FILE - In this May 9, 2017, file photo, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke rides a horse in the new Bears Ears National Monument near Blanding, Utah. Much of Bears Ears is on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management, which is part of Zinke's department. Western lawmakers are arguing that BLM headquarters should be moved from Washington, D.C., to the West because of its influence there. (Scott G Winterton/The Deseret News via AP, File)
The Associated Press
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.
FILE - In this April 20, 2013 file photo, male greater sage grouse perform mating rituals for a female grouse, not pictured, on a lake outside Walden, Colo. More than 50,000 square miles of Bureau of Land Management land in the West has been identified as priority habitat for the birds. Western lawmakers are arguing that BLM headquarters should be moved from Washington, D.C., to the West because of its influence there. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
The Associated Press
** HOLD FOR STORY ** File - In this April 11, 2015, file photo, rancher Cliven Bundy speaks at an event in Bunkerville, Nev. Bundy has long resisted federal control of public land, culminating in an armed standoff in 2014 on U.S. Bureau of Land Management acreage in Nevada. Some Western lawmakers are arguing that BLM headquarters should be moved from Washington, D.C., to the West, where most public lands are. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
The Associated Press