< All Press Releases

Bureau of Land Management Director Neil Kornze announced today that BLM and Interior Department veteran Karen Mouritsen has been selected as the BLM Eastern States Director. The BLM Eastern States Office has the management responsibility for over 40 million acres of subsurface minerals and soils and 30,000 acres of surface estate east of the Mississippi River. Mouritsen succeeds John Ruhs, who was appointed as the BLM Nevada State Director in 2015. Mouritsen will start her new job on May 31, 2016.“Mouritsen is a widely respected professional with extensive knowledge of public land management issues, said BLM Director Neil Kornze. “Her diverse experience with the BLM and the Department of the Interior makes her a great choice to lead the BLM Eastern States Office.Mouritsen most recently served as the BLM's Deputy Assistant Director for Energy, Minerals and Realty Management since November 2013. In this position, she managed a staff of more than 90 employees and was responsible for helping develop agency policies and regulations for the Bureau's energy and minerals programs. She also oversaw the agency's energy and minerals budget and was responsible for responding to audits and investigations. Mouritsen's 24 years of federal service includes a detail last fall as the BLM Acting New Mexico State Director and details as the Acting Associate District Manager for the BLM Las Vegas District Office and the BLM Medford District Office in Oregon. Mouritsen also worked for a year-and-a-half as the BLM's liaison to the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, whom she advised on such high-profile matters as renewable energy, wildlife, wilderness, recreation, land-use planning, and cooperation with military agencies. From 2009 to 2012, Mouritsen was the BLM's Budget Officer and played a key role in preparing BLM and other Interior Department officials for hearings before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. She also testified as a BLM witness at several congressional hearings.Prior to working for the BLM, Mouritsen served as an attorney advisor in the Interior Department's Office of the Solicitor for 10 years beginning in 1992, where she provided legal expertise on BLM issues, including endangered species, land use planning and forestry matters. Mouritsen, a native of Dallas, Texas, received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin College of Engineering in 1983. She earned her Juris Doctor degree at the University of Texas at Austin Law School in 1992, after which Mouritsen launched her federal career.