Gary Torres named as BLM-Eastern States Acting State Director
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WASHINGTON—The Bureau of Land Management-Eastern States (BLM-ES) welcomes Gary Torres as the Acting State Director, expected to serve in this role through the spring. Torres comes into this temporary assignment from the BLM Green River District headquartered in Vernal, Utah, where he serves as the District Manager. As the Acting State Director, he brings nearly 30 years of natural resource management experience to the BLM-ES office.
Torres grew up in Monticello, Utah, learning to appreciate at an early age, the value public lands add to the lives of American families. He began his career with the federal government as a mining engineer, gaining critical experience over 20 years working in the Monticello and Moab, Utah, BLM field offices.
As an engineer, Torres had a keen interest in interdisciplinary environmental planning, and later became the Supervisory Planner for the Monticello and Moab offices. In fact, he left the federal government’s employment for a period of time so he could broaden his experience, consulting as a private sector planner on several projects for various federal agencies.
When he returned to the BLM, Torres served in the Field Manager and District Manager positions for the Farmington District Office, New Mexico. More recently, he fulfilled responsibilities as the Acting Deputy Division Chief for Fluid Minerals in the BLM Washington, D.C. headquarters.
“I’m excited to return to the east coast in this position as the acting State Director for the BLM-Eastern States office,” he said. “Working together, we can accomplish the most immediate goals and priorities for managing the vast mineral estate in the east, as well as build the capacity to achieve more far-reaching initiatives while managing resources for multiple use.”
The BLM-ES manages approximately 10 million surface acres and 30 million sub-surface acres of federal mineral estate in the 31 states that are east of and bordering the Mississippi River. For more information about the programs we manage, visit: https://www.blm.gov/about/what-we-manage/eastern-states.
Garry Torres, BLM Eastern States, State Director
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.