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Bureau of Land Management

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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than Template:Convert of land, or one-eighth of the United States's total landmass.<ref name="stats1">Template:Cite web</ref>

The Bureau was created by Congress during the presidency of Harry S. Truman in 1946 by combining two existing agencies: the United States General Land Office and the Grazing Service.<ref name="montana3">Template:Cite thesis</ref> The agency manages the federal government's nearly Template:Convert of subsurface mineral estate located beneath federal, state and private lands severed from their surface rights by the Homestead Act of 1862.<ref name=montana3 /> Most BLM public lands are located in these 12 western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.<ref name="cali">Template:Cite web</ref>

The mission of the BLM is "to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Originally BLM holdings were described as "land nobody wanted" because homesteaders had passed them by.<ref name=cali /> All the same, ranchers hold nearly 18,000 permits and leases for livestock grazing on Template:Convert of BLM public lands.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The agency manages 221 wilderness areas, 29 national monuments and some 636 other protected areas as part of the National Conservation Lands (formerly known as the National Landscape Conservation System), totaling about Template:Convert.<ref name="BLMconservation">Template:Cite web</ref> In addition the National Conservation Lands include nearly 2,400 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and nearly 6,000 miles of National Scenic and Historic Trails.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There are more than 63,000 oil and gas wells on BLM public lands. Total energy leases generated approximately $5.4 billion in 2013, an amount divided among the Treasury, the states, and Native American groups.<ref name="stats2">See Part 3 of the BLM's Public Land Statistics, "Commercial Uses and Revenue Generated"</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

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Background

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File:US federal land.agencies.svg
Map showing land owned by different federal government agencies. The yellow represents the Bureau of Land Management's holdings.
File:Simpson Park.jpg
Horses crossing a plain near the Simpson Park Wilderness Study Area in central Nevada, managed by the Battle Mountain BLM Field Office
File:Snake River Canyon edited.jpg
Snow-covered cliffs of Snake River Canyon, Idaho, managed by the Boise District of the BLM

The BLM's roots go back to the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.<ref name="gpo">Template:Cite web</ref> These laws provided for the survey and settlement of the lands that the original Thirteen Colonies ceded to the federal government after the American Revolution.<ref name=gpo /> As additional lands were acquired by the United States from Spain, France and other countries, the United States Congress directed that they be explored, surveyed, and made available for settlement.<ref name=gpo />

During the Revolutionary War, military bounty land was promised to soldiers who fought for the colonies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After the war, the Treaty of Paris of 1783, signed by the United States, the UK, France, and Spain, ceded territory to the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Black, Jeremy. British foreign policy in an age of revolutions, 1783–1793 (1994) pp 11–20</ref> In the 1780s, other states relinquished their own claims to land in modern-day Ohio.<ref name="Ohio" /> By this time, the United States needed revenue to function<ref name="landord">Vernon Carstensen, "Patterns on the American Land." Journal of Federalism, Fall 1987, Vol. 18 Issue 4, pp 31–39</ref> and land was sold as a source of income for the government.<ref name="landord" />

In order to sell the land, surveys needed to be conducted. The Land Ordinance of 1785 instructed a geographer to oversee this work as undertaken by a group of surveyors.<ref name="landord" /> The first years of surveying were completed by trial and error; once the territory of Ohio had been surveyed, a modern public land survey system had been developed.<ref name="White 1991">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1812, Congress established the United States General Land Office as part of the Department of the Treasury to oversee the disposition of these federal lands.<ref name="Ohio">A History of the Rectangular Survey System by C. Albert White, 1983, Pub: Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management: For sale by G.P.O.</ref> By the early 1800s, promised bounty land claims were finally fulfilled.<ref name="war2" />

In the 19th century, other bounty land and homestead laws were enacted to dispose of federal land.<ref name=gpo /><ref name="war2">Template:Cite web</ref> Several different types of patents existed.<ref name="NARA">Template:Cite web</ref> These include cash entry, credit, homestead, Indian, military warrants, mineral certificates, private land claims, railroads, state selections, swamps, town sites, and town lots.<ref name=NARA /> A system of local land offices spread throughout the territories, patenting land that was surveyed via the corresponding Office of the Surveyor General of a particular territory.<ref name=NARA /> This pattern gradually spread across the entire United States.<ref name="White 1991" /> The laws that spurred this system with the exception of the General Mining Law of 1872 and the Desert Land Act of 1877 have since been repealed or superseded.<ref name=varied />

