Interior secretary visits new public lands HQ in Colorado

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is paying her first visit to the new Colorado headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management. Her Friday visit comes after its relocation from the nation’s capital by the Trump administration. Haaland is reviewing whether the move should stand.

Proponents of the move called it a reorganization that put agency officials closer to the nearly quarter-billion acres of public lands it oversees.

Environmental advocates say it weakened the agency which handles fossil fuel extraction, recreation and livestock grazing. As a member of Congress, Haaland opposed the move.

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The secretary also plans to address the federal government’s wildfire preparedness and response efforts.