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Show Carnegie Medal awarded to area BLM employees Acts of heroism, which have been credited with saving a fellow worker's life, have resulted re-sulted in the Carnegie Medal being awarded two Bureau of Land Management employees in Monticello, Utah. The medals and monetary grants of one thousand dollars each have been awarded to Lester P. Sweeney, area manager man-ager for the BLM San Juan Resource Area, and Steven Wing, outdoor recreation specialist spe-cialist in the Moab BLM District. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission of Pittsburgh, Pitts-burgh, Penn., made the awards. Sweeney and Wing received the recognition for risking their lives while rescuing res-cuing BLM Grand Gulch ranger ran-ger Steve Rivas on Septem ber 24, 1974. Rivas and his wife, Voni, were hiking in a remote area of San Juan County called "Road Canyon" about 12 miles southeast of the BLM Kane Gulch Ranger Station when at midday overhead rocks fell on them. Voni was able to free herself, but a large boulder weighing several tons had pinned her husband's right leg in a very precarious position. She then hiked and drove to the ranger station for help, arriving there nearly four hours later. Rangers called the BLM district office and the rescue operation began. Sweeney was the first to find Rivas. The BLM ranger was trapped in a rather small area among many large bould- ers which had broken loose from the main ridge forming a sort of alcove or cave. The ceiling was fractured and other loose rocks appeared ready to fall. After several attempts by the rescue party failed to free Rivas, Sweeney devised a plan to free the trapped man by building a platform of rocks under the precariously positioned boulder to keep it from moving and crushing Rivas while being jacked up. The idea worked with Rivas being freed at 9:20 p.m. He was then flown by helicopter to the San Juan County Hospital. Eight days later, Rivas' leg was amputated due to complications of gangrene. He spent three weeks in the intensive care unit of a Salt Lake hospital, during which time he was near death several sever-al times. Since the resuce, BLM employees em-ployees Sweeney, Wing and Robert Dallas have received Valor Awards from the Department De-partment of Interior for their efforts in the rescue. Rivas, since his hospitalization, hospitaliza-tion, has left BLM and now resides in Salt Lake City. |