In the early 20th century, Congress took additional steps toward recognizing the value of the assets on public lands and directed the Executive Branch to manage activities on the remaining public lands.<ref name="varied">Template:Cite web</ref> The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 allowed leasing, exploration, and production of selected commodities, such as coal, oil, gas, and sodium to take place on public lands.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 established the United States Grazing Service to manage the public rangelands by establishment of advisory boards that set grazing fees.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="montana">Template:Cite thesis</ref> The Oregon and California Revested Lands Sustained Yield Management Act of 1937, commonly referred as the O&C Act, required sustained yield management of the timberlands in western Oregon.<ref name="ochistory">Template:Cite web</ref>

Establishment and early history

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In 1946, the Grazing Service was merged with the United States General Land Office to form the Bureau of Land Management within the Department of the Interior.<ref name=varied /> It took several years for this new agency to integrate and reorganize.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In the end, the Bureau of Land Management became less focused on land disposal and more focused on the long term management and preservation of the land.<ref name=varied /> The agency achieved its current form by combining offices in the western states and creating a corresponding office for lands both east of and alongside the Mississippi River.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> As a matter of course, the BLM's emphasis fell on activities in the western states as most of the mining, land sales, and federally owned areas are located west of the Mississippi.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

BLM personnel on the ground have typically been oriented toward local interests, while bureau management in Washington are led by presidential guidance.<ref name="montana2">Template:Cite thesis</ref> By means of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, Congress created a more unified bureau mission and recognized the value of the remaining public lands by declaring that these lands would remain in public ownership.<ref name=gpo /> The law directed that these lands be managed with a view toward "multiple use" defined as "management of the public lands and their various resource values so that they are utilized in the combination that will best meet the present and future needs of the American people."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Since the Reagan administration in the 1980s, Republicans have often given priority to local control and to grazing, mining and petroleum production, while Democrats have more often emphasized environmental concerns even when granting mining and drilling leases.<ref>James R. Skillen, The Nation's Largest Landlord (2009)</ref> In September 1996, then President Bill Clinton used his authority under the Antiquities Act to establish the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument in southern Utah, the first of now 20 national monuments established on BLM lands and managed by the agency.<ref name=BLMconservation/> The establishment of Grand Staircase–Escalante foreshadowed later creation of the BLM's National Landscape Conservation System in 2000. Use of the Antiquities Act authority, to the extent it effectively scuttled a coal mine to have been operated by Andalex Resources, delighted recreation and conservation enthusiasts but set up larger confrontations with state and local authorities.<ref name="headwaters">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore </ref>

First Trump administration

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Under the Trump administration, the BLM offered millions of acres of available Federal lands for 10-year leases for commercial development, potentially in oil and gas and mining, with the stated goal of "promoting American energy security".<ref name="BLM_20190530" /> The BLM holds quarterly oil and gas lease sales.<ref name="BLM_20190530">Template:Cite web</ref> According to a June 18, 2018 article in The Atlantic, under the tenure of then-United States Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke "practically gave away hundreds of thousands of acres of open land across the West, leasing it to energy companies for pennies on the dollar."<ref name="theatlantic_Nazaryan_20190618">Template:Cite web</ref> The Salt Lake Tribune reported that in March 2019, the price per acre for leases near the Golden Spike National Historical Park, in Utah were "$1.50 an acre for the next two years".<ref name="sltrib_20190327">Template:Cite web</ref> By September 11, 2018, the Department of Interior was offering 2.9 million acres to be leased to commercial operations including drilling for oil and gas and mining in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and other states where public land is not protected by a national park or monument designation.<ref name="yahoo_20180911">Template:Cite web</ref> The BLM's May 30, 2019 statement proposed an additional 183,668 acres on "lands managed by the Canyon Country, Color Country, Green River, and West Desert districts" that would be listed for the quarterly oil and gas lease sale on September 10, 2019.<ref name="BLM_20190530" /> In their May 2019, September lease offerings, the BLM said that they had "245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 Western states, including Alaska" and across the United States another "700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate" is under their management. The statement also said that these "diverse activities authorized on these lands generated $96 billion in sales of goods and services throughout the American economy in fiscal year 2017" while supporting over 468,000 jobs".<ref name="BLM_20190530" />

