BLM offices receive award

It’s not every day that a federal agency receives an award from a conservation group, but in late 2013 two Bureau of Land Management field offices in northwestern Colorado did just that.

Once each year, the Wilderness Society, a national environmental organization dedicated to protecting wilderness, gives out Comparative Analysis of Particular Excellence — or CAPE — awards to deserving BLM field offices across the country.

The awards, announced in mid-December, are based on a rating system, ranging from one cape on the low end to the highest award of five capes. They honor BLM conservation efforts and leadership as well as the agency’s ability to balance multiple uses of the nation’s public lands.

“Basically, they’re the Wilderness Society’s annual recognition of innovative or exceptional work by the BLM,” said Soren Jesperson, Wilderness Society planning and policy representative in Craig.

Kent Walter, field manager of BLM’s White River Field Office in Meeker, and Wendy Reynolds, his counterpart at the Little Snake Field Office in Craig, shared a four-cape award for their inventories of lands with wilderness characteristics.

“It’s always great to be acknowledged for a job well done,” Walter said. “It’s an honor, and we appreciate it.”