| Contacts: | Celia Boddington | |||
| (202)208-6913 or (202) 329-4050 |
Helen M. Hankins Appointed as BLM Colorado State Director
Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey today announced the appointment of career employee Helen Hankins as the new state director for the agency’s Colorado State Office. Hankins is currently the associate state director for the BLM in Arizona.
“Helen has worked at all levels and across the nation for the BLM,” Abbey said. “The depth and breadth of her experience and her dedication to our country’s public lands is exceptional. I’m very pleased she has accepted this crucial position.”
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 5-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. Helen and Michael look forward to continuing their shared passion for hiking and backpacking in Colorado. She plans to assume her duties on February 1.
Click here to download a photo of Hankins
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.
2850 Youngfield St. Lakewood, CO 80215