BLM Battle Mountain District to hire outdoor recreation planner

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management Battle Mountain District Office is looking to hire a new outdoor recreation planner.

The position located in the Tonopah Field Office, but covers the entire Battle Mountain District from Battle Mountain to Beatty.

The application period has been closed and the agency is currently conducting interviews.

The position became vacant after the previous employee moved to another district, said Kyle Hendrix,

public affairs officer at BLM Battle Mountain District Office.

“There has been an increase in workload in this position, in particular just because the increase in public interest in doing recreational events, which is an exciting thing,” Hendrix said.

The Battle Mountain District includes roughly 10.6 million acres of public lands and is one of the largest BLM Districts in the nation

The district has a number of new recreation events, Hendrix said. Some of the newer events include the Rebelle Rally, the first women’s off-road navigationally in the country; Vegas to Reno annual off-road race; and the Tinker Classic, a bike race that begins in Beatty and ends at the Spicer Ranch.

“It’s exciting because we have more people interested in coming out and enjoying their public lands,” Hendrix said.

The position was advertised on usajobs.gov, a website for government positions, where all of the BLM positions are posted. The position was opened on March 20 and closed on April 3.

“We’ve gotten a list of candidates, and we are currently in the process of reviewing the candidates who made the criteria list and moving toward the selection,” Hendrix said.

Some of the main duties of the position would be processing special recreation permits for off-road desert races and recreation activities. In addition, it would involve creating campground layouts and analyzing impacts of recreation events and activities.

“The majority of recreation activities that demand these special recreation permits, the vast majority of them are down near Tonopah or they are in the southern half of the district,” Hendrix said.

Hendrix said those members of the public who are interested in working for the BLM in the Tonopah area should look for openings on usajobs.gov

“We are definitely interested in and excited to have local interest, and we would definitely urge people to make ‘usajobs’ part of their job search routine,” Hendrix said.