On August 4, 2020, President Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act into law, committing up to $1.9 billion from energy development revenues to the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund each year for five years for needed maintenance for critical facilities and infrastructure in national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, recreation areas and American Indian schools. The Act also committed $900 million a year in royalties from offshore oil and natural gas to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund investments in conservation and recreation opportunities across the country.<ref>Template:Cite web Template:PD-notice</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Also in August 2020, the BLM headquarters was relocated to Grand Junction, Colorado, by an order signed by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The relocation was praised by Republican Western politicians but criticized by Democrats as a move to weaken the agency through the loss of experienced staffers, who opted to stay in Washington, D.C.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some ranchers were concerned about the isolation of Grand Junction compared to other Western cities, having limited flights and road access.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After the announcement, 87% of D.C.-based employees left, prompting former lead career BLM official Steve Ellis to state "the bureau lost a tremendous amount of expertise...[of] very seasoned people."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Biden administration

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On September 17, 2021, Secretary Deb Haaland announced that the headquarters would be moved back to Washington, D.C.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref><ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Under the Biden administration, the BLM is working on a pilot project called "outcomes-based grazing", to see if cattle grazing can help achieve conservation, agency director Tracy Stone-Manning said in an interview published in April 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In June 2022, the BLM finalized two acquisitions in Colorado and Wyoming, acquiring over 40,000 acres of previously inaccessible land. The acquisition in Wyoming for 35,670 acres is the agency's largest ever purchase in the state.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2024 the Department of the Interior has begun to advance a new rule according to which the Bureau of Land Management can distribute restoration leases and mitigation leases exactly in the same way as it distributes new leases for oil and gas drilling. The designed land will be used for nature conservation including use of indigenous knowledge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Programs

