Mottice Named Acting State Director
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This week, the BLM is proud to announce Mike Mottice as the Acting Oregon/Washington State Director. Mottice is replacing Ed Shepard who served as State Director from 2006 until the end of May 2012. Mottice will serve in this capacity while a search for a permanent State Director takes place.Mottice has worked for the BLM for 32 years, with assignments in Burns and Medford, Oregon; Glenwood Springs, Colorado; and Washington, D.C. He returned to Oregon in 2004 and has served as the Associate State Director since 2009. Mottice will be in charge of managing some of the Nation's most unique treasures. The BLM manages over 15.7 million acres of public land in Oregon and approximately 425,000 acres in Washington together with some 23.4 million acres of Federal subsurface minerals.“This is a time of tremendous opportunity and challenge for all those interested in our public lands in Oregon and Washington. If we choose to work together, we can capitalize on emerging areas of agreement concerning our BLM-managed forests in western Oregon," said Acting State Director Mottice. “Together with our stakeholders in eastern Oregon, we can institutionalize on Federal lands the State of Oregon's Sage Grouse Conservation Strategy and find ways to protect key Sage-grouse habitat. This way, we can also promote responsible renewable energy development and maintain the ranching way of life that sustains the open spaces and communities of eastern Oregon. In Washington State we're busy preparing our plan for 425,000 acres of public lands in eastern Washington -- which includes 1,000 acres of land in the San Juan Archipelago consisting of hundreds of islands of varying sizes that lie between the mainland of northwestern Washington and Canada's Vancouver Island," continued Mottice.Each year, the BLM puts about $100 million into rural Oregon economies and another $12 million into Washington. Revenues that are returned to the states and counties come from the fees collected for recreation use, grazing and mineral leases, timber sales, energy royalties, and right-of-way rentals. In addition to an annual operating budget of approximately $270 million, Mottice will also be responsible for managing nearly 2,000 employees in offices throughout Oregon and Washington. Additional information about the BLM in Oregon and Washington is available online at: blm.gov/or/index.php
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.