Bureau of Land Management Ely District Manager Michael Herder has announced that Alicia Styles of the Caliente Field office, has been selected to be the manager of the new Basin and Range National Monument.
She has been serving as the acting manager since last October. For the past 10 years, she has served in the Caliente office as a wildlife biologist, Herder noted in the press release put out by the BLM. “Alicia’s ability to engage diverse interests and reach resolution on difficult issues in a timely manner makes her the ideal individual for this position.”
Styles told the Record in a telephone interview she has been in the Caliente office for quite a while and “wanted to try out something new, a different perspective, and an opportunity to advance in the organization.”
She and her family will not have to move to Ely, as she said all of the monument staff is based out of the Caliente field office. “That was something else that made it a viable opportunity, because I am not looking to move and relocate my family.”
As the acting manager she said, “It gave me a feel for what the full job would be like before I applied for it.” Her expanded duties will continue to coordinate with local, state and federal elected and government officials, Native American tribes, BLM advisory councils, local residents, and other key stakeholders to plan the future of the over 700,000-acre monument with “maximum public involvement,” as directed by the President’s proclamation order of July 10, 2015.
Styles said the proclamation calls for creation of a management plan by 2018, “and basically it will be a stand-alone resource management plan,” but said she did not know as yet, what kind of, if any, infrastructure would be created at the monument. “Anything we do has to be consistent with the proclamation.”
A Basin and Range Monument website, including a printable map of the area, is available at http://on.doi.gov/1LT79wP.