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File:Public Lands Held by the National Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.svg
Most of the public lands held by the Bureau of Land Management are located in the western states.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Grazing. The BLM manages livestock grazing on nearly Template:Convert million acres under the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934.<ref name="blmgrazing">Template:Cite web</ref> The agency has granted more than 18,000 permits and leases to ranchers who graze their livestock, mostly cattle and sheep, at least part of the year on BLM public lands.<ref name=blmgrazing/> Permits and leases generally cover a 10-year period and are renewable if the BLM determines that the terms and conditions of the expiring permit or lease are being met.<ref name=blmgrazing/> The federal grazing fee is adjusted annually and is calculated using a formula originally set by Congress in the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978.<ref name=blmgrazing/> Under this formula, the grazing fee cannot fall below $1.35 per animal unit month (AUM), nor can any fee increase or decrease exceed 25 percent of the previous year's level.<ref name=blmgrazing/><ref>An AUM is the amount of forage needed to sustain one cow and her calf, one horse, or five sheep or goats for a month.</ref> The grazing fee for 2014 was set at $1.35 per AUM, the same level as for 2013.<ref name=blmgrazing/> Over time there has been a gradual decrease in the amount of grazing that takes place on BLM-managed land.<ref name=blmgrazing/> Grazing on public lands has declined from 18.2 million AUMs in 1954 to 7.9 million AUMs in 2013.<ref name=blmgrazing/>
  • Mining. Domestic production from over 63,000 Federal onshore oil and gas wells on BLM lands accounts for 11 percent of the natural gas supply and five percent of the oil supply in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> BLM has on record a total of 290,000 mining claims under the General Mining Law of 1872.<ref name="blmmining">Template:Cite web</ref> The BLM issues permits for oil and gas, coal, strategic minerals, and renewable energy resources such as wind, geothermal and solar to be developed on public lands.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The total mining claims on lands owned by the BLM has decreased while the number of rejected claims has increased. Among the over 3.8 million mining claims overseen by BLM just over 10% of claims still active, of which Nevada has the most at 203,705 and California has 49,259.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Coal leases. The BLM holds the coal mineral estate to more than Template:Convert where the owner of the surface is the federal government, a state or local government, or a private entity.<ref name="coal">Template:Cite web</ref> As of 2013, the BLM had competitively granted 309 leases for coal mining to Template:Convert, an increase of Template:Convert or nearly 3% increase in land subject to coal production over ten years' time.<ref name=coal/>
  • Recreation. The BLM administers Template:Convert of fishable streams, Template:Convert of lakes and reservoirs, Template:Convert of floatable rivers, over 500 boating access points, 69 National Back Country Byways, and 300 Watchable Wildlife sites.<ref name="outfit">Template:Cite web Template:Dead link</ref> The agency also manages Template:Convert of National Scenic, National Historic and National Recreation Trails, as well as thousands of miles of multiple use trails used by motorcyclists, hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers.<ref name=outfit/> In 2013, BLM lands received an estimated 61.7 million recreational visitors.<ref name="stats">Template:Cite web</ref> Over 99% of BLM-managed lands are open to hunting, recreational shooting opportunities, and fishing.
  • Conservation. The National Landscape Conservation System preserves a variety of lands protected from development.
  • California Desert Conservation Area. The California Desert Conservation Area covers Template:Convert of land in southern California designated by Congress in 1976 by means of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.<ref name="CDCA">Template:Cite web</ref> BLM is charged with administering about Template:Convert of this fragile area with its potential for multiple uses in mind.<ref name=CDCA/>
  • Timberlands. The Bureau manages Template:Convert of forests and woodlands, including Template:Convert of commercial forest and Template:Convert of woodlands in 11 western states and Alaska.<ref name="gaotimber">Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Convert are productive forests and woodlands on public domain lands and Template:Convert are on O&C lands in western Oregon.<ref name=gaotimber/>
File:Calm Before the Storm (8555289958).jpg
Fatigued BLM Firefighters taking a break after a fire in Oregon in 2008
  • Firefighting. Well in excess of 3,000 full-time equivalent firefighting personnel work for BLM.<ref name="BLMfire">Template:Cite web</ref> The agency fought 2,573 fires on BLM-managed lands in fiscal year 2013.<ref name=stats/>
  • Mineral rights on Indian lands. As part of its trust responsibilities, the BLM provides technical advice for minerals operations on Template:Convert of Indian lands.<ref name="blmMinerals">Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Leasing and Land Management of Split Estates. A split estate is similar to the broad form deeds used, starting in the early 1900s. It is a separation of mineral rights and surface rights on a property. The BLM manages split estates, but only in cases when the "surface rights are privately owned and the rights to the minerals are held by the Federal Government."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Cadastral surveys. The BLM is the official record keeper for over 200 years' worth of cadastral survey records and plats as part of the Public Land Survey System.<ref name="surveys">Template:Cite web</ref> In addition, the Bureau still completes numerous new surveys each year, mostly in Alaska, and conducts resurveys to restore obliterated or lost original surveys.<ref name=surveys/>
  • Abandoned mines. BLM maintains an inventory of known abandoned mines on the lands it manages.<ref name="blmmines">Template:Cite web</ref> As of April 2014, the inventory contained nearly 46,000 sites and 85,000 other features.<ref name=blmmines/> Approximately 23% of the sites had either been remediated, had reclamation actions planned or underway, or did not require further action. The remaining sites require further investigation.<ref name=blmmines/> A 2008 Inspector General report alleges that BLM has for decades neglected the dangers represented by these abandoned mines.<ref name="IGmines">Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Energy corridors. Approximately Template:Convert of energy corridors for pipelines and transmission lines are located on BLM-managed lands.<ref name="apps1.eere.energy.gov" />
  • Helium. BLM operates the National Helium Reserve near Amarillo, Texas, a program begun in 1925 during the time of the Zeppelin Wars.<ref name="slatehelium">Template:Cite web</ref> Though the reserve had been set to be moved to private hands, it remains subject to oversight of the BLM under the provisions of the unanimously-passed Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act of 2013.<ref name=slatehelium/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
  • Revenue and fees. The BLM produces significant revenue for the United States budget.<ref name="bisson">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2009, public lands were expected to generate an estimated $6.2 billion in revenues, mostly from energy development.<ref name=bisson/> Nearly 43.5% of these funds are provided directly to states and counties to support roads, schools, and other community needs.<ref name=bisson/>

National Landscape Conservation System

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Established in 2000, the National Landscape Conservation System is overseen by the BLM.<ref name="wilderness">Template:Cite web</ref> The National Landscape Conservation System lands constitute just about 12% of the lands managed by the BLM.<ref name=wilderness/> Congress passed Title II of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-11) to make the system a permanent part of the public lands protection system in the United States.<ref name=wilderness/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By designating these areas for conservation, the law directed the BLM to ensure these places are protected for future generations, similar to national parks and wildlife refuges.<ref name=wilderness/>

Category Unit type Number BLM acres BLM miles
National Conservation Lands National Monuments 29 Template:Convert
National Conservation Lands National Conservation Areas 16 Template:Convert
National Conservation Lands Areas Similar to National Conservation Areas 5 Template:Convert
Wilderness Wilderness Areas 221 Template:Convert
Wilderness Wilderness Study Areas 528 Template:Convert
National Wild and Scenic Rivers National Wild and Scenic Rivers 69 Template:Convert Template:Convert
National Trails System National Historic Trails 13 Template:Convert
National Trails System National Scenic Trails 5 Template:Convert
Totals 877 About Template:Convert (some units overlap) Template:Convert

Source: BLM Resources and Statistics<ref name="monumentsStats">Template:Cite web</ref>

Law enforcement and security

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File:2011-08-04 20 00 00 Susie Fire in the Adobe Range west of Elko Nevada.jpg
Lightning-sparked wildfires are frequent occurrences on BLM land in Nevada.

