National Public Lands Day 2008: Site Proposals, Funding Information; DD: 02/29/2008

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240

January 29, 2008

In Reply Refer To:
1114 (172) P

EMS TRANSMISSION 02/05/2008
Information Bulletin No. 2008-034

To: All Field Officials

From: Director

Subject: National Public Lands Day 2008: Site Proposals, Funding Information DD: 02/29/2008

The purpose of this Information Bulletin is to request information on BLM’s National Public Lands Day (NPLD) 2008 site proposals and provide funding information for NPLD 2008.

We are happy to report that for NPLD 2007, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offices once again hosted events at well over 100 sites in 18 states, enlisting the help of thousands of NPLD volunteers. It is noteworthy that each NPLD for the past decade, BLM’s project representation has been at or near the top among the participating Federal agencies; we sincerely appreciate the State and field office efforts that have made BLM’s record so outstanding.

The date for NPLD 2008 is Saturday, September 27, 2008. Our goal for NPLD 2008 is to have BLM offices once again host 100 or more sites nationwide. Each State Office and Center will receive funding (specific amount to be determined) based on the number of NPLD events nominated, to distribute among NPLD sites as the State or Center Director sees fit. We also encourage States and Centers to leverage BLM funding through local partner contributions to enable hosting of additional sites.

We request that once NPLD 2008 sites have been selected and/or approved by the State or Center Director, you provide all required information for each site on an NPLD 2008 Site Information Form (attached). We realize that your NPLD staff (volunteer coordinators, past NPLD site coordinators, and/or others) may have already input project information into BLM’s Budget Planning System (BPS). However, since BLM’s NPLD partners—including the National Environmental Education Foundation and the Public Lands Foundation—require information not addressed in BPS project forms, we must rely on our usual BLM nomination forms to fill in gaps. Please note that sites/projects that have not yet been entered in BPS may still be nominated at this time using the attached form. Please provide as much detail as possible in each section of the form, and feel free to add additional information and site photos at the end of the form, as desired.

Please consolidate your forms at the State or Center level and e-mail them, if possible in one batch, to Bibi Booth (Bibi_Booth@blm.gov) of the BLM Division of Education, Interpretation & Partnerships (WO-172) by February 29, 2008. Funding for NPLD events will be disbursed to State Offices and Centers around the end of March (mid-year in the Budget cycle). At that time, your State or Center Budget Officer will be provided the NPLD 2008 special project code (usually the simple code “NPLD”) and information regarding subactivities against which your State or Center’s NPLD 2008 charges should be made. Please note that accurate coding of NPLD charges is critical to our ability to justify receiving BLM central funding for future NPLD events.

We look forward to a highly successful, productive National Public Lands Day 2008. Should you have any questions, or should you need assistance in site selection or form preparation, please feel free to e-mail or call Bibi Booth at Bibi_Booth@blm.gov, (202) 452‑5093.

Signed by;
Authenticated by:
Elena C. Daly
Robert M. Williams
Director
Division of IRM Governance,WO-560
National Landscape Conservation System

1 Attachment
1 ‑ NPLD 2008 Site Information Form (3 pp)