The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is a federal agency responsible for managing 256 million surface acres, which comprise 13% of the total land surface of the United States, as well as 700 million acres of subsurface land. The BLM is responsible for more Federal land than any other agency. The BLM utilizes multiple-use management and uses the land for many purposes such as energy production, both renewable and non-renewable, grazing, recreation and providing habitat for a plethora of species. 

     In Oregon, the BLM is responsible for more than fifteen million acres of land. The agency manages two million acres of forested land in Western Oregon, and uses the forests as a source of commercial timber, recreational areas and habitat for Oregon's flora and fauna, some of which are threatened or endangered. In Eastern Oregon, the BLM land is semi-arid and is used for a variety of commercial purposes, such as grazing, and for recreation, and habitat.

     We are conducting our western pond turtle monitoring project in the West Eugene Wetlands, on land owned by the BLM. The BLM is working in conjunction with other federal, state and local agencies, as well as other concerned organizations, such as the Nature Conservancy, to help restore this unique wetland ecosystem. Our monitoring project is sponsored by the BLM as an effort for the agency to learn more about the western pond turtle population in the wetlands, discern potential threats to western pond turtles, and help identify areas in the wetlands with high turtle activity, which may be selected as sites for future conservation projects.

The ELP team learns from Chris Langdon from the BLM.

All information on this page is from the Bureau of Land Management's website. 

For more information about the Bureau of Land Management check out: blm.gov

For more information on the West Eugene Wetlands go to: West Eugene Wetlands