Grand Junction fights to keep Bureau of Land Management headquarters with its future under Biden unclear
President Donald Trump moved the public lands agency to Colorado from Washington, D.C. President Joe Biden administration's may move it back.
President Joe Biden’s first day in office spurred to action a team of Mesa County “first responders” who are working to keep the federal Bureau of Land Management headquarters in Grand Junction amid concerns the new administration may move it back to Washington, D.C.
The local business leaders on Wednesday met to discuss plans to send a letter to the Biden administration and Colorado’s congressional delegation to underscore why the Western Slope city is the best place for the office, given its proximity to federal lands and the investment in rural communities.
The meeting of the Mesa County Economic Development First Responders shows how the community is “going to bat to save the headquarters office here,” said Diane Schwenke, the president and CEO of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce.
“We are definitely going to fight to keep it,” Schwenke said. “… We are going to do everything we can to convince the new administration this was a good business decision.”
Former President Donald Trump announced the federal agency’s move to Colorado in July 2019, and now 41 employees work in the office after a $3 million renovation, Schwenke said.
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