| Contacts: | Steven Hall 303-239-3672 | |||
| Vanessa Delgado 303-239-3681 |
BLM Colorado State Director Helen Hankins Set to Be Sworn In
LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Helen Hankins will officially be sworn in as the Bureau of Land Management Colorado State Director by BLM Director Robert V. Abbey at 1 p.m. on Feb. 26 at the Denver Marriott West, Salon Conference Room, 1717 Denver West Blvd., Golden, Colo. 80401.
BLM Colorado is expecting more than 100 guests from the public and private sectors to share this significant occasion. Hankins came to Colorado Feb. 1 after the former state director, Sally Wisely, retired in 2009. Hankins had served most recently as the BLM Arizona Associate State Director.
“I wouldn’t be here today if I did not have a great appreciation for our public lands.” Hankins said. “I can assure the public that the steps that are made from here on out will be made responsibly and with the public’s best interest in mind.”
Hankins, 58, is a native of Council, Idaho. She joined the BLM in Albuquerque, N.M., serving as a clerk-typist in the agency’s student work study program in 1970. She went on to serve in increasingly responsible positions in Durango, Colo., Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska, Washington, D.C., Elko, Nev., and Phoenix, Ariz.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of New Mexico and was one of the first two women to complete the BLM’s five-month-long minerals law school program.
In Colorado, Hankins will oversee 815 employees with a budget of approximately $75 million and administer 8.3 million acres of BLM public lands and 27 million acres of mineral estate, which are concentrated primarily in the western portion of the state.
Hankins, an active member of both Rotary International and Toastmasters International, is married to Michael Mauser, with whom she has hosted eleven exchange students. Hankins and her husband look forward to continuing their shared passion for hiking and backpacking in Colorado.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. 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 public lands.