The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior that administers 262 million acres of America's public lands, located primarily in 12 Western States. It was established in 1946 when the U.S. Grazing Service and the General Land Office were consolidated.
Most of the public lands are located in the Western United States, including Alaska, and are characterized
predominantly by extensive grassland, forest, high mountain, arctic tundra, and desert landscapes. The BLM manages multiple resources and uses, including energy and minerals; timber; forage; recreation; wild horse and burro herds; fish and wildlife habitat; wilderness areas; and archaeological, paleontological, and historical sites.
The BLM is one of the top revenue-generating agencies in the Federal government. In 2007, for instance, BLM’s onshore mineral leasing activities generated an estimated 4.5 billion dollars from royalties, bonuses, and rentals. Approximately half of these revenues will be returned to the States where the mineral leasing occurred. The BLM administers mineral leasing and oversees mineral operations on Federal mineral estate underlying other state, private, or Federally-administered land, and manages most mineral operations on Indian lands.
The BLM administers more than 18,000 grazing permits and leases and nearly 13 million authorized livestock animal unit months on 160 million acres of public rangeland. BLM manages rangelands and facilities for 57,000 wild horses and burros.
The 258 million acres of public land administered by the BLM includes over 117,000 miles of fisheries habitat.
Related Links:
Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management - Northwest Colorado
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