Editing Bureau of Land Management (section)

=== First Trump administration ===
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">{{Cite web |url=https://www.blm.gov/press-release/september-2019-oil-and-gas-lease-sale |title=BLM seeks comments on parcels offered in September 2019 oil and gas lease sale |date=May 30, 2019 |format=Text |access-date=June 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531184646/https://www.blm.gov/press-release/september-2019-oil-and-gas-lease-sale |archive-date=May 31, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</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">{{Cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/chaos-works/591688/ |title=Trump Uses Chaos to Get Stuff Done |last=Nazaryan |first=Alexander |date=June 18, 2019 |website=The Atlantic |access-date=June 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618121603/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/chaos-works/591688/ |archive-date=June 18, 2019 |url-status=live }}</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">{{Cite web |url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2019/03/27/blm-leases-acres-public/ |title=BLM leases 135,000 acres of public land to oil and gas companies in massive auction |date=March 27, 2019 |website=The Salt Lake Tribune |access-date=June 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328210115/https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2019/03/27/blm-leases-acres-public/ |archive-date=March 28, 2019 |url-status=live }}</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">{{Cite web |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-rushes-lease-federal-lands-090041852.html |title=Trump administration rushes to lease federal lands |date=September 11, 2018 |access-date=June 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731005149/https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-rushes-lease-federal-lands-090041852.html |archive-date=July 31, 2019 |url-status=live }}</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>{{cite web |title=Share President Trump Signs Most Historic Conservation Funding Legislation in U.S. History |url=https://www.doi.gov/blog/president-trump-signs-most-historic-conservation-funding-legislation-us-history |website=U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=15 October 2020 |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101044524/https://www.doi.gov/blog/president-trump-signs-most-historic-conservation-funding-legislation-us-history |url-status=dead }} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Trump signs $3-billion-a-year plan to boost conservation, parks |url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-08-04/trump-signs-3b-a-year-plan-to-boost-conservation-parks |access-date=15 October 2020 |agency=The Associated Press |work=Los Angeles Times |date=August 4, 2020}}</ref>

Also in August 2020, the BLM headquarters was relocated to [[Grand Junction, Colorado]], by an order signed by Interior Secretary [[David Bernhardt]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Staff|url=https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-secures-site-western-leadership-office|title=BLM secures site for Western leadership office|website=BLM.gov|date=September 20, 2019 |access-date=16 August 2020}}</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>{{cite news |last=O'Donoghue |first=Amy Joi |date=August 11, 2020 |title=Bureau of Land Management officially relocates to new home in Colorado |url=https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/8/11/21363659/bureau-of-land-management-headquarters-relocated-colorado-blm-grand-junction |work=[[Deseret News]] |access-date=August 12, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Beitsch |first=Rebecca |date=August 10, 2020 |title=Interior finalizes public lands agency HQ move out West over congressional objections |url=https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/511371-interior-finalizes-public-lands-agency-hq-move-out-west-over |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |access-date=August 12, 2020}}</ref> Some ranchers were concerned about the isolation of Grand Junction compared to other Western cities, having limited flights and road access.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Grand Junction is 'darn hard to get to': ranchers split on public lands agency's move west {{!}} Environment {{!}} The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/11/bureau-land-management-public-lands-west-colorado|access-date=2020-12-23|website=amp.theguardian.com}}</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>{{cite news |last=Beitsch |first=Rebecca |date=January 28, 2021 |title=Bureau of Land Management exodus: Agency lost 87 percent of staff in Trump HQ relocation |url=https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/536384-blm-exodus-agency-lost-87-percent-of-staff-in-trump-relocation |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |access-date=July 19, 2021}}</ref>