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THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE FUTURE OF GEOLOGICAL PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT
agencies to assist in ongoing land management operations. The Vale, Oregon district of the
Bureau of Land Management is responsible for the safe management of a plethora of diverse
geological resources. The Rhinehart Butte Community Pit of Malheur County, Oregon is a
source of decorative, silicified sandstone, but has suffered significant damage due to unsafe and
poorly regulated mining practices. In order to produce an updated mining plan that accounts for
the safety hazards present, the minable layer was mapped where exposed & cross sections were
produced to determine its extent within the federally appropriated boundary. The minable layer
proved challenging to map due to a lack of clear, planar bedding surfaces. Fortunately, a
conglomerate lens is uniformly present near the top of the sandstone layer, this feature was used
as a proxy for the true bedding plane. The average strike of this lens was found to be 170°,
dipping 12.5° E. Cross sections and modeling predicted the layer would outcrop Southeast of the
mine location. Further field visits confirmed this. Subsequently, a new mining plan was
developed to mitigate the dangers presented by the unstable high wall of the original pit mine.
The results of this project emphasise the important role basic geology plays in protecting our
natural resources from undue degradation & allowing for their safe extraction. Providing a mine
plan for the Rhinehart Butte community pit mine allows the community to continue to safely
extract resources from federal land. Mitigating safety risks also reduces liability to the Bureau of
Land Management. Placing students in government roles encourages professional development,
allows for constructive application of academic learning, and ultimately works to strengthen the
regulatory agencies tasked with the responsible use and care of our natural resources.