Job Opportunity

Program Associate, Public Lands Policy
Posted March 22, 2010

Position Details

Type: Full Time
Offered By: National Trust for Historic Preservation, Office of Public Policy, Washington, DC
Salary: Exemp

For More Information
50459-CS-815@nthp.hrmdirect.com

Coordinate federal public lands policy agenda to protect and fund historic and cultural resources on lands managed by the federal land managing agencies with an emphasis on the Bureau of Land Management and the National Landscape Conservation System. Work closely with Program Manager for Public Lands Policy in Washington, DC and with the Mountains/Plains regional office and the Law Department. The position is located in the Public Policy Office, reports to the Program Manager for Public Lands Policy and coordinates all Congressional work with the Director of Congressional Affairs.

This is a full time, grant funded position eligible for benefits. Filling of this position will be subject to receipt of the initial grant, and then continuation of the position will be contingent upon annual renewal of funding.

Duties

• Educate Congress and the Administration on the need to preserve and fund historic and cultural resources on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management with an emphasis on the National Landscape Conservation System.
• Advocate for expansion, improved management and increased funding (including budget clarity) of the National Landscape Conservation System. Work closely with other organizations supporting the National Landscape Conservation System and co-lead efforts to increase funding for the Conservation System.
• Work with National Trust's Public Lands Team to continue the cultivation and support of the Cultural Resources Preservation Coalition, and provide general support for overall Public Lands Team goals as assigned.

Qualifications

• Minimum of two years of Congressional legislative or advocacy experience.
• Ability to work well with a team and with a diverse network of organizations.
• Strong written and public communications skills required.
• Willingness and flexibility to travel.
• Experience with and knowledge of public lands issues strongly preferred.

How to Apply

To apply please include your cover letter in the body of a message and email your resume as a Word of PDF attachment to 50459-CS-815@nthp.hrmdirect.com

Looking for Old Barns

American History magazine has a back-page department entitled "Save This Old Barn." The feature is used to showcase historic American barns in need of saving -- barns that may otherwise fall down, be torn down, etc. The owner of these old barns must be willing to donate them to someone willing to move and restore them. The page itself has a photo of the barn, historic details, the barn's location, the $1 asking price and the owner's contact information. Interested parties would then contact the owner directly.

The Alliance for Historic Wyoming has been asked to distribute this information to any barn owners who might be interested in participating in this project. If you have such a barn or know someone who might, please get in touch with the contact information below. This is an on-going project of American History magazine so no deadline.

For more info, contact:
Lora Homeyer
American History magazine
Weider History Group
703-779-8370

Ames Monument Talk

WESTERNERS INTERNATIONAL, CHEYENNE CORRAL
Thursday, April 15, 2010

“The Lonely Pyramid on Sherman Hill"
ANNA LEE AMES FROHLICH

This is a look at the 60-foot-high Ames Monument located in what was once Sherman, WY. This slideshow will explore the history of the monument itself, the area where it is located, and the family history of Oakes and Oliver Ames to whom it is dedicated. Their stories tell of a great construction project that shaped the future history of our country, the transcontinental railroad. Oliver Ames was the president of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1866 to 1871; Oakes Ames was a strong advocate for the Union Pacific in Congress from 1863 to 1873. Their combined efforts culminated in the driving of the Golden Spike at Promontory Point, Utah in 1869.

Anna Lee Ames Frohlich, the Great-great-great-granddaughter of Oakes Ames, is loving her recently found role as a researcher. She has been encouraged and helped by friends in Denver Westerners, railroad aficionados from Wyoming, and the many other history buffs that she has met along the way. Access to the Ames Collection in the Industrial Department at Stonehill College, North Easton, MA has been of special help.

The dinner and program will be held at HOLIDAY INN, CHEYENNE I-80. From the junction of I-80 and I-25 in Cheyenne, WY take I-80W to the EAST toward Omaha, take Exit #362 (Central Ave.) make Right, then Right on Fox Farm Road. Hotel on Right. 1-307-638-4466.

COST - $20.00
6:00 P.M. - SOCIAL HOUR & COCKTAILS
6:30 - DINNER
7:20 - PROGRAM

RSVP by Mon., April 12

To make RESERVATIONS call Anna Lee at 303-989-2339 (answering machine o.k.) or email her at annaleeames@comcast.net. Specify whether you would like TROUT ALMANDINE or MEAT LASAGNA for dinner. Or you can email Peg Kolstrud at bear100@bresnan.net and specify that you are Anna Lee's guest.

Lander BLM to host RMP Open House

BLM Hosts Open House for Lander
Resource Management Plan

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lander Field Office will host an open house on Wednesday, March 31, from 4-7 p.m., at the Carnegie Room in the Fremont County Library in Lander.

The open house will provide the public an opportunity to meet the BLM employees who are working with cooperating state and local agencies to develop a revised Resource Management Plan (RMP) for public lands in the Lander Field Office area. This RMP will govern how the Greater South Pass Historic Landscape is managed for years to come.

