Mike Pool Selected As New Director of BLM's California State Office

Bureau of Land Management Director Tom Fry today announced the selection of BLM veteran Mike Pool as the new director of the BLM's California State Office.  Pool, who has been the BLM's Associate State Director in Colorado for the past three years, will assume his new position on August 27.

"I am delighted to announce the selection of Mike Pool as California State Director," Fry said.  "Mike is a dedicated BLM professional who brings to his new position a wealth of experience and expertise.  I know he will do a first-rate job in managing and protecting California's public lands in the fast-growing, fast- changing West."

As Director of the BLM's California State Office, Pool will oversee the agency's management of 14.5 million acres of public land, comprising nearly 15 percent of California's 100 million-acre land base.  The State Office, headquartered in Sacramento, has 16 field offices throughout the state, where 34 million of the West's 60 million people live.

Pool, whose BLM career spans 25 years, said, "It's a privilege for me to take on this new assignment in California, which has a rich tradition of outstanding public land management.  By working in partnership with all who use and care about the public lands, the BLM will meet the challenges facing us in California in the 21st century."  Pool, 47, succeeds Al Wright, the BLM's Acting California State Director since April 1999, and Ed Hastey, who retired as State Director last year after 46 years of public service.

Before serving as the BLM's Associate State Director in Colorado, Pool was a Special Assistant in Washington, D.C., to Assistant Interior Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Sylvia Baca.  From 1992 to 1996, Pool served as District Manager in Farmington, New Mexico; prior to that, he worked as a regulations and policy analyst in Washington, D.C.  Pool has also held various resource positions with the BLM in New Mexico, Alaska, and Nevada, dealing with numerous facets of public land management, including conservation area management, oil and gas administration, and Indian trust responsibilities.

Pool holds a bachelor of science degree in biology from New Mexico State University.  He and his wife, Nancy, who have been married for 27 years, have two children, Jessica and Justin, both of whom are attending college in the West.  Pool's hobbies include fishing, hiking, swimming, international travel, reading, and music.

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 employees, also administers more than 700 million acres of sub-surface minerals 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.