Carlsbad, NM – Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne will tour Bureau of Land Management (BLM), lands in Southeastern New Mexico on Friday, Feb 23, 2007. The Secretary will visit the sites of future Healthy Lands Initiative projects and view the results of BLM restoration and reclamation projects in various stages of completion. The Healthy Lands Initiative will allow the BLM in New Mexico to increase the acreage and accelerate the pace of restoration and conservation projects in the Permian and San Juan Basins.
The Healthy Lands Initiative represents a new concept for meeting emerging challenges in managing natural resources with flexible, landscape-level approaches for continued multiple use. The President’s 2008 budget requests a substantial increase of $15 million in funding for BLM to begin implementing the Initiative in six specific geographic areas.
For additional information on the Healthy Lands Initiative, please visit: http://www.doi.gov/initiatives/healthylands.html
| WHO: | Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior |
| WHAT: | Opportunity to join Secretary Kempthorne on a tour of BLM lands in Southeastern New Mexico that will be restored under the Healthy Lands Initiative. Secretary Kempthorne will be available for questions immediately following the tour. |
| WHEN: | Friday, February 23, 2007 9:30 a.m. (Please arrive no later than 9:15 a.m.) |
| WHERE: | The Tour Bus will depart from the Best Western Stevens Inn 1829 Canal Street Carlsbad, New Mexico |
| NOTE TO MEDIA: | All credentialed members of the news media are invited to attend. We ask that any members of the media planning to attend RSVP to Hans Stuart at 505-438-7510 no later than5:00 p.m. on January 22, 2007. Please bring photo ID and proof of media organization. You should arrive at the Canal Street Best Western no later than 9:15 a.m. and will return to that location at approximately 1:00 p.m. |