Until 2020’s summer of unrest on Denver’s streets, “BLM” meant something else: It was shorthand for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. It, too, was very much in the news, and not just for its oft-debated policies on managing its vast portfolio of public lands.

In an unprecedented move that unfortunately was eclipsed by the cascading headlines of this year, the federal agency’s headquarters moved — lock, stock and barrel — from the nation’s capital to Grand Junction, the metropolis of Colorado’s Western Slope. U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt signed an order making the switch official last August, capping a several-year process. It had been proposed by Colorado Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner; was supported by his Democratic counterpart, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, and embraced by the Trump White House.

Now, an attempt is afoot to call it all back. A group of former Obama administration officials have cobbled together an agenda for climate action they’ve dubbed the Climate 21 Project. It’s essentially a manifesto to the incoming administration of Joe Biden, “to hit the ground running and effectively prioritize its climate response from Day One.”

Among the recommended Day 1 actions: “Bring the BLM national leadership back to Washington, D.C.”

We’re not sure how the proposal is supposed to fight climate change, but the real question is whether it carries any weight in the Biden camp. The Washington Post reported last week that the Climate 21 Project agenda “was delivered recently to Biden’s transition team.”

The proposal seems to be flying under the radar for now, and that’s troubling in its own right. Thanks are in order to Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District U.S. Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert for outing the proposal in a Facebook post Friday. That’s how we learned of it.

Just in case someone on Biden’s kitchen cabinet does lend any credence to the recommendation, we’ll take this opportunity to douse it with cold water.

It’s hard to quibble with the premise of the move to Colorado in the first place. Bernhardt — who grew up in Rifle, not far from the new HQ — said in August the change of surroundings: “…strengthens our relationship with communities in the West by ensuring decision makers are living and working closer to the lands they manage for the American people… This effort will also save a great deal of money that can be reinvested in our field operations.”

Indeed, the BLM at times had become the bane of westerners who work the land. Its controversial policies on wide-ranging federal land holdings have rankled ranchers, farmers, miners, loggers and assorted other public lands stakeholders over the decades.

The BLM is a big landlord. With oversight over 247.3 million acres, most of it in the West, the agency governs one eighth of the nation’s landmass. Living closer to many of its tenants could be the start of a whole new, more agreeable relationship.

What’s more, the relocation to Grand Junction enjoyed the bipartisan support of the leaders of Colorado’s congressional delegation, Sens. Bennet and Gardner. We hope and trust Gardner’s successor — U.S. Sen.-elect and former Gov. John Hickenlooper — shares their commitment.

Granted, COVID-19 has cooped up much of working America at home in front of their computers, for now — temporarily mooting wherever it is a lot of us happen to office. But even being cooped up at home in glorious Mesa County, Colorado, beats Washington, D.C.

Read the full article here.