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Last updated: 01/24/05

 Tom Fry Sworn in as New BLM Director

WASHINGTON - On June 13, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt swore in Tom Fry of Dallas, Texas, to be the new Director of the Bureau of Land Management. The U.S. Senate confirmed Fry for the position on May 24. Fry, who had been the BLM's Acting Director since November 1998, becomes the 14th Director of the 54-year-old agency.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt noted, "Tom Fry is the right person at this critical time to head the BLM. He is a dedicated public servant and he brings enormous talent and understanding of the issues that are central to achieving the Department's land-management goals."

Fry said, "I am honored to serve in this position on behalf of the American people, who own the lands managed by the BLM. I am convinced that this agency is poised on the brink of greatness as we enter the New Millennium." After the Senate's vote, Fry thanked BLM employees for supporting him during his tenure as Acting Director and said he looked forward to drawing on their expertise and professionalism as Director.

Fry, who had served as the BLM's Deputy Director from January 1997 to November 1998, said, "This is an exciting time to be working for the BLM, whose reputation as an effective land manager continues to grow. This is most clearly evidenced by the fact that President Clinton and Secretary Babbitt have placed four new National Monuments into our management portfolio since 1996. In the past, the responsibility for managing such special areas would have gone to one of our sister land-management agencies, so this change marks a significant new chapter in our agency's history. The BLM is also gaining greater public recognition as the leading steward of open space in the fast-changing West, whose growth has transformed once-remote public lands into the region's backyard."

Fry said the principal challenges facing the BLM have to do with its management in four major categories: special areas, such as National Monuments and National Conservation Areas; energy and mineral resources that Fry describes as "world class" in nature, such as the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming; sensitive public lands located on what Fry calls the "urban-suburban fringe"; and the West's wide open spaces.

"Our overriding goal," said Fry, "is to protect public land resources while facilitating environmentally sound energy and mineral development. With a budget commensurate with our responsibilities, and with the excellent work that BLM employees do day-in and day-out, I know we will succeed in our land-management mission."

Before coming to the BLM, Fry was Chief of Staff for Interior Deputy Secretary John Garamendi, a position in which he provided leadership and policy oversight for special Interior Department initiatives. From July 1993 to August 1994, Fry was Director of the Minerals Management Service. In that capacity, he was responsible for the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and other minerals on the Nation's Outer Continental Shelf. Fry also oversaw the collection of revenues for minerals development on Federal and Indian lands.

Prior to 1993, Fry was Vice President of a Dallas natural gas processing and transmission company. Fry, formerly in private law practice in Dallas, was active in the Clinton-Gore campaign in 1992.

A native of Dallas, Fry earned his law degree from Southern Methodist University Law School in Dallas in 1969 and his bachelor's degree from Trinity University in San Antonio in 1966. He served on active duty in the U.S. Army for more than two years, attaining the rank of Captain and receiving the Army Commendation Medal.

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land -- 264 million surface acres -- than any other Federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, which has a budget of $1.4 billion and a workforce of about 8,700 full-time, permanent employees, also administers more than 560 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM preserves open space by managing the public lands for multiple uses, including outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, and mining, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources found on the public lands.

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