The BLM, through its Office of Law Enforcement and Security, functions as a federal law enforcement agency of the United States Government. BLM law enforcement rangers and special agents receive their training through Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Full-time staffing for these positions approaches 300.<ref name=green>Template:Cite web<Page VII-135></ref><ref name="blmLE">Template:Cite web</ref>

Uniformed rangers enforce laws and regulations governing BLM lands and resources.<ref name="blmrangers">Template:Cite web</ref> As part of that mission, these BLM rangers carry firearms and defensive equipment, make arrests, execute search warrants, complete reports and testify in court.<ref name=blmrangers/> They seek to establish a regular and recurring presence on a vast amount of public lands, roads and recreation sites. They focus on the protection of natural and cultural resources, other BLM employees and visitors.<ref name=blmrangers/> Given the many locations of BLM public lands, these rangers use canines, helicopters, snowmobiles, dirt bikes and boats to perform their duties.<ref name=blmrangers/>

By contrast BLM special agents are criminal investigators who plan and conduct investigations concerning possible violations of criminal and administrative provisions of the BLM and other statutes under the United States Code.<ref name="BLMSA">Template:Cite web</ref> Special agents are normally plain clothes officers who carry concealed firearms and other defensive equipment, make arrests, carry out complex criminal investigations, present cases for prosecution to local United States Attorneys and prepare investigative reports.<ref name=BLMSA/> Criminal investigators occasionally conduct internal and civil claim investigations.<ref name=BLMSA/> Template:Clear left

The current sidearm is the SIG Sauer P320 chambered in 9mm which is replacing the SIG Sauer P226/P229 both chambered in .40 S&W.

Wild horse and burro program

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Template:See also

File:TuleHorses.JPG
Mustangs run across Tule Valley, Utah

The BLM manages free-roaming horses and burros on public lands in ten western states.<ref name=QF/> Though they are feral, the agency is obligated to protect them under the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (WFRHBA).<ref name=QF/> As the horses have few natural predators, populations have grown substantially.<ref name=QF/> WFRHBA as enacted provides for the removal of excess animals; the killing of lame, old, or sick animals; the private placement or adoption of excess animals; and even the killing of healthy animals if range management required it.<ref name="iraola">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="SterbaRevived">Sterba, James P. "Revived Killing of Wild Horses for Pet Food Is Feared." New York Times. August 3, 1974.</ref> The killing of healthy or unhealthy horses has almost never occurred.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Pursuant to the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978, the BLM has established 179 "herd management areas" (HMAs) covering Template:Convert acres where feral horses can be found on federal lands.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1973, BLM began a pilot project on the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range known as the Adopt-A-Horse initiative.<ref name="Pitt528">Pitt, Kenneth. "The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act: A Western Melodrama." Environmental Law. 15:503 at 528 (Spring 1985)</ref> The program took advantage of provisions in the WFRHBA to allow private "qualified" individuals to "adopt" as many horses as they wanted if they could show that they could provide adequate care for the animals.<ref name="Glover11111112">Glover, Kristen H. "Managing Wild Horses on Public Lands: Congressional Action and Agency Response." North Carolina Law Review. 79:1108 (May 2001).</ref> At the time, title to the horses remained permanently with the federal government.<ref name="SterbaRevived" /> The pilot project was so successful that BLM allowed it to go nationwide in 1976.<ref name="Pitt528" /> The Adopt-a-Horse program quickly became the primary method of removing excess feral horses from BLM land given the lack of other viable methods.<ref name="Glover11111112" /> The BLM also uses limited amounts of contraceptives in the herd, in the form of PZP vaccinations; advocates say that additional use of these vaccines would help to diminish the excess number of horses currently under BLM management.<ref name="RaiaFuture">Raia, Pat (March 1, 2009). "BLM Horses: What's Their Future." Template:Webarchive The Horse. Accessed September 20, 2013.</ref>

