BLM High Desert District to participate in OCTA conference
Oregon-California Trails Association National Convention Aug. 8-13 in Rock Springs
by Bureau of Land Management
August 6, 2011
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) High Desert District (HDD) field offices will participate in the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA) National Convention from Aug. 8 – 13 at Western Wyoming Community College (WWCC) in Rock Springs, Wyo.
On Aug. 8, Rawlins Field Office (RFO) Archaeologists James MacNaughton and Martha Hemphill will lead a tour of the Cherokee Trail. Hemphill will also discuss the petroglyphs and wikiups prevalent in the Powder Wash area.
On Aug. 9, BLM Wyoming State Director Don Simpson will provide opening remarks. Additionally, Rock Springs Field Office (RSFO) Outdoor Recreation Planner Jo Foster will lead a tour of the Oregon-California, Mormon-Pioneer and Pony Express trails and the Sublette Cutoff. Foster will also take part in OCTA’s Western History Day at Expedition Island in Green River, Wyo., on Aug. 13.
On Aug. 10, RSFO Archaeologist Jaci Wells will present the Hiawatha Programmatic Agreement process as it relates to the Cherokee Trail, RFO Archaeologist Patrick Walker will discuss the historic trails in the Atlantic Rim natural gas project and Pinedale Field Office Archaeologist Dave Crowley will present his research on a previously forgotten branch of the Lander Road.
On Aug. 11, Kemmerer Field Office Archaeologist Lynn Harrell will lead the Fort Bridger bus tour of Expedition Island, the historic town of Bryan, Wyo., the Granger Stage Station and Church Buttes on the Overland, Oregon, California, Mormon and Pony Express trails.
On Aug. 12 at 5:30 p.m., the RSFO, in conjunction with Sweetwater County School District No. 1, will host OCTA at a dedication ceremony for the Overland Trail interpretive signs installed at Sage Elementary School at 903 Summit Dr., Rock Springs. The public is invited to attend.
HDD cultural staff will be available throughout the convention to answer questions and provide materials about the BLM’s work along the historic trails on public land.
Members of the public may attend any part of the convention for a fee. Participants are encouraged to make advance tour reservations since space is limited. For more information on the OCTA National Convention and its agenda, please visit http://www.octa-trails.org/calendar.php?eventid=176.
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Editor’s Note: Two people from Pinedale will also be speaking at this conference, BLM Archaeologist Dave Crowley, and Sublette County Historical Society President Clint Gilchrist. The convention will include tours of Sublette County historical sites related to the Oregon Trail (Sublette & Lander Cut-offs), as well as the new 82-acre Lander Trail-New Fork River Crossing Historical Park.
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