Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
As I was formulating the idea for this Old Spanish Trail Adventure,
I wanted to highlight the youth
that we have working through the ACE program. And one of the things I really wanted to do
was give these youth interns, these ACE interns, an opportunity to step back in time.
It really kinda ballooned into a bigger project than I thought it was going to be.
One of the goals was to have them do it in various different ways.
I love mountain biking. I love rock climbing. I love
enjoying the scenery around me, but it's
that much more spectacular when you can connect
history to these landscapes, also,
and connect with the people that came before
we were here.
The Old Spanish Trail was a commerce trail.
It was a trail to bring goods from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Los Angeles.
The Old Spanish Trail is this route,
it's a corridor, that went through the landscape
two hundred years ago -- so we're not sure exactly where they went.
We know generally where they were
and the routes they took. The Old Spanish Trail and all of our Historic Trails
are an opportunity for us to relive history, and see what our ancestors and
those who have gone before us
have done. Occasionally we will see trail traces
and ruts, and evidence of the Old Spanish Trail but usually it was --
this is the area where this took place,
and we're doing other activities. We're riding our bikes. We're doing Geocaches.
We are riding horses, on other developed trails.
You learned to like people whether you want to or not...
(background laughter)
There really wasn't any tension between the group there wasn't any --
I feel like it was a, a great way to just bring
a group of people together and just have have a lot of fun.
For me, I found out that I love connecting people with
the landscape around them, and the public lands
that we have in Utah. That was really rewarding for me to
share with other people what I
really love, and connect with history
and the landscapes of Utah.
I am Hannah and I'm a...(background laughter) So I'm Hannah
and I'm a paleontology permitting intern through the American Conservation Experience.
So I came into this trip on day 3. I arrived in the evening,
and then spent days 4 and 5 with the Old Spanish Trail
Adventure Crew. And that was pretty exciting for me because
I had the opportunity to read about what they were doing, to read
the Tumblr blog and to see the pictures that were posted to Facebook and
Twitter -- and really
get excited about the Old Spanish Trail. It actually
forced me to do more research before I joined it, which is pretty
awesome.
Definitely not a one-man show, it was a team effort to get all
of this done. Gordo did a tremendous job...(background laughter)
Gordo did an awesome job
you know, he planned this thing from the get-go
and he packed our days full of
activities and I told him, I'm like, you've got to allow time to travel. You've got to allow
time to talk to these
Old Spanish Trail Association members and our experts in the field.
I can't express how impressed I was with all the interns that came along the way
and made our social media posts interesting.
They stepped up, and they gave ideas on how --
how can we make this interesting for the public.
So one fun thing about this trip, was that we were getting live feedback from
people on social media, and they were saying
"hey," with their friends, "we should do this trip," and so that was kinda fun to
be able to inspire people
on social media. You could just see, real time,
the people enjoying our trip. This sort of thing is unprecedented,
at least for the BLM. We took out our phones and our cameras,
and we just told our story throughout the trip.
Five days of fun and exploration
out in the field. I was a little surprised going out on the trail.
We had intended to live tweet and post, so obviously we needed
data coverage in most areas, and I thought it was going to be completely
sporadic, but I was surprised. We were driving through the San Rafael Swell,
for miles and miles, and we had coverage for the most part.
So there's opportunities, you go out on these National Historic Trails, you can still
stay connected if you want to, but it's an opportunity
to set your phone's down and connect with
the land.
This trip was important for me because,
you know, my generation tends to get a lot of their
news and communication online, on social media.
And to be able to communicate with our audience,
and spread the word -- what's available for them
on BLM lands. How beautiful southern Utah
is. What they can do if they just hop in their car and drive a few hours.
This is all available to them, and you don't always get to
communicate that through a press release.
So to be out there taking pictures and posting,
having fun while we were doing it, inspiring others, that's
that's a unique opportunity me.
It was really eye-opening to go out onto
these public lands and see, first-hand, what's out there --
historic inscriptions, old glass bottles -- all these really neat things that I
didn't really know existed out there, and that I hadn't seen before, and
to explore and find those, is something really special for me, that
I would like to see more people do. But, it's important to practice Leave No Trace
and leave those artifacts for other people to enjoy. I found a glass bottle.
That was pretty exciting. It's really pretty and green, and
it's from the 1920s.
so I'm a paleontology intern, but I felt like,
like I was doing some archaeology
with that. For me, it was important to actually get out onto the trail
and understand what it is that the BLM is administrating,
and get intimate with the history and culture of
these trails, and what we have on the land.
And for me, the thrill of being able to do this through the Bureau of Land
Management,
and explore our public lands and our National Historic Trails,
was truly an incredible experience -- very eye-opening.
I learned a lot historically. I learned a lot about
myself as a person, working in the field.
And I learned a lot about my colleagues, who are all
incredible individuals, and that was,
that was a huge highlight for me of the entire experience
It was great, this group went out and
they froze. They got cold.
(cheer)
For this particular projects, we had a lot of support
from management in Utah as well as our Washington Office.
The BLM basically gave our office
reins to social media. This project wouldn't have
been able to be done, if it wasn't for the support of many people.
The Old Spanish Trail Association and the various people that took of
their own time and
talents, to come share their experiences and history. The archaeologists and
historians that were able to bring history to life.
The support of management and
recreation planners within the BLM and the Forest Service,
who came out and shared their passion and their
energy for the Old Spanish Trail and public lands. So it's been really good to work
for the American Conservation
Experience in the [BLM] Utah State Office, and work with managers
that let us take ideas, that we have,
and develop them into products
that the BLM can use.
Final takeaways...(background laughter)
The purpose of the trip was to inspire other people,
and get people cognisant of National Historic Trails
and Historic Trails. They put their own stamp on this project,
and made it something that
was exciting and relevant, and so
this gave trails a new life, with a new generation and it's vastly needed.
This was just a unique opportunity
to go out, and experience these beautiful places, and share them!