BLM Volunteers
Volunteering Is Fun!
The Idaho BLM relies on volunteers to help accomplish important work on our public lands. In 2007, over 1000 volunteers contributed to approximately 47,500 hours helping Idaho BLM valued at $926,725.
Volunteers help plant brush after a wildfire |
Idaho BLM uses volunteers in many capacities and with a wide range of skills and interests. You can work individually, or as part of a group, and projects can be one-day commitments or short and long-term adventures.
Volunteers help plant trees |
National Public Lands Day
Each year BLM Idaho participates in National Public Lands Day, the largest hands-on volunteer event in the nation. In 2008 BLM field offices hosted seven events throughout the state to improve public lands near Idaho communities. BLM staff and willing partners picked up litter at St. Anthony Sand Dunes, installed signs at a new campground on the South Fork of the Snake River, repaired trail fencing and signs for a recreation site near Wallace and Challis, and created water catchment basins and fencing to improve wildlife habitat in southern Idaho. To thank them for hard work, volunteers received a free National Public Lands Day t-shirt and “fee-free” coupons good thoughout the next year for admittance to sites managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, BLM, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Volunteers Make a Difference
Beauty Bay Recreation Area is a small, seven unit picnic area which affords a pleasant highway rest stop in the forest off of State Highway 97. A short half-mile trail leads from the area to commanding scenic views of Coeur d'Alene Lake, one of the most amazing natural lakes in the world. The area draws considerable amounts of tourists and recreationists every year, so the site needs to be maintained quite often.
View from Beauty Bay site |
BLM staff in the Coeur d'Alene Field Office maintain numerous recreation sites with few employees, so with oft-used sites like Beauty Bay, they struggle to keep up with the work. Fortunately, a local man and his son decided to adopt the Beauty Bay recreation site. The man and his son frequently picked up litter, cleaned the public toilets, performed picnic site maintenance, ensured visitor registers were current, and maintained the recreation trail. Because of their volunteering, Beauty Bay recreation area stayed beautiful and litter-free, providing a pleasant area for other travelers and local recreationists. Because of their volunteering, Beauty Bay recreation area stayed gorgeous and litter-free, providing a pleasant area for other travelers and local recreationists and allowing BLM staff to focus on other recreation sites in need of constant maintenance.
Great American Clean Up Brings Out Dedicated Volunteers for the 11th Year in a Row
This year, as in years past, over 30 volunteers joined the Twin Falls District BLM staff, the Snake River Canyon Krawlers and the High Desert Back Country Horsemen to clean up yards and yards (nearly 50,000 pounds) of illegally dumped trash from a popular recreation area north of the Snake River Canyon rim near Twin Falls. The area's proximity to Twin Falls makes it a popular area for illegal trash dumping, however, the volunteer's efforts seem to be paying off as the area was cleaner than it has been in years past. Some of the volunteers came back the next day, long after the official clean-up was finished, to continue picking up trash. Idaho's volunteers are the best at showing a remarkable commitment to Idaho’s public lands!
Volunteers clean up trash |
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