What we Manage in the Eastern States Region

The BLM manages small pieces of public land and 39 million acres of underground land in 31 states east of and next to the Mississippi River. By taking good care of these lands, we help keep them healthy, diverse, and productive so people today and in the future can enjoy them.

In the Eastern U.S., BLM lands include the historic Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area in southern Florida and the beautiful, white-sand beaches of Alabama’s Gulf Coast. The BLM also manages mountain biking trails in the Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area in northern Virginia, which feature wooden elements that are unique in the Mid-Atlantic region. In Maryland, the BLM looks after the historic Chiles home site on Douglas Point, near the Captain John Smith National Historic Water Trail along the Chesapeake Bay. Additionally, the BLM manages many islands in lakes and rivers in Wisconsin and Minnesota, which provide places for recreation and serve as habitats for native wildlife.

In addition to managing recreation areas that have been around since colonial times, we also take care of public lands in the eastern United States. These lands provide important resources and benefits for everyone who lives in the eastern states.

Our Eastern States energy program brings in millions of dollars each year. This money more than covers the costs of running the program and helps fund the federal government. We oversee about 39 million acres of federal mineral lands, working with other agencies. These activities generate over $100 million annually through rentals, royalties, fees, and bonuses.

The public lands in the East have some of the biggest shale formations in the country, as well as the oldest coal fields located in Appalachia. We also work with the U.S. Forest Service to study the possibility of developing valuable hard rock mineral deposits in northern Minnesota.

We are still reaching our goals for the Wild Horse and Burro Program, even with some logistical challenges. This year, we successfully arranged 22 adoptions of wild horses and burros in 15 different states. We also hold online adoptions that anyone can participate in, and we support Extreme Mustang Makeover events, which showcase trained wild horses.

Our cadastral staff, who are experts in land surveying, work with state and local partners to create detailed maps of land parcels. They have completed these land surveys for almost all of the 30 Public Domain states, including the 13 states managed by the Eastern States office. (Oklahoma’s surveys are not finished yet.) These maps cover around 40 million land parcels.

Our General Land Office (GLO) Branch holds over 9 million historic land title records dating back to 1787, and anyone can search them online. We have added or updated more than 230,000 images on the GLO website to help support the BLM’s Renewable Energy Program, which uses the site to find land records.

The BLM Eastern States office has a lively volunteer and youth outreach program. This program gives young people and students a chance to get involved, learn new skills, serve their community, and gain work experience.