GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The Bureau of Land Management is moving out of Washington DC and heading West — Grand Junction, Colorado to be exact.
Sen. Cory Gardner (R) made the announcement in a release Monday.
“Relocating the Bureau of Land Management to the Western Slope of Colorado will bring the bureau’s decision makers closer to the people they serve and the public lands they manage,” Gardner said in a statement.
State lawmakers have been pushing the Interior Department to move the federal agency to Colorado for some time, with both Denver and Grand Junction vying for the jobs the move would bring. However, the agency chose Grand Junction’s bid over Denver’s.
Gov. Jared Polis said in a tweet that he's "thrilled to welcome the Bureau of Land Management & their employees to the great state of Colorado."
"Grand Junction is the perfect location for the BLM because of community support, location closer to the land BLM manages, and the positive impact it will have on our western Colorado economy," Polis wrote.
In anticipation for BLM’s announcement, Grand Junction has doubled its lodging tax to support more air routes, and it has offered to fund a daily flight to Washington.
The BLM is in charge of managing about 388,000 square miles of land—99 percent of which is located in 12 western states, including Colorado.
