Trump administration weighs new headquarters for Bureau of Land Management

Tuesday, June 11, 2019  

The Trump administration is weighing a move of the Bureau of Land Management headquarters, with Colorado being raised as a serious possibility.

Colorado, of course, happens to be the home state of newly-confirmed Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. He brought up the potential relocation at a meeting of the Western Governors' Association on Monday.

And where is that meeting taking place? Colorado, of course.

“I think there is a great value in delegating greater accountability to the front lines of our departments, and we need to somehow find a way to put more resources on the front lines and then organizing in a way that will best serve the American people,” Bernhardt said at the meeting in Vail, The Colorado Sun reported.

Despite all the Colorado connections, the potential move of the BLM is part of a reorganization at the Department of the Interior that began well before Bernhardt came on board as Deputy Secretary of the Interior. His predecessor and former boss, ex-Secretary Ryan Zinke, raised the possibility of moving more people to the "front lines" back in early 2017.

Most of BLM's 10,000 employees are, in fact, already in the field. Only about 500 are at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C., E&E News reported.

The BLM already has a Colorado office in Lakewood, a suburb of Denver. There are also offices in the neighboring states of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

The BLM engages in a number of activities in Indian Country, including cadastral surveys of Indian trust lands. The lack of accurate and up-to-date surveys was an ongoing issue in the Cobell trust fund lawsuit that was settled in 2010.

The BLM is also charged with consulting tribes on issues -- such as energy development -- affecting their ancestral homelands and treaty lands. As Secretary, Bernhardt has ordered the agency to hold off on oil and gas leasing on lands around Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico in order to address concerns raised by Pueblo and Navajo leaders, whose ancestors built communities, held ceremonies and laid their loved ones to rest on those lands.

Interior Secretary Bernhardt came home to Colorado — and the swamp monsters were waiting for him in Vail (The Colorado Sun 10, 2019)
Bernhardt: Not all BLM posts will leave Washington (E&E News June 11, 2019)
Bernhardt to guvs: Expect decision soon on BLM headquarters move (The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel June 11, 2019)
In accidental interview, Interior Sec. David Bernhardt talks climate change, national parks and outdoor recreation (The Colorado Independent June 11, 2019)
Colorado mine’s ties to Interior secretary unsettle tourist town (POLITICO June 11, 2019)
Western Governors Meet To Talk Invasive Species, Internet Access, Water Management (Wyoming Public Media June 11, 2019)

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