BLM staffers face looming deadline to relocate or quit

Thursday, November 7, 2019

The new BLM headquarters in Grand Junction, Colorado, also houses oil and gas companies, B ureau of Land Management

The Bureau of Land Management is expected to give its D.C. employees formal notices of relocation next week. These notices will kick off a 30-day decision period in which employees will be forced to make the decision between moving to offices distributed around the West, or potentially leaving the bureau. Those who choose to relocate will have an additional 90 days to report to their new station.

The relocation is expected to result in many employees leaving the bureau, causing a loss of talent and long-term impacts on the management of public lands.

The letters come after a controversial process that will move roughly 30 positions from D.C. to a new headquarters location in Grand Junction, Colorado. The new headquarters will be housed alongside a number of oil and gas companies. Nearly 200 other D.C.-based employees will be relocated across the West.

Bureau leadership has been hard-pressed to demonstrate that the relocation is in the bureau's best interests, rather than a political ploy to remove career staffers out of decision-making discussions in the capitol, effectively dismantling the bureau.

                            Quick hits
                        

                            Quote of the day
                        

We expect many employees to leave the agency, and, in fact, several already have. The loss of talent at the BLM headquarters will have a long-term impact on the management of the public lands."

—Ed Shepard, president of BLM retirees' group
Public Lands Foundation, E &E News

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Pink hues paint the sandstone in gorgeous light at Labyrinth Rims/Gemini Bridges Special Management Recreation Area. Pic by Stephen Smith (http://sharetheexperience.org). #Utah