| Contacts: | Kaveh Sadeghzadeh | , 202-912-7423 |
Public Lands Commemoration Forum to be Streamed Live
On Thursday September 27th, the Bureau of Land Management will provide live coverage of the Public Lands Foundation's "Public Lands Commemoration Forum" from the Black Canyon Conference Center in Phoenix, Arizona. This all-day event celebrates the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the General Land Office in 1812, the 150th anniversary of the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862, and the 100th anniversary of Arizona Statehood in 1912. The Forum will begin at 8:00 am Pacific Daylight Time, and will be available at http://blm.gov/live .
A distinguished panel of speakers will be presenting throughout the day including:
- Sandra Day O'Connor, Former Supreme Court Justice
- Bruce Babbitt, Former Secretary of the Interior and Former Governor of Arizona
- Mike Pool, Acting Director, Bureau of Land Management
- Bob Abbey, Former Director, Bureau of Land Management
Speakers will discuss how the three branches of the federal government have influenced the development of the public lands and public land laws over the past 200 years, including the last 100 years in Arizona, and the importance of our public lands in the future of America.
Other presenters will include:
- Dr. Eduardo Pagán, Television co-host of History Detectives (PBS), Historian, and Arizona State University Professor
- Lisa Atkins, former Chief of Staff for Congressman Bob Stump
- Dr. Charles F. Wilkinson, Historian, Author, and Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado
- Dr. David B. Daugherty, Director of Research for the Morrison Institute for Public Policy.
For more information on this exciting event and to view a draft agenda of the program, visit the Public Lands Foundation website at http://www.publicland.org .
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. 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.