Pocatello Field Office

The BLM's Pocatello Field Office manages just under 600,000 acres of public lands. Located in scenic country along the Utah/Idaho/Wyoming border, this is a wonderful place to visit or work. The area's unique land pattern lends itself to numerous challenges. With several tracts of BLM-managed lands located next to various communities, this office has an active fuels program, which focuses on reducing fire activity in the wildland urban interface. Extensive fuels projects are also implemented to enhance aspen rejuvenation and support local wildlife.

Pocatello has a large customer base when it comes to rangeland management. With 450 allotments and 387 permittees and very few range staff, time and people are limited. The checkerboard land status creates significant challenges for management. Primary concerns include small allotments with limited access, grazing within sage-grouse habitat and a high number of grazing permit and lease transfers with a small staff. 

An active forestry program that covers the eastern half of the Idaho Falls District is also managed out of this office. This program manages over 166,000 forested acres. Since 2020 the forestry program has sold 20 timber sales, offering up over 8 million Board Feet (8 MMBF), and has processed over 5,000 Special Forest Product permits for selling 4,000 cords of firewood, and 3,000 Christmas trees. Approximately 16 forestry projects are in some form of completion or initiation in this area. The forestry program is slated to sell over 2 million board feet (2 MMBF) with two sales in 2025.

This office is situated in the heart of America’s largest remaining phosphate deposit – the western phosphate field. The leasing and mine oversight program is BLM’s largest and most complex non-energy leasable minerals program. Southeast Idaho open-pit phosphate mines supply about 22% of the Nation’s and 4% of the world’s phosphate.  The program brings in approximately $10 million in federal royalties on an annual basis. The Phosphate mining industry provides some of the highest paying jobs in Idaho.

Pocatello also manages the beautiful Blackfoot river and deals with the complex issues of managing isolated tracts of BLM managed lands through a wide geographic area.