On Sept. 21, the Bureau of Land Management announced that they have selected the office space for their new headquarters at 760 Horizon Dr. Grand Junction, in the same building as a Chevron office space. The move comes after the bureau announced back in July that most of the DC staff would be moving out west. According to the BLM, the new space will house staff, “including the agency’s Director, Deputy Director for Operations and several Assistant Directors.” The agency has posted 19 job listings that will be located at the new headquarters.
The BLM manages 245 million acres of public land, the most out of any federal agency, 80,203 acres of which are located in Colorado. The move has been characterized as putting the agency closer to the land it manages.
Secretary of the Interior and Colorado native, David Bernhardt, said, “setting up the headquarters is another step in providing better service to the American people and our neighbors in the West.”
Senator Cory Gardner has been advocating for the move for two years, calling the move “a historic day for our nation’s public lands, western states, and the people of Colorado” in July.
However, according to the environmental nonprofit Conservation Colorado, “Senator Gardner has voted against policies to protect clean air and water, supported the interests of fossil fuel companies above Colorado’s taxpayers, fought against common-sense laws to limit carbon and air pollution, and helped swing open the doors to America’s public lands for mining and drilling operations.”
A group of former staffers have written a letter arguing that “We are opposed to this proposal and feel it is a very ill-advised move, not only for BLM, but for the sound management of America’s public lands entrusted to the agency’s care.”
Additionally, The Wilderness Society, a non-profit land conservation organization, said in an email to The Clarion that the move is “deeply troubling.” continuing that, “ more than 90% of BLM staff are already in the field across the west and yet the Trump Administration has been directing plans to prioritize energy dominance of fossil fuels over the wishes of communities, like protecting wildlife habitat and clean water supplies.”
Travel each way between the new Grand Junction headquarters and the US Capitol would take a staffer approximately six hours and 45 mins, cost the Bureau $236 and cover 1,915 miles. This means for one staffer to take 12 trips in a year, it would take up 162 hours of their time and cost the government $5,564 in travel costs.
From the current headquarters on C Street, in Washington DC, a staffer could get to Capitol Hill in a 40 minute walk, costing $0 and covering 2 miles.
Whether or not the point of the move was to be closer to the land the BLM manages or to lessen their power on Capitol Hill, this issue will continue to be contentious over the next few months as the move is carried out.
