For Immediate Release June 17, 2004
Contact: Hillerie Patton  BLM 303-239-3671
Vaughn Whatley BLM 303-239-3766

Colorado Receives $17,600,933 from Interior Under Federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program

Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton today announced that Colorado will receive $17,600,933 under the Payment In Lieu of Taxes Act (PILT) to compensate county governments whose jurisdictions contain tax-exempt Federal lands.

 “These important dollars help States offset the loss of tax revenues to counties that contain Federal lands,” Norton said.  “This money helps pay for essential services such as firefighting, search-and-rescue operations, and a host of other badly needed on-the-ground services.”

 The money distributed to Colorado will go to 56 counties eligible under the PILT program for tax revenue lost because of the federal land in their jurisdiction.  The $17,600,933 that Colorado receives this year represents a $45,352 decrease from payments in Fiscal Year 2003.  The counties receiving the largest payments are Mesa, Montrose, and Garfield.

 A complete county-by-county breakdown of Colorado's 2004 PILT payments is listed below:

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land — 261 million surface acres — than any other Federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 Western States, including Alaska. The Bureau also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on the public lands.

- BLM -