Grand Junction, Colorado may be the new home of the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency that owns and manages much of the Western United States.
Sen. Cory Gardner made the announcement on Monday, but it has not yet been posted on the BLM website.
Although the site has been chosen by the agency, which is part of the Department of Interior, it still needs to go through an administrative process that involves the transfer of an as-of-yet unannounced number of employees.
The BLM manages one in every 10 acres of land in the U.S., and approximately 30 percent of the nation’s minerals.
The Grand Junction BLM Field Office manages more than one million acres of public lands.
In Alaska, the agency manages more surface and subsurface acres than in any other state, including 70 million surface acres and 220 million subsurface acres (Federal mineral estate) in a state with a landmass equivalent to about one-fifth of the entire contiguous United States.
The BLM has not yet announced how many jobs will be moving out of Washington, D.C. but more details are expected this week.
They should be moving here, at least our economy would benefit to some small degree from all the lockup of our lands?
With this governor’s closing up shop in AK, what Federal employees will want to move here? You are joking, right Chris??
Many employees are interested in schools for their kids and other govt. services that are fast disappearing here. Shutting down govt. services have serious consequences for everyone IMO.
We don’t seem to want any other kind of economy here Bill. I say make em move here, maybe at least what they spend into our economy will help improve schools and govt services…
This Governor seems to want such an economy but it’s going nowhere with this Legislature, Chris.
Government doesn’t work the way you would like it (make em move here) but that doesn’t mean Government doesn’t try (see Dunleavey’s attempt to move session to Wasilla). The way you would like it would almost certainly mean that government would fail, since it would be almost impossible to keep good personnel.
It’s actually quite an understatement to say that govt doesn’t work the way i like, Bill;) but the employees will in fact move where the headquarters are relocated to (weather they like it or not, weather to grand junction or Fairbanks) or they will get replaced. Also, I’m pretty much convinced the govt has failed already, not to mention, I’m a bit more optimistic about the caliber of talent Alaskan kids possess (as well as Alaskan adults who might benefit from such a move immediately, though i see more upside for the future generations) i think the BLM in particular would benefit greatly with some home grown Alaskan talent in leadership positions.
Chris, while I agree that some employees would move under that circumstance what I was trying to say was that there is not a chance in a carload that government would make such a move with the circumstances being what they are. And it has nothing to do with caliber of Alaskan kids, either.
I presume you’re right about the carloads chances, I just hate being held hostage basically my whole life by an absentee landlord, in violation of the States rights.
Hmm. I remember having to deal with DOI-BLM Administrative Appeals guy or whatever back in the mid ’80’s.
How is this different?
Although I really like a lot of the DOI’s actions recently. Joe Balash used to be my Senator’s, ( back when I had I had a senator), CoS. .
I read the article in the ADN – from the Washington Post – about the move. The rationale for keeping the BLM in DC was almost nonexistent. There is little doubt that the move will change attitudes and ultimately the culture of the agency and for the better. The ‘crats will behave less like landlords and more like public servants. Perhaps the agency will attract fewer entitled Ivy League graduates. Good. It is all good. Thank you, Secretary Joe Balash.
I suppose it will no long go by Bureaucrats Land Management and will now go by its proper name.
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