This page will be inactive for the next few months due to site maintenance.
In the meantime, visit our new website at BLM.gov to get a fresh look of your public lands!
DOI, BLM Work with Key Stakeholders to Cancel Oil and Gas Leases
Thanks to many years of collaborative efforts, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell joined U.S. Senator Jon Tester, Blackfeet Nation Chairman Harry Barnes and Devon Energy Corporation President and CEO David Hager to announce that the BLM has canceled 15 additional oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two Medicine area of the Lewis and Clark National Forest in northwestern Montana.
“We are proud to have worked alongside the Blackfeet Nation, U.S. Forest Service and Devon Energy to achieve this important milestone, rolling back decades-old leases and reinforcing the importance of developing resources in the right ways and the right places,” said Secretary Jewell.
From left to right: Henry Barnes, Chairman, Blackfeet Nation; DOI Secretary Sally Jewell; and Dave Hager, CEO, Devon Energy Corp at the signing ceremony. Photo by DOI.
Wildlife Question of the Week
Which of the following have achieved milestones over the past year as some of the most remarkable imperiled species?
a) Wood bison
b) Whooping crane
c) Black-footed ferrets
d) California sea otter
e) Wyoming toad
f) All of the above
The Forest Service Is Using Wild Mustangs Trained by Inmates
Outside Magazine, November 12, 2016
Oregon’s Hells Canyon and Eagle Cap Wilderness areas are some of the most rugged, wild land in the Lower 48. Home to the continent’s deepest gorge, the nearly 600,000-acres of federally designated wilderness is managed under the Wilderness Act of 1964, which means no cars, trucks, or motorized tools. To comply with that mandate, the Forest Service’s Eagle Cap Ranger District has always used horses and mules to pack in the heavy equipment necessary to build and maintain trails within the wilderness. But the herd is aging rapidly, and the budget for replacing the animals is small. Enter the wild mustangs. For more than a decade, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has worked with inmates in the Nevada Department of Corrections to train these horses for adoption. Read full story
Wild horses in Wyoming’s White Mountain Herd Management Area. Photo by Jay D’Ewart, BLM.
BLM Finalizes Wind and Solar Energy Rule
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced that the BLM finalized its rule governing solar and wind energy development on public lands. The rule strengthens existing policies and creates a new leasing program that will support renewable energy development through competitive leasing processes and incentives to encourage development in suitable areas.
“This new rule not only provides a strong foundation for the future of energy development on America’s public lands, but is an important and exciting milestone in our ongoing efforts to tap the vast solar and wind energy resources across the country,” said Jewell. “Through a landscape-level approach, we are facilitating responsible renewable energy development in the right places, creating jobs and cutting carbon pollution for the benefit of all Americans.”
The wind and solar rule strengthens existing policies and creates a new leasing program that will support renewable energy development through competitive leasing processes and incentives to encourage development in suitable areas. Photo by Tom Brewster Photography.
Related: Rule codifies BLM’s Smart from the Start approach, establishes a robust framework for competitive leasing, and increases transparency and certainty (Department Of Interior News Release)
In Their Own Words: BLM Honors Its Veterans
About one in five BLM employees is a military veteran, and we are immensely grateful for their service to our nation. In the run-up to Veterans Day, the BLM is honoring its veterans with reflections from some of our own on what Veterans Day means to them.
Mammatus clouds and United States flag photographed at the BLM Idaho Boise District Office by Outdoor Recreation Planner Larry Ridenhour.
Stephanie Bellermann, Administrative Officer, BLM California Arcata Field Office, and U.S. Air Force Veteran
Stephanie Bellermann, Administrative Officer, BLM California Arcata Field Office, and U.S. Air Force Veteran.
My time in the Air Force was an extraordinary period in my life. It shaped me and my worldview in profound ways. For me military service was not only a job but was also a way of life and a key component of my identity. I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve as a member of the Air National Guard. On a personal level, Veterans Day provides a thread of continuity for me between who I was then and who I am today. It also gives me a sense of belonging to the long line of those who served before me and will continue to serve after me. I am proud to have been a part of something greater than myself and I’m thankful that our country continues to take a day each year to recognize the sacrifices of those who served.
FLPMA deserves a party, too
High Country News, November 10, 2016
America has spent the last year celebrating the centennial of the National Park Service. Given that the agency protects 85 million acres — 3.6 percent of the United States — this is a birthday well worth celebrating. But two other important birthdays passed almost unnoticed: October marked the 40th anniversary of both the Federal Land Policy Management Act, or FLPMA (usually pronounced “flipma”), which covers the Bureau of Land Management’s holdings, and the National Forest Management Act, which embraces our national forests. The combined acreage overseen by the two laws amounts to an astounding 20 percent of our 50 states. Read full story
Related: Forty years later, BLM’s multiple-use stewardship still works (The Salt Lake Tribune)
Photo by BLM.
Managing the Grasslands of the Historic Empire Valley
Story by Tana Kappel, The Nature Conservancy
An hour south of Tucson, the rolling, curving foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains give way to swales of grass, newly green from prolific monsoons. A great valley spreads out in the distance, flanked by the sway-backed Mustang Mountains in the southeast. A highway sign proclaims this a “scenic byway.”
The Empire Valley is iconic ranch country immortalized in several John Wayne movies. These days the leading man is rancher Ian Tomlinson, burly, blue-eyed and tall in the saddle. On any given day you might see him riding herd on his cattle, accompanied by dogs and hired hands.
Riding at Las Cienegas. Photo by The Nature Conservancy.
Students Help with Adopt-A-Trout in Wyoming
Story by Brad Tribby, Fisheries Biologist for BLM Wyoming
The BLM Rawlins Field Office has been partnering with Trout Unlimited, Wyoming Game and Fish Dept., and the Little Snake River Conservation District to implement Adopt-A-Trout, a Trout Unlimited program that has been introduced in various Wyoming schools.
High School kids surveying a cross section of the Little Snake River. Photo by Mike Mischke and Dawn Arnell.
Idaho Students Set Sights on Cadastral Survey
Story by Ken Frederick, Public Affairs Specialist. Photos by John Zink, Land Surveyor
BLM Idaho State Office cadastral surveyors Dan Young and John Zink recently helped shape some young minds at a Career Day at Idaho City, Idaho. About 40 students from Idaho City High School decided to check out the Professional Land Surveyor profession as a potential career path. The Career Day was held at the Idaho Center for Outdoor Education in Idaho City.
Dan Young (left) showing a student some contemporary digital surveying instruments. Photo by John Zink, BLM.
