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Recognizing outstanding work in support of BLM programs, the Bureau of Land Management New Mexico State Director Jesse Juen presented Arizona’s Friends of the Agua Fria National Monument with the BLM’s 2014 “Public Lands Partnership Excellence” Award. The Friends group was selected among eight BLM partnerships nominated by the BLM State Offices.

The Public Lands Partnership Excellence Award is presented biannually and recognizes an interpretive association or friends group that has a formal assistance agreement with the BLM and has demonstrated exceptional support for the agency’s interpretive, educational, and/or public outreach programs. BLM partnerships were judged on their contributions to enhancing public awareness and understanding of the public lands and providing diverse programs and products.

“The BLM’s partnership with the Friends of the Agua Fria National Monument has been invaluable to increasing local community involvement and promoting land stewardship within the Monument and beyond,” BLM New Mexico State Director Jesse Juen said at an awards ceremony in Albuquerque, New Mexico today.

The award was presented during the annual convention of the Association of Partners For Public Lands—the umbrella organization for interpretive associations and friends groups that have formal agreements with federal and state agencies.

Friends of the Agua Fria National Monument have shown superior dedication in support of the BLM’s efforts to protect the Monument’s valuable natural and cultural resources. The BLM and volunteers have worked to enhance the Monuments outstanding values and cultural objects. In 2013, mapping efforts helped to preserve instream water flow on nearly 50 miles of the Agua Fria River. And volunteers and the BLM staff have also worked together to conduct surveys at archaeological sites and document cultural and historic resources.