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Top career staff at the Bureau of Land Management in Washington D.C. have until today to tell the agency if they are willing to relocate to offices in the West, including the new headquarters in Grand Junction, Colorado. The move, which was planned and executed by political appointees, including Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Acting BLM Director William Perry Pendley, will force career staff away from decisionmakers in Congress. The plan also will cause a massive "brain drain" within the BLM, as the vast majority of staff directed to relocate are expected to leave the agency rather than move.
During a press conference, House Natural Resources Chairman Raúl Grijalva announced that the Government Accountability Office will look into the administration's plans to move the BLM headquarters, assessing how the efforts were conceived and executed. “Our committee has seen no analysis, no planning, no budgeting besides the back of the envelope guesses and a promise that this administration knows best," Grijalva told members of the press.
Podcast: Trump vs. the California Desert
In the latest episode of CWP’s Go West, Young Podcast, Kim Delfino, California Program Director at Defenders of Wildlife, tells us about the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, which is in the Trump administration’s crosshairs even though it debuted to widespread praise just three years ago.
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The current plan by the department is radical, it’s unnecessary, it’s not well thought out. It’s being dictated by political officials without regard for the long-term consequences and will harm public land management for many years.”
