The United States Bureau of Land Management, known as BLM, falls underneath the purview of the United States Department of the Interior. The BLM is responsible for maintaining nearly 260 million acres of land throughout the United States. The BLM has a multi functional role as a property management bureau, an Administrative Law licensing agency and a federal law enforcement entity.

The Bureau of Land Management contains numerous divisions and programs that issue and regulate parts of various industries. These include Coal Mining, Desert Conservation, Grazing, Hydropower, Indian Mineral Rights, Minerals, Oil and Gas, Recreation, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy and Timberlands. The BLM also oversees a process for Federal Land Use Plans. These various subunits of the BLM provide Administration regulation to individuals and businesses engaged in the aforementioned industries on BLM managed lands.

 In the future, the Bureau of Land Management’s Administrative law licensing and permitting responsibilities will largely involve Energy. Various types of Energy regulated on BLM land include Bio Energy, Geothermal Energy, Hydro Power, Oil and Gas, Solar Energy and Wind Energy. The enormous amount of land available under BLM’s domain makes large scale energy projects the likely regulatory future of BLM.

The Bureau of Land Management’s Administrative law process falls into two categories; Land Use Planning Appeals and Implementing Decisions Appeals. The BLM Office of Hearings and Appeals, known as OHA, oversees all Administrative Appeals. Hearings are conducted before Administrative Law Judges. In some cases, OHA Hearing decisions can be appealed to  the Interior Board of Land Appeals, known as the IBLA. The IBLA is comprised of Administrative Judges (not Administrative Law Judges). Depending on the nature of the case, further Appeals can be directed to the Department of the Interior or the Federal District Court. BLM receives legal representation from Staff Attorneys employed directly by the BLM.

 When facing an Administrative Law matter with the Bureau of Land Management, it is crucial to receive representation from a Federal License Defense Attorney familiar with the Federal Administrative Law process. While the Code of Federal Regulations governs much of the Federal Administrative Law process, each agency has the ability to issue its own rules and regulations and decide its own Administrative Law process. The Bureau of Land Management is no exception. Thus, it is important to be represented by counsel when facing a legal matter with the Bureau of Land Management.