The Public Lands Foundation is proud to present the 2022 Outstanding Public Lands Professional Award in the Managerial/Administrative category to Jeremy Casterson, Field Manager, Upper Snake Field Office, Idaho Falls District, Bureau of Land Management, Idaho FaUs, Idaho.

Jeremy Casterson has demonstrated outstanding professional managerial performance by leading proactive efforts to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, conserve important wildland habitat, enhance outdoor recreation opportunities, and maintain working landscapes. His successes include the development of the Sand Creek Desert Vegetation Management Plan, the South Fork of the Snake River Fee Program, and the St. Anthony Sand Dunes Special Recreation Area Management Plan.

The key to Casterson’s success in addressing these issues is his ability to develop highly effective partnerships with other federal, state, and local government agencies; non-governmental organizations; and private landowners and to collaborate with them to develop practical solutions that stakeholders will accept.

Casterson’s efforts to develop the Sand Creek Desert Vegetation Management Plan, the South Fork of the Snake River Fee Program, and the St. Anthony Sand Dunes Special Recreation Area Management Plan demonstrate his sustained dedication to make a difference by recognizing problems and opportunities and moving to take action to address them. These efforts were not initiated in response to an application from a project proponent or a lawsuit filed by a dissatisfied party; they were initiated because Casterson identified needs and opportunities to enhance public land management within his Field Office and secured and allocated resources to address them. It illustrates bis strong and sincere belief that by working together, people with many different interests and perspectives can agree on a common vision for a large landscape across ownership boundaries.

Casterson views development of projects as opportunities not only to address important natural resource issues, but also to develop and enhance his employees. His staff have thrived under bis  leadership. Jeremy Caster59n’s philosophy of public land management is rooted in the conviction that when people with different viewpoints and backgrounds sit down at a table, shake hands, look each other in the eye, and then get to work, the outcome wiJJ be constructive.

Because of his commitment to public land management, the Public Lands Foundation recognizes Jeremy Casterson with its Outstanding Public Lands Professional Award in the Managerial/Administrative category for 2022.

Signed: Mary Jo Rugwell, President

September 20, 2022