the banks of the Gunnison River. Students learned about aquatic 

invertebrate collection and identification and took a discovery hike 

to compare riparian and semidesert ecosystems.

EASTERN STATES

Southeastern States Field Office: The BLM participated in the 

Mississippi Archaeology Expo, held at historic Millsaps College 

during Mississippi Archaeology Month in October. The expo was a 

hands-on family fair for school-age children and adults, who learned about the prehistory and 

history of Mississippi.

Lower Potomac Field Station: The Eastern States environmental education program, 

based in Lorton, Virginia, reached more than 5,000 youths from the Washington, DC, 

metropolitan area in 2012. The First Lady’s Let’s Move Outside initiative was also supported; 

students participated in swimming, biking, canoeing, fishing, hiking, birding, camping, 

stargazing, and team building.

IDAHO

Idaho State Office: The Field Inquiry Research Experience (F.I.R.E.) Up program continued its 

award-winning partnership among the BLM, Northwest Nazarene University, Boise Joint 

School District, and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration. In 2012, the program recruited 24 students 

from 10 schools to develop sophisticated maps and 

imagery of public lands.

Idaho Falls: The Upper Snake River Field 

Office developed the BLM Junior 

Explorer booklet “Trekking Volcanoes 

in Eastern Idaho.” It is distributed 

at the Eastern Idaho Visitor 

Information Center.
A YEAR OF 

HISTORY

The year 2012 

marked two historic 

events for the 

BLM: the 200th 

anniversary of 

the General Land 

Office (GLO)—the 

predecessor agency 

of the BLM—and the 

150th anniversary 

of the Homestead 

Act. BLM state 

and field offices 

commemorated the 

milestones with 

many local and 

national events. On 

April 25, the Eastern 

States Office 

marked the GLO 

anniversary with a 

special ceremony 

in Springfield, 

Virginia.

MONTANA/DAKOTAS

Billings: The “Back to the Future with Lewis and Clark” program on 

technology and history was presented to more than 1,000 students 

in Billings middle schools. The Pompeys Pillar National Monument staff used 

William Clark’s journal to teach students about Clark’s visit in 1806. The program 

was held at the College of Technology (now City College) at Montana State 

University Billings.

Billings: Montana Conservation Corps members participated in chainsaw training, then used their new skills to clear out dead wood at 

the Pompeys Pillar National Monument. Following the training, the BLM staff 

hosted a celebration of the national Girl Scouts of the USA centennial for more 

than 500 Montana Girl Scouts.

Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument: Boy Scout Troop 366 from 

Bothell in western Washington State traveled to Fort Benton to work 

towards achieving the Scouts’ Historic Trails Award and 50-Miler Award. The Scouts assisted the 

BLM with several service projects, including two that highlighted the 150th anniversary of the 

Homestead Act.

NEVADA

Elko: The Elko District Office presented more than 200 environmental education, 

interpretation, and Take It Outside! events at both the California Trail 

Interpretive Center and on public lands nearby. Major events included the Truckee River 

Environmental Education (TREE) Days at McCarran Ranch, managed by the BLM Carson City 

Field Office and The Nature Conservancy. Hundreds of fourth-grade students from Washoe 

County and Lyon County attended.

Winnemucca: The Water Canyon third-grade field trip was one of the most popular and 

successful youth partnership programs for the BLM in Nevada. Since 2007, more than 

1,200 students have spent a day in May studying evidence of a wildfire that 

burned through Water Canyon in 2006.

Statewide: The Student 

Conservation Association 

recruited and placed two 

summer youth crews and two 

young adult Conservation 

Corps in Nevada in 2012. A 

total of 28 youths and young 

adults completed multiple 

wildlife- and recreation-related 

projects and accomplished 

a total of approximately 

6,500 hours of service 

valued at more 

than $140,000.
PROJECT 

ARCHAEOLOGY 

REACHES OUT

Through a 

partnership 

between the BLM 

and Montana State 

University, the 

Project Archaeology 

program offers 

basic and advanced 

professional 

development for 

educators 

throughout the 

nation. In June 2012, 

the third annual 

Project Archaeology 

Leadership Academy 

opened new doors 

to educators in 

eight states. The 

first printing of the 

basic curriculum 

guide, “Project 

Archaeology: 

Investigating 

Shelter,” sold out, 

and the second 

printing was 

completed in July.

NEW MEXICO

Las Cruces: On National Fossil Day in September, the Prehistoric 

Trackways National Monument partnered with nine agencies and 

organizations to offer hands-on fossil education stations for all 

500 students of the Desert Hills Elementary School. The monument 

also organized field trips for more than 100 primary and middle 

school teachers.

Moore, OK: In 2012, the BLM, Mustang Heritage Foundation, 

and Colbert Ranch joined forces with Williamson County Juvenile 

Detention Center in Georgetown, Texas, to bring three separate 

2-day camps to the center’s incarcerated students.

Roswell: EcoServants, 

a BLM hosted worker organization, built 

100 miles of high-quality trails for hiking, 

horseback riding, and mountain bike riding at 

the Fort Stanton–Snowy River Cave National 

Conservation Area. The 30 EcoServants are 

primarily at-risk, high-school-aged workers who 

specialize in sustainable trail work.

OREGON/WASHINGTON

Medford, OR: In 2012, the BLM staff 

conducted an interactive, hands-on activity 

at the Bear Creek Watershed Education Partners 

Symposium using the “Build a Healthy Riparian 

Zone” kit to show 300 students what it takes to 

maintain a healthy watershed.

