The U.S. Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, as principal stewards of the Nation's resources, manage millions of acres of onshore federal leases for minerals exploration, development and production.

While Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service administers mineral leases on its own lands, Interior’s Bureau of Land Management tends to those on its public lands, those of other Interior agencies and all other federal landholders—including Department of Defense properties on military bases and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facilities; Department of Energy lands; and others.

Through its Bureau of Indian Affairs and BLM, Interior, as trustee, also manages nearly 4,300 Indian mineral leases on 2.5 million acres for Indian Tribes and Allottees (individual Indian mineral lease owners).

Management of the Nation's onshore minerals is a major undertaking and must be accomplished with the highest regard for safety and the environment. Contributing to the scope and complexity of the task are:

• The size of the federal and Indian onshore mineral responsibility; more than 70,000 leases, on 41 million acres, in 38 states;
• The variety of minerals (oil, gas, coal and other solids) and geothermal resources. More than 100 different minerals have been leased and produced on federal onshore lands;
• The diverse mix of private-sector business arrangements which lease, explore, develop, produce and invest in mineral leases;
• Decades of evolving statutes, multi-bureau regulations and legal precedents, which have produced a complex web of rules governing lease administration and operations.

With annual collections exceeding $1 billion, management of the Nation's onshore mineral resources and associated revenues is very important. Many of the individual states, who received a total of more than $541 million in 1999 as their share of the revenues, rely on these funds to provide public services. In many cases, Indian Tribes and Allottees rely on these revenues (more than $160 million in 1999) as operating income.

States, Indians and the American public deserve the best possible management of our Nation's resources. It is important for all of the agencies involved to provide that best possible management.