{"id":39948,"date":"2022-06-18T01:12:13","date_gmt":"2022-06-18T07:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-county-resident-named-blm-colorado-volunteer-of-the-year\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:52:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:52:36","slug":"montezuma-county-resident-named-blm-colorado-volunteer-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-county-resident-named-blm-colorado-volunteer-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma County resident named BLM Colorado volunteer of the year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Montezuma
Montezuma County resident Larry Keller was awarded the 2022 BLM Colorado Volunteer of the Year award for his contributions to the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. (Courtesy Bureau of Land Management)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The Bureau of Land Management Tres Rios Field Office announced that Larry Keller of Lewis is the recipient of 2022 BLM Colorado Volunteer of the Year Award.<\/p>\n

Keller donates his time and skills at Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and its museum in Dolores.<\/p>\n

The award is presented annually to a volunteer in Colorado who goes above and beyond to support the BLM.<\/p>\n

\u201cVolunteers are essential for the BLM to achieve our mission of sustaining the health, diversity, and productivity of America\u2019s public lands,\u201d said acting BLM State Director Stephanie Connolly in a news release. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to recognize Keller for his dedication, scholarship, enthusiasm, and hard work on our heritage resources in the museum and on the monument.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keller\u2019s work cataloging several important collections is equivalent to 1\u00bd years of a full-time employee, or $89,216 in value added to the BLM.<\/p>\n

His contributions ensure that important artifacts and specimens are properly cared for and preserved in a manner consistent with federal policy. He also spends time educating visitors about the monument and archaeology.<\/p>\n

Keller has volunteered for the BLM since 2010 and has contributed more than 3,100 hours of his time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I wanted to spend my retirement giving back to the community, and I believe in the BLM\u2019s mission,\u201d said Keller surrounded by his friends and colleagues at a celebration in his honor June 8. \u201cI want to thank my wife, who, with some convincing, supported our move to Cortez so we could pursue this dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Larry
Larry Keller teaches young students at the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Visitor Center and Museum. He was named BLM Colorado Volunteer of the Year for 2022.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Larry is a retired attorney and has also volunteered in the lab at Crow Canyon Archaeology Center in Cortez since 2010.<\/p>\n

The BLM works with thousands of volunteers who offer their time, skills, and service to help care for the nation\u2019s natural and cultural resources.<\/p>\n

Volunteers contribute to many BLM program areas, including recreation, wild horses and burros, cultural and historical resources, and environmental education.<\/p>\n

More information about how you can get involved volunteering for the BLM in Colorado visit www.blm.gov\/get-involved\/volunteers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

dedicates his retirement volunteering for Canyons of the Ancients National Monument<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[44,28,29,195],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-39948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-u-s-bureau-of-land-management"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39948"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84495,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39948\/revisions\/84495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39948"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=39948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}