Department of the Interior
Departmental Manual
Effective Date: 05/03/96
Series: Organization
Part 135: Bureau of Land Management
Chapter 4: State and Field Offices
Originating Office: Bureau of Land Management
135 DM 4
4.1 Basic State/Field Organization. The delivery of the BLM's products and services and implementation of the BLM's resource management mission for the public land are achieved through the BLM State Offices and their subordinate field offices.
A. State Offices (SOs). Within the BLM there are 12 SOs (which are the BLM equivalent of regional offices), each headed by a State Director. Each SO is responsible for carrying out the BLM mission within a specified geographical jurisdiction consisting of one or more States.
(1) Role of State Offices. The SOs provide regional BLM mission direction and leadership; identify the critical regional BLM goals, objectives, and priority efforts under the BLM Corporate Agenda; provide input to national leadership efforts; and communicate the Administration's, the Secretary's, and BLM's priorities and Corporate Agenda to the field offices. The SOs provide statewide policy interpretation; resolve policy implementation issues; and provide leadership in developing, revising and refining BLM policies affecting the State's activities, whether the source is external or internal. The SOs are responsible for communicating policies, priorities, and accomplishments at the State level to the public, the media, State Government organizations, and BLM partners. The SOs conduct interagency coordination with other Federal and State Government agencies, and share resources across agency jurisdictions, when feasible, to support common missions and achieve efficiencies in customer service, resource utilization, and/or administrative operations.
The SOs provide technical resource management expertise to the field offices, and also to national teams and task force efforts. The SOs provide quality assurance processes for field activities and customer service delivery, and evaluate the effectiveness of BLM products and services delivery, BLM's customer service responsiveness, and field performance in the achievement of goals for resource condition improvement on the ground, within their jurisdictions. The SOs provide operational delivery of selected BLM product and service components (e.g., public room operations, land and mineral records and case adjudication, land appraisals, cadastral surveying, cartography and mapping support, criminal investigations, etc.) where economies of scale support efficiency in centralization at that level. The SOs also provide administrative support services for the statewide organization, such as budget management and reimbursable and non-Federal funds acquisition, servicing personnel office and equal employment opportunity operations, procurement and contracting support, and information resource management.
(2) SO Locations and Geographic Jurisdictions. Each of the 12 BLM State Offices has an assigned geographic area of responsibility. SOs may arrange to share resources and conduct activities across these jurisdictions when it supports common missions and/or achieves efficiencies in customer service, resource utilization, or administrative operations.
The SO locations and geographic jurisdictions, in general, are as follows:
TABLE 1
Location |
Jurisdiction |
Alaska SO: |
Anchorage |
State of Alaska |
Arizona SO: |
Phoenix |
State of Arizona, plus a narrow strip of the California side of the Colorado River |
California SO: |
Sacramento |
State of California, less that portion administered by the Arizona SO, plus a portion of northwestern Nevada |
Colorado SO: |
Denver |
State of Colorado |
Eastern States Office: |
Springfield, VA |
All States bordering on or east of the Mississippi River. |
Idaho SO: |
Boise |
State of Idaho |
Montana SO: |
Billings |
States of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota |
Nevada SO: |
Reno |
State of Nevada, except that portion administered by the California SO |
New Mexico: |
Santa Fe |
States of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas |
Oregon: |
Portland |
States of Oregon and Washington |
Utah SO: |
Salt Lake City |
State of Utah |
Wyoming SO: |
Cheyenne |
States of Wyoming, and Nebraska |
B. Field Offices (FOs). Each FO is organized on a multi-disciplinary resource and technical skills team basis, and has full responsibility for public land resource management and the delivery of BLM products, services, and customer service to land users and the public for a designated portion of the geographical area under the jurisdiction of a SO. The FOs prepare resource management plans; make resource management decisions; and issue use authorizations, permits, and leases to public land users for public lands within their areas. The FOs assess and monitor resource conditions and trends, conduct compliance monitoring of land uses and activities on public lands, and provide recreational visitor services as well as law enforcement ranger patrols and emergency response assistance, where needed.
The FOs conduct operational functions such as road and recreation facility maintenance, fire fighting, etc., except where economies of scale warrant centralization at a different level. The FOs serve as the primary local point of contact for BLM's customers and stakeholders at the local level; i.e., local governments, public land users, the general public, and other Federal and State agencies. The FOs communicate the BLM Corporate Agenda goals, as well as the Administration's, DOI's, and BLM's policies, priorities, procedures, and accomplishments at the local level to the public, the media, local organizations, and partner groups. The FOs also conduct local administrative support tasks such as collection of receipts, purchasing, property management, etc., and share resources across either field office and/or agency jurisdictions when feasible to support common missions and achieve efficiencies in customer service, resource utilization, and administrative operations.
5/3/96 #3067
Replaces 1/16/91 #2908 and 09/24/86 #2709