[BLM Press Release]
BLM Seeks Nominees for California Desert Advisory Council
The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) California Desert District is soliciting nominations from the public for six members of its California Desert District Advisory Council to serve a three-year term. The council’s 15 members provide advice and recommendations to the BLM on the management of 11 million acres (17 thousand square miles) of public lands in eight counties of Southern California.
The council meets in formal session three to four times each year in various locations throughout the California Desert District. Council members serve without compensation. Members serve three-year terms and may be nominated for reappointment for an additional three-year term. The secretary selects council nominees consistent with the requirements of Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which require nominees appointed to the council be balanced in terms of points of view and representative of the various interests concerned with the management of the public lands within the area for which the council is established.
Nominations will be accepted through May 9, 2011. The three-year term would begin immediately upon confirmation by the secretary. The six positions to be filled include one representative of recreation groups or organizations, one representative of non-renewable energy groups or organizations, one representative of wildlife groups or organizations, and three representatives of the public-at-large (including one elected official).
Any group or individual may nominate a qualified person based upon education, training, and knowledge of the BLM, the California Desert, and the issues involving BLM-administered public lands throughout Southern California. Qualified individuals also may nominate themselves. The nomination form is on the Desert Advisory Council webpage: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/rac/dac.html. Nominations must include letters of support.
Advisory Council members are appointed by the secretary, and will be evaluated based on their education, training, and knowledge of the BLM, the California Desert District, and the issues involving BLM-administered public lands. The Obama Administration prohibits individuals who are currently federally registered lobbyists to serve on any FACA and non-FACA boards, committees, or councils.
Nominations should be sent to Teresa A. Raml, District Manager, BLM California Desert District, 22835 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, CA 92553. For further information, please contact David Briery, BLM California Desert District External Affairs, (951) 697-5220 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Chris, my father was nominated and appointed to serve on the California Desert Advisory Council before his death in 2007. He was thrilled to have been appointed and looked forward to serving. It was the one thing that kept him going in his last months of life. I wish that I could take his place…with his knowledge and skill in working with people from all walks of life. Ann
Let us hope that a worthy individual steps up to the plate.
Chris, I hate to do this to you but I can’t think of anyone more qualified to serve as the “public-at-large”
representative or for a wildlife organization than you.
I think that I can safely speak for a lot of your readers and people who have followed or participated in trying to save the deserts, in that we believe that you would be the one vote for sure to give the deserts a fair chance at survival.
Having said that, it is an unpaid position and most of us are scraping by trying to hang on, and we can understand someone not being able to do this.
But man, your appointment would be a major vote of confidence on behalf of the deserts, wildernesses and their inhabitants, and a major psychological boost to its’ supporters!
I am saying this out of a firm belief that you are the person that is needed at this critical time, a feeling I have felt since I first came across your Creek Running North blog and then almost at the same time became aware of the dangers facing the Mojave from this “GREED RUSH.”
The Mojave and the Ivanpah Valley are in your soul, and no matter what, it is obvious to all that you
will keep looking out for its’ interests.
Such steadfast support is rare in this modern day and age, and very much appreciated by
those who care about the desert.