Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced they would relocate the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Headquarters from Grand Junction, CO, to Washington, D.C., a move that disadvantages communities on or surrounded by BLM land throughout the West. Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) released the following statement in response: 

“Putting management of lands in the West back into the hands of D.C. bureaucrats will only result in less effective management, loss of economic activity, and even greater mistrust of the federal government. It’s inconceivable that the Administration would ignore the wishes of not only Colorado’s local communities but also those of rural communities throughout the West who are impacted by the Bureau of Land Management’s decision-making," said Chairman Newhouse. "The Headquarters’ move to Grand Junction garnered strong bipartisan support in the House, the Senate, the state of Colorado, and the entire West. This ridiculous notion of having dual headquarters is a display of the worst kind of D.C. theatrics that will only lend to further uncertainty about BLM's land management decisions. The Biden Administration’s betrayal of rural America will not be forgotten. The question now is for Colorado Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper: Will you still vote to confirm Tracy-Stone Manning if she does not commit to reversing this terrible decision for the people of Colorado?”

Background:

On August 10, 2020, the Department of the Interior (DOI) formally established the Bureau of Land Management Headquarters (BLM) in Grand Junction, Colorado. Prior to this relocation, the agency’s headquarters was located thousands of miles away from the land and people most directly impacted by the Bureau’s management decisions. Of the 245 million acres managed by BLM, 99% of the land is located in the West.

Last week, the House Committee on Natural Resources unanimously approved Vice Chair Lauren Boebert's (CO-03) amendment to the reconciliation package that would keep the BLM in Colorado. Learn more here.

Chairman Newhouse and Chelsie Miera, Executive Director of the West Slope Oil and Gas Association, penned an op-ed in the Grand Junction Sentinel calling on Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper to secure a guarantee from the nominee for BLM Director, Tracy Stone-Manning, that she would support keeping the Headquarters in Grand Junction before voting to approve her. Click here to read the op-ed.

In April, Chairman Newhouse joined Vice Chair Boebert in Grand Junction for a roundtable with local leaders and business owners to discuss the positive impacts the Headquarters' move to Colorado has had on rural communities throughout the West, from more effective land management to job creation. Click here to learn more.

Following the roundtable, Chairman Newhouse and Carlyle Currier, President of the Colorado Farm Bureau, highlighted Vice Chair Boebert's bipartisan collaboration with the Colorado congressional delegation and Colorado Governor Jared Polis in an op-ed about her advocacy on behalf of her constituents and the rural West. Read the op-ed in the Grand Junction Sentinel.