WASHINTON, D.C.—Congressman Paul A. Gosar D.D.S. (AZ-04) issued the following statement after the Biden administration announced it was relocating the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) headquarters from Grand Junction, Colorado to Washington, D.C. 

“The Biden administration’s decision to move BLM’s headquarters to Washington, D.C. is another ill-conceived and out of touch decision by this administration. The BLM manages millions of acres of land, almost all of it west of the Rockies. The BLM headquarters, situated in the Colorado, was perfectly located.  The people managing federal lands should be geographically proximate to the problems they manage.

Those of us who work with the BLM and need the BLM to see and understand the real impact of its actions know that the Western headquarters location was ideal and very beneficial. Only a muddle-headed elitist would think removing managers farther away from the property they manage is better. I look forward to a future where the next Republican President can reverse this terrible decision and bring the focus of BLM back to the lands it manages,” concluded Congressman Gosar.

BACKGROUND:

In July 2019, the Trump administration announced that the BLM headquarters would be in Grand Junction, Colorado.  The following year, the Department of Interior signed an order formalizing this move.  This important step was critical to bringing the agency that oversees most of the lands in the West closer to the people and closer to the lands the agency managers.  One of the most common complaints is how out of touch the BLM office can be. While Chairman of the House Western Caucus, Congressman Gosar led the fight to send and keep the BLM headquarters in Colorado.