John’s association with the
BLM began in the early 1960s when he started visiting caves on BLM-managed
public land. He started caving in 1960
and first visited the BLM's Fort Stanton Cave in 1962. When the Southwestern Region of the National
Speleological Society (NSS) appointed John as their first liaison, his
volunteer work for BLM really took off.
John helped coordinate NSS and BLM caving interests, and, under his
guidance, the SW Region of the NSS worked with BLM to inventory, map and study
caves within the Roswell District.
Over the following decades,
John’s caving interests drew him to sites throughout the country, but he kept
returning to his volunteer work with the BLM caves in New Mexico, particularly the
scientifically significant Fort Stanton Cave on the Lincoln
Plateau. This remarkable cave has been
known for over 150 years and currently has about 7.8 miles of surveyed
passages. In 1994, John and other
members of the Cave Research Foundation started a long-term project at Fort Stanton Cave and the surrounding
area. They worked closely with the BLM
and finally, in 1997, after much hard work and long hours by the BLM's Roswell District, the team acquired a digging permit
and volunteers began a serious effort to study, document and map the area. Over the last six years, John and his team
have donated thousands of volunteer hours with six to
seven
volunteer expeditions annually, each lasting up to ten days. Their digging efforts finally paid off in a
major breakthrough into the Starry Nights and Snowy River passages in the Fort Stanton Cave.
John and his wife of 31
years, Dorothy Mae Corcoran, have 3 children: Gavin (26), Carrie (24), and
Shannon (21). All are avid cavers and
have also volunteered their time generously for America's public lands. John describes his volunteer association with
the BLM, “My reasons for being involved in the volunteer work are probably more
selfish than not. They include the need
to somehow return value for the cave resources, mountains, canyons, rocks
trees, and friendships that have added so much to my life.”
Modeled after the highly
visible and successful national cleanup endeavor initiated by President Ronald
Reagan in 1986, the new Take Pride In America was
unveiled by Secretary Norton at a luncheon newsmaker speech at the National
Press Club in Washington, D.C. It will become part of President George W.
Bush’s Freedom Corps.
“By working with fellow
volunteers, young and old, we lend our hands to heal our land, one acre at a
time. And in so doing, we are
celebrating the start of the national, grassroots, bipartisan Take Pride in
America program,” Secretary Norton said.
“Take Pride In America will empower volunteers
from every corner of America to restore and improve our
parks, refuges, recreation areas and cultural and historical sites. The program
inspires citizen stewardship through a bold and innovative public communication
campaign. Outstanding volunteer efforts are rewarded with presidential
recognition.”
With the announcement of the
new Take Pride In America, the Department of the
Interior launched a special Take Pride Web site - www.TakePride.gov - that
outlines program goals and offers ideas and suggestion for citizen, group and
corporate involvement. Interior will
serve as the lead federal department and will enlist the cooperation and
commitment of all agencies in the federal government.
The BLM, an agency of the
U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land - 261 million surface acres
- than any other Federal agency. Most of
this public land is located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, with a budget of about $1.9
billion and a workforce of some 10,000 full-time, permanent employees, also
administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the
nation. The BLM's
multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public
lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such
activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and
energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other
resources on the public lands.
