Monday, April 10, 2017

BLM base may move west

The idea of moving the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management to Grand Junction drew applause Saturday from a Club 20 audience. U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said the secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, was “very interested” in the idea, though Gardner commented that Zinke might want to move the agency to Montana, Zinke’s home state. Gardner is crafting a bill that calls for the agency to move west to a location with access by air and highway, and in and among the lands administered by the bureau. Grand Junction, though, isn’t called out specifically in the bill so far, only by its specifications, including its central location. If not executed carefully, the idea could be appropriated by legislators from Utah, Wyoming or another Western state. Gardner and U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo, addressed about 100 people at Two Rivers Convention Center during the spring meeting for the Western Slope lobbying and promotional organization. Most bureau employees will be unaffected because about 600 of the bureau’s 3,000 employees work at the agency office in Washington, D.C., Gardner noted...more

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