Bureau of Land Management

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_the_Interior/uWllgxWx">United States Department of the Interior</a> responsible for administering <a href="/facts/Federal_lands/8ghsUa4N">U.S. federal lands</a>. Headquartered in <a href="/facts/Washington,_D.C./enXPK156">Washington, D.C.</a>, the BLM oversees more than 247.3 million acres (1,001,000 km2) of land, or one-eighth of the United States's total landmass.
The Bureau was created by <a href="/facts/United_States_Congress/mJlU46K7">Congress</a> during the presidency of <a href="/facts/Harry_S._Truman/2E2LmMoB">Harry S. Truman</a> in 1946 by combining two existing agencies: the <a href="/facts/United_States_General_Land_Office/PL46mMx7">United States General Land Office</a> and the <a href="/facts/United_States_Grazing_Service/MheyILIP">Grazing Service</a>. The agency manages the federal government's nearly 700 million acres (2,800,000 km2) of subsurface <a href="/facts/Mineral_rights/UTctHoV9">mineral estate</a> located beneath federal, state and private lands severed from their surface rights by the <a href="/facts/Homestead_Act_of_1862/1jpVyNz4">Homestead Act of 1862</a>. Most BLM public lands are located in these 12 <a href="/facts/Western_United_States/uY9UGAus">western</a> states: <a href="/facts/Alaska/LlDNr2uR">Alaska</a>, <a href="/facts/Arizona/6ayM3swJ">Arizona</a>, <a href="/facts/California/zLW2vdQJ">California</a>, <a href="/facts/Colorado/IgIHrJI5">Colorado</a>, <a href="/facts/Idaho/68ELs9Um">Idaho</a>, <a href="/facts/Montana/jPFKMuK5">Montana</a>, <a href="/facts/Nevada/HNWhCrQv">Nevada</a>, <a href="/facts/New_Mexico/wosJCGaW">New Mexico</a>, <a href="/facts/Oregon/4Uq446Ko">Oregon</a>, <a href="/facts/Utah/te7zUyBX">Utah</a>, <a href="/facts/Washington_(state)/7tCrTFnN">Washington</a> and <a href="/facts/Wyoming/kuKmWryL">Wyoming</a>.
The mission of the BLM is "to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations." Originally BLM holdings were described as "land nobody wanted" because homesteaders had passed them by. All the same, ranchers hold nearly 18,000 permits and leases for livestock grazing on 155 million acres (630,000 km2) of BLM public lands. The agency manages 221 <a href="/facts/Wilderness_area/687q1LGL">wilderness areas</a>, 29 <a href="/facts/National_monument_(United_States)/X36n842q">national monuments</a> and some 636 other protected areas as part of the <a href="/facts/National_Conservation_Lands/LFwcBkgT">National Conservation Lands</a> (formerly known as the National Landscape Conservation System), totaling about 36 million acres (150,000 km2). In addition the National Conservation Lands include nearly 2,400 miles of <a href="/facts/National_Wild_and_Scenic_Rivers_System/ue2QEmDk">Wild and Scenic Rivers</a>, and nearly 6,000 miles of <a href="/facts/National_Trails_System/IjUXH5vf">National Scenic and Historic Trails</a>. There are more than 63,000 oil and gas wells on BLM public lands. Total energy leases generated approximately $5.4 billion in 2013, an amount divided among the <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_the_Treasury/lDmua740">Treasury</a>, the states, and <a href="/facts/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States/lr8Qmd6N">Native American</a> groups.

Bureau of Land Management open-in-new

Bureau of Land Management