File:Wild Burros.jpg
Feral burros in Red Rock Canyon

Despite the early successes of the adoption program, the BLM has struggled to maintain acceptable herd levels, as without natural predators, herd sizes can double every four years.<ref name=QF/> As of 2014, there were more than 49,000 horses and burros on BLM-managed land, exceeding the BLM's estimated "appropriate management level" (AML) by almost 22,500.<ref name=QF/>

The Bureau of Land Management has implemented several programs and has developed partnerships as part of their management plan for preserving wild burros and horses in the United States. There are several herds of horses and burros roaming free on 26.9 million acres of range spread out in ten western states. It is essential to maintain a balance that keeps herd management land and animal population healthy. Some programs and partnerships include the Mustang Heritage Foundation, U.S. Border Patrol, Idaho 4H, Napa Mustang Days and Little Book Cliffs Darting Team. These partnerships help with adoption and animal population as well as education and raising awareness about wild horses and burros.<ref>"Programs: Wild Horse and Burro | BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT." BLM.gov Home Page | BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro Template:Webarchive. Accessed April 27, 2017.</ref>

Renewable energy

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File:Ivanpah Solar Power Facility from the air 2014.jpg
Aerial photograph of Ivanpah Solar Power Facility located on BLM-managed land in the Mojave Desert

In 2009, BLM opened Renewable Energy Coordination Offices in order to approve and oversee wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal projects on BLM-managed lands.<ref name="apps1.eere.energy.gov">Template:Cite web</ref> The offices were located in the four states where energy companies had shown the greatest interest in renewable energy development: Arizona, California, Nevada, and Wyoming.<ref name="apps1.eere.energy.gov" />

  • Solar energy. In 2010, BLM approved the first utility-scale solar energy projects on public land.<ref name="sunland">Template:Cite magazine</ref> As of 2014, 70 solar energy projects covering Template:Convert had been proposed on public lands managed by BLM primarily located in Arizona, California, and Nevada.<ref name="BLMFactSolar">Template:Cite web</ref> To date, it has approved 29 projects that have the potential to generate 8,786 megawatts of renewable energy or enough energy to power roughly 2.6 million homes.<ref name=BLMFactSolar/> The projects range in size from a 45-megawatt photovoltaic system on Template:Convert to a 1,000-megawatt parabolic trough system on Template:Convert.<ref name=BLMFactSolar/>
  • Wind energy. BLM manages Template:Convert of public lands with wind potential.<ref name="newenergy">Template:Cite web</ref> It has authorized 39 wind energy development projects with a total approved capacity of 5,557 megawatts or enough to supply the power needs of over 1.5 million homes.<ref name="BLMwind">Template:Cite web</ref> In addition, BLM has authorized over 100 wind energy testing sites.<ref name="gaorenew">Template:Cite journal</ref>
  • Geothermal energy. BLM manages 59 geothermal leases in producing status, with a total capacity of 1,500 megawatts.<ref name="geoBLM">Template:Cite web</ref> This amounts to over 40% of the geothermal energy capacity in the United States.<ref name=geoBLM/>
  • Biomass and bioenergy. Its large portfolio of productive timberlands leaves BLM with woody biomass among its line of forest products.<ref name="biomass">Template:Cite web</ref> The biomass is composed of "smaller diameter materials" and other debris that result from timber production and forest management.<ref name=biomass/> Though the use of these materials as a renewable resource is nascent, the agency is engaged in pilot projects to increase the use of its biomass supplies in bioenergy programs.<ref name=biomass/>

Second Trump administration plans for significant changes

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The second Trump administration expressed plans to make significant changes the nature of the bureau. On January 28, 2025, Jon Raby was appointed as acting director <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and President Trump nominated Kathleen Sgamma to become the director of the Bureau of Land Management.

At the start of her confirmation hearings before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Kathleen Sgamma withdrew her nomination by President Trump as director of the bureau of land management after a watchdog journalism organization in Manhattan, Documented reported comments she made in a 2021 post to a website about the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Her post read, “I am disgusted by the violence witnessed yesterday and President Trump’s role in spreading misinformation that incited it”.<ref>Brown, Matthew, and Daily, Matthew, Trump nominee for public lands post withdraws after her criticism of Jan. 6 Capitol attack surfaces, The Associated Press, April 10, 2025 </ref>

Directors

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See also

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Notes

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References

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Further reading

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