Banishing the few BLM staffers who work in DC a bad move for land, people and animals

You may not know it, but you own a big chunk of the West — 245 million acres, in fact.

They are the public lands, owned by all Americans and cared for by the Bureau of Land Management, an agency in the Department of the Interior.

In New Mexico and neighboring Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, BLM manages 13.5 million acres of land and 27 million acres of minerals. Public land is vital to those in our states who love the outdoors and those who depend on the land for their living.

They’re valuable lands. They provide places for recreation, sources of energy, rangeland for livestock grazing and homes to thousands of species of plants and wildlife. The land ranges in character from desert canyon lands in the Southwest to Arctic tundra in Alaska. There is no comparable system of public land ownership in the world. And it’s a system in trouble. Politically appointed leaders in the BLM and DOI are quietly dismantling the agency’s core in Washington, D.C. With little or no public comment, no sound financial analysis and skirting the intent of Congress, more than 150 people who work in Washington, D.C., have received notice that their jobs will be relocated in scattered western locations over the next few months.

The choice for them is stark: Accept the reassignment or be terminated.

Aside from the lack of compassion and consideration shown the employees, there are other serious problems with this illthought plan.

Without representation in Washington, D.C., the BLM will lose its ability to work closely with Congress, other resource agencies, industry, conservation groups and other stakeholders. The drain of talent and experience will be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. The intention of DOI Secretary David Bernhardt is clear: Weaken BLM to the point where decisions about public land – your public land – are controlled by special interests and not the public interest.

Bernhardt says that land-use decisions should be made by people in the West who are most affected by them. I agree. But that overlooks the fact that 97 percent of BLM employees already work in western states, and that all land-use decisions are prepared, approved and put into practice at the local level. Perhaps more than any other resource agency, BLM is attuned to local needs and customs.

I know about BLM firsthand. I worked in BLM New Mexico in three different offices and served as the state director in New Mexico Region for three years. I spent my career trying to ensure the best and most equitable decisions were made regarding natural resources. The threat posed by this transfer of BLM’s headquarters’ function is real and the consequences will be devastating and perhaps irreversible.

As an example, BLM New Mexico worked with a diverse group of business and conservation interests to prepare a new Draft Resource Management Plan four years ago to balance the critical and burgeoning energy development needs within the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico in concert with the amazing natural, recreational and working landscapes of the Chihuahuan Desert. This was the normal day-to-day responsibility of local staff, managers and state director. But now the Department of Interior is spearheading the development of a new plan from its level and has not engaged industry, local landowners, local communities, state and federal agency partners or the public. The Department of Interior is 1,785 miles away from Carlsbad and has no intent of having decisions made by people in New Mexico who are most affected, or anywhere else in the West for that matter. This strategy is detrimental to our public resources, users of our public lands and our local rural economies, and will more than likely end up placing a decision in the hands of a court.

BLM’s budget is controlled by Congress. A Dec. 20 funding deadline looms. It’s time for you to speak up and let your Congressional representatives know that this misguided and foolish move must be halted before it’s too late.

You have 245 million reasons to get involved. These are your lands. Let’s work together to keep them that way.