Idaho State Office helps with streamlining Idaho’s Lands and Realty program

When Idaho’s Supervisory Realty Specialist Melissa Davis transitioned from her role as the BLM-Idaho Pocatello Field Manager, she faced the challenge of a 50% vacancy rate in Lands & Realty positions across the state. Having built her career in the Lands & Realty program before moving into BLM leadership, she knew how critical these roles are to delivering results for the American people—and she committed to rebuilding Idaho’s lands program and workforce to meet national priorities.

Two years into her state office position, she is dynamically leading the latest iteration of the BLM Beginning Lands and Realty 2000-09 course, designed to accelerate the permitting process. For the first time in BLM history, this course was expanded to accommodate more students and observers—177 participants bureau-wide, with 75 students and 102 observers. Idaho has six students and seven observers. Melissa considers this a major step toward restoring capacity!

A New Approach to Training

Each state group meets in person one week each month for eight months, with state leads facilitating along with virtual instructors. Unique to Melissa’s efforts, the Idaho cohort will travel to a new site each month to reduce travel burdens, save taxpayer dollars, and highlight new parts of our large state.

“I am very happy with the format, and students are loving it! They spend less time away from home and more time networking and helping each other,” she exclaimed. “They also said it’s easier to focus on the content in this environment as opposed to virtual classes.” 

Hand-On Training to Deliver Results

Idaho’s cohort will tackle a real-world class project, processing actual cases and record systems. This on-the-job-training teamwork project is unique to Idaho! Students in this course dig into real world rights-of-way, leases, permits, legal land descriptions, essential to the BLM's mission. They’ll learn tips to manage multiple projects concurrently and prep for the Idaho team to hasten project processing.

Each Idaho student will work on specific cases, collaborating with supervisors and lands staff between sessions. Melissa’s hope is buoyed by this latest effort at rebuilding lands and realty capacity. “We have eight vacancies across the state, so there are growing pains, and this round of students is promising,” she adds. “We hope the class observers will make the realty program their career choice.”

Why It Matters

As the nation prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of independence, efforts like these reflect the enduring values of innovation, stewardship, and freedom. By modernizing processes and strengthening the workforce, BLM is ensuring America’s public lands remain a source of opportunity, recreation, and prosperity for generations to come.

With “Land” in the BLM’s name, the work of realty professionals is foundational – the roots of BLM’s Lands and Realty Program go back to the beginning of our nation’s history with the General Land Office. When these processes stall, so does progress—impacting everything from energy development to recreation access and economic growth. Behind every legal land description, NEPA compliance review, and right-of-way issuance is a dedicated team ensuring public lands remain well-managed for generations.

“This class is helping BLM accelerate the processing of lands and realty actions, reducing delays and ensuring the American public can access and benefit from public lands more quickly,” says Davis. 

Next time you enjoy Idaho’s open spaces, remember that behind the scenes, realty professionals are streamlining processes, reducing regulatory delays, and ensuring public lands deliver timely benefits for energy, recreation and economic growth—and that visionaries like Melissa Davis make it possible. Their work embodies the spirit of Freedom 250: honoring our past and advancing our future.