Montana State Office
| Contacts: | Mary Apple 406-896-5258 |
New BLM Associate State Director on Board
Kate Kitchell is the new associate state director of the Montana/Dakotas Bureau of Land Management. She replaces Howard Lemm, who retired in July 2010.
Kitchell began her federal career in 1975 with the National Park Service and joined the BLM in 1989 in Colorado. She’s held BLM management positions in Colorado, Utah, and Idaho in field and state offices. In 2005, she moved to the U.S. Geological Survey where she was most recently director of the Southwest Biological Science Center in Flagstaff. Kitchell has natural resources degrees from the University of New Hampshire (B.S.) and Utah State University (M.S.).
According to Montana/Dakotas State Director Jamie Connell, “Kate’s lifelong passion for the outdoors and public natural resources stewardship, in addition to her leadership experience, make her an excellent choice to help guide our three-state organization.”
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.
Montana State Office 5001 Southgate Drive Billings, MT 59101