DENVER (AP) — From its headquarters in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Bureau of Land Management oversees vast expanses of public lands rich in oil, gas, coal, grassland and wildlife habitat.
But more than 99 percent of it is in 12 Western states, hundreds of miles from Washington.
Some Western politicians are asking why the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management isn't in the West as well. They have a powerful ally in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. The Montanan is leading President Donald Trump's charge to roll back environmental protections and encourage energy development on public land.
Zinke has said he wants to move much of the Interior Department's decision-making out of Washington and into the West, including the Bureau of Land Management.