Spokane, WA: BLM’s Spokane District employees spent a week in the fall training 20 students 

from Cheney High School to help lead a science education field trip for 284 fourth-grade 

students from the Cheney School District to BLM’s Fishtrap Recreation Area.

Prineville, OR: A youth crew from the regional Heart of Oregon Corps completed a variety 

of projects implementing local resource management plans. The 22-member crew 

contributed approximately 12,000 hours of work erecting fencing, creating and rehabilitating 

trails, removing juniper trees, and installing signs.

UTAH

Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument: The monument staff 

partnered with Southern Utah University’s Intergovernmental Internship 

Cooperative and Utah Department of Workforce Services to hire young people 

from diverse backgrounds to assist with BLM projects such as fence building, 

trail work, rangeland monitoring, and visitor center maintenance.

Monticello: The BLM joined the Four 

Corners School of Outdoor Education 

for a 4-day Summer Science Camp that 

immersed Utah students from ages 12 to18 

in an outdoor classroom environment 

on the San Juan River. Students built a 

clay model of the limestone canyon and 

constructed and operated a “natural” 

stream table model of the San Juan 

River on its sandy beach.
JUNIOR 

EXPLORERS 

NEAR AND FAR

A new round of BLM 

Junior Explorer 

booklets was 

officially launched 

in 2012. A series of 

booklets on national 

themes began with 

the “Geology and 

Fossils” booklet 

released in 2012, 

followed by “Wild 

Horses and Burros.”

BLM state and 

field offices began 

work on 42 sitespecific Junior 

Explorer activity 

guides, with booklets 

completed by the 

Elko District Office 

(NV), Red Rock 

Canyon National 

Conservation Area 

(NV), John Jarvie 

Ranch Historic 

Site (UT), National 

Historic Trails 

Interpretive Center 

(WY), and other 

sites. The booklets 

are available for 

download on the new 

Junior Explorers 

web page.

Salt Lake: BLM employees and other agency specialists helped 

lead guided field exercises for the Nature High Summer Camp, 

a weeklong, intensive, energetic learning experience for Utah high 

school students, who were introduced to “a day in the life” of a 

natural resource specialist.

WYOMING

Casper: A local college professor worked with BLM’s 

archaeologist in Casper at the BLM/Central Wyoming College 

2012 Field School. Students completed two 10-day field sessions, 

surveying approximately 980 acres for cultural heritage resources.

Casper: Fourth-Grade Frontier Days in Casper featured a wide variety of educational 

experiences including gold panning, visiting a historic general store and school, “mountain 

man” instruction, education about Native American culture, folk dancing, and much more.

Rock Springs: During the summer of 2012, 

students from the Conservation Outdoor 

Recreation Education (CORE) program met at 

the Blucher Creek Campground to build fire rings 

and picnic tables. Sixteen students built two 

group sites. Students were also taught the 

basics of using a compass and orienteering.
BLM/WO/GI-13/011+1115

A STRATEGY 

FOR THE 

FUTURE

The publication of 

the BLM “Education, 

Interpretation, and 

Youth Engagement: 

National Strategy 

and Implementation 

Plan 2013–2018” will 

move the agency’s 

education and 

related programming 

forward significantly 

during the next 

5 years. In 2013, 

BLM state offices 

created their own 

implementation 

plans using a 

common template 

and will designate 

leads for education, 

interpretation, and 

youth programs.

BLM Education Program Participants

State Office

Hands on 

the Land 

Other 

Education 

Programs Total

Alaska 10,814 603 11,417

Arizona 617 7,235 7,852

California 20,093 2,458 22,551

Colorado 262 14,181 14,443

Eastern States 50 1,500 1,550

Idaho 30 599 629

Montana/Dakotas 1,110 3,878 4,988

Nevada 3,412 10,095 13,507

New Mexico 2,924 6,940 9,864

Oregon/Washington 8,491 33,846 42,337

Utah 1,962 8,469 10,431

Wyoming 402 4,233 4,635

Total 50,167 94,037 144,204

BLM Interpretive Program and Take It Outside! 

Participants

State Office Interpretive Take it Outside!

Alaska 67,897 944

Arizona 261,561 6,743

California 1,514,952 2,998

Colorado 24,871 8,822

Eastern States 77,300 9,704

Idaho 27,185 1,958

Montana/Dakotas 24,425 1,053

Nevada 379,943 5,476

New Mexico 164,500 299

Oregon/Washington 385,800 16,325

Utah 165,218 6,235

Wyoming 162,544 14,434

Total 3,256,196 74,991

BLM and Partner Youth Hires

Office BLM Partner Total

Alaska 91 98 189

Arizona 54 191 245

California 204 216 420

Colorado 120 297 417

Eastern States 29 16 45

Idaho 271 100 371

Montana/Dakotas 136 91 227

Nevada 208 310 518

New Mexico 152 74 226

Oregon/Washington 410 541 951

Utah 159 107 266

Wyoming 186 61 247

Fire and Aviation 16 0 16

National Operations Center 20 0 20

Washington, DC 51 2 53

Total 2,107 2,104 4,211

BLM Education, 

Interpretation, 

and Youth 

Engagement 

Program Data

for FY 2012

Data was compiled by the BLM 

Washington Office in the spring of 

2013. More than 700 reports were 

submitted by state and field offices on 

education, interpretive, Take It Outside! 

and youth employment programs 

conducted during fiscal year 2012.

Additional data is available from BLM’s 

Division of Education, Interpretation, 

and Partnerships.

Visit us at www.blm.gov/education.

On the cover: BLM mascot 

Seymour Antelope and 

friends at the Albuquerque 

International Balloon Fiesta 

in October 2011.

Photo courtesy 

New Mexico BLM.