Editing Bureau of Land Management (section)

==Renewable energy==
[[File:Ivanpah Solar Power Facility from the air 2014.jpg|thumb|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">{{Cite web |url=http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/news_detail.cfm/news_id=12195 |title=US Department of Energy, Bureau of Land Management to Establish Renewable Energy Offices, January 21, 2009 |access-date=January 21, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414175744/http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/news_detail.cfm/news_id=12195 |archive-date=April 14, 2009 |url-status=live }}</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">{{Cite magazine |last=Friedman |first=Gabe |date=August 6, 2014 |title=Sun Land |url=http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/sun-land-solar-power-development |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=November 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129020611/http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/sun-land-solar-power-development |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 2014, 70 solar energy projects covering {{convert|560,000|acres|km2}} had been proposed on public lands managed by BLM primarily located in [[Arizona]], [[California]], and [[Nevada]].<ref name="BLMFactSolar">{{Cite web |url=http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/wo/MINERALS__REALTY__AND_RESOURCE_PROTECTION_/energy/solar_and_wind.Par.99571.File.dat/fact_Solar.pdf |title=BLM Fact Sheet: Renewable Energy: Solar |publisher=BLM |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129020951/http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/wo/MINERALS__REALTY__AND_RESOURCE_PROTECTION_/energy/solar_and_wind.Par.99571.File.dat/fact_Solar.pdf |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |access-date=November 18, 2014}}</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 {{convert|422|acres|ha}} to a 1,000-megawatt parabolic trough system on {{convert|7,025|acres|ha}}.<ref name=BLMFactSolar/>
* '''Wind energy.''' BLM manages {{convert|20.6|e6acre|km2}} of public lands with [[wind energy|wind potential]].<ref name="newenergy">{{Cite web |url=http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/renewable_energy.html |title=New Energy for America |publisher=BLM |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141121222852/http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/renewable_energy.html |archive-date=November 21, 2014 |access-date=November 18, 2014}}</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">{{Cite web |url=http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/wind_energy.html |title=Wind Energy |publisher=BLM |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129020949/http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/wind_energy.html |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |access-date=November 18, 2014}}</ref> In addition, BLM has authorized over 100 wind energy testing sites.<ref name="gaorenew">{{Cite journal |date=January 2013 |title=RENEWABLE ENERGY: Agencies Have Taken Steps Aimed at Improving the Permitting Process for Development on Federal Lands |url=http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/651362.pdf |journal=GAO Reports |volume=GAO-13-189 |page=6 |access-date=November 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207023439/http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/651362.pdf |archive-date=December 7, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* '''Geothermal energy.''' BLM manages 59 geothermal leases in producing status, with a total capacity of 1,500 megawatts.<ref name="geoBLM">{{Cite web |url=http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/geothermal.html |title=Geothermal Energy |publisher=BLM |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129021123/http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/geothermal.html |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |access-date=November 18, 2014}}</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">{{Cite web |url=http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/content/wo/en/prog/more/forests_and_woodland/biomass.html |title=Woody Biomass and Bioenergy |publisher=BLM |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129021220/http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/content/wo/en/prog/more/forests_and_woodland/biomass.html |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |access-date=November 18, 2014}}</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/>