BLM to Move Headquarters to Colorado

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced plans to move its headquarters from Washington, DC, to Grand Junction, Colorado, so top officials can be closer to the land managed by the agency. The BLM oversees approximately 388,000 square miles of public land, almost all of which is located in 12 Western states. While the BLM has nearly 10,000 employees, most of them are already located somewhere other than DC; some 400 employees work in the nation’s capital. Proponents of the move say it makes geographical and fiscal sense for the BLM to be headquartered in the West, while detractors argue it will remove the agency from DC oversight and allow for increased influence from business interests.