BLM and cooperating agencies have been working together on this project for the past two years. Public input, provided at meetings and through written comments, has been integral to the process. To keep the public informed, the field office website is updated with reports and summaries produced throughout the RMP process.

The Fremont County Library is located at 200 Amoretti Street in Lander. For more information, please contact RMP Project Lead Kristin Yannone at 307-332-8400. Visit the Lander website for the most current RMP information.

Conservation easements

One of my students posted this on our course website. Note the "project sponsors" at the end of the article. I assume this was a mitigation project, although they don't come out and say it. Is anyone familiar with the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative? Is this the state chapter of the national initiative that we're involved in?

Diamond H Ranch donates easement
By JEFF GEARINO - Southwest Wyoming bureau | Posted: Thursday, February 25, 2010

GREEN RIVER -- A portion of a century-old cattle ranch in southwest Wyoming will be preserved under a conservation easement, according to Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials.

Green River Regional Office spokeswoman Lucy Wold said the department worked with a variety of partners to secure a 2,400-acre conservation easement with the Diamond H Ranch located near Kemmerer in Lincoln County. The commercial Hereford cattle ranch is owned by Myles, Corby, Michael and Rachel McGinnis.

The Diamond H Ranch dates back to 1886 and includes 7,200 deeded acres and 110,000 acres of leases on Bureau of Land Management and National Forest lands.
Game and Fish habitat biologist Ron Lockwood said discussions with the ranch owners about the easement had been ongoing since 2008.

He said the easement -- which holds several permanent streams that support populations of various fish species including Colorado River cutthroat trout -- should protect multiple wildlife habitats and will benefit many wildlife species.
"The Diamond H has important conservation values with unique topographic formations and open scenic vistas of great importance to the local ranching community and the public," Lockwood said this week in a media release. The easement acreage includes crucial winter range and yearlong range for elk, deer, moose, sage grouse and antelope.

Lockwood said the agency has also documented antelope movement through the area to summer ranges to the north, making the easement an important migration corridor.
He said the easement is particularly important because lands directly adjacent to the property are being subdivided for other uses. "This conservation easement will secure long-term protection of these habitats from subdivision and will ensure a viable livestock operation and wildlife habitat in the future," he said.

Landowner award
Lockwood said the McGinnis family and the Diamond H Ranch were the recipients of the Game and Fish's 2009 Landowner of the Year Award for the Green River region.
He said Corby McGinnis also serves as the chairperson for the Southwest Sage Grouse Working Group. "The McGinnises have a full understanding that conserving and enhancing all habitats benefit not only wildlife, but their ranching operation as well," Lockwood said. He noted although public access was not included in the conservation easement, which is generally the case for this type of easement, hunting and fishing on the Diamond H Ranch is allowed with landowner permission.

Other project partners include the Jonah Interagency Reclamation and Mitigation Office, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Conservation Fund, the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust Fund, the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative, the Game and Fish Habitat Trust Fund, the Wyoming Governor's Big Game License Coalition, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Women's History Month at Trails Center

On March 9, the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center (NHTIC) will celebrate Women’s History month with the opening of a temporary exhibit,“In Pursuit of Equality,” on loan from the American Heritage Center.

This exhibit tells the story of three women who, through their actions as elected office holders, challenged and changed the conventional understanding of equality in Wyoming during the 20th century: Nellie Tayloe Ross, Thyra Thomson, and Elizabeth Byrd.

Wyoming is a state with a long history of equality. In 1869, Governor John Campbell signed into law a bill giving women the right to vote and hold elective office. The following year Esther Hobart Morris was appointed the first female Justice of the Peace in South Pass City. In 1894, Estelle Reel was the first woman in America elected to a statewide office, as Wyoming’s Superintendant of Public Instruction. By the turn of the century Wyoming was recognized as the Equality State due in large part to these and other important historical firsts.

The legacy continued in 1925 with the election of Nellie Tayloe Ross (featured in the exhibit) as Wyoming’s 13th governor and the first woman governor in the United States. She held office until being narrowly defeated in the election of 1926.

Nearly 40 years after the successful election of Mrs. Ross, Thrya Thomson ran for Wyoming’s Secretary of State. Mrs. Thompson was successfully reelected five times to office. While in office, Mrs. Thompson successfully pursued the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in the Wyoming Senate in 1973.

The third influential woman featured in the exhibit, Elizabeth Byrd, was the first African-American to serve in the Wyoming Legislature. Mrs. Byrd worked diligently for Martin Luther King Jr. Day to be recognized, as well as aiding in the passing of laws to enforce child safety restraints, provide handicapped parking, and create social services for adults.

The exhibit will be on display from March 9, 2010 through early April 2010.

For further information please contact the NHTIC at (307) 261-7780.