Learning in Government Agencies: The Bureau of Land Management National Training Center

Abstract

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages about 245 million acres of public lands for multiple uses throughout the western United States and Alaska. Of this total acreage, the BLM administers livestock grazing on about 157 million acres. To manage and administer the rangeland management program, the BLM employs specialists that have some combination of technical and/or administrative responsibilities. Depending on their functions and duties, some positions are classified in a professional series and require a degree in rangeland management or a closely related field, whereas other positions do not have an education requirement. Regardless of a position’s educational requirement, all BLM employees involved in the rangeland management program benefit from additional or specialized training. The BLM's National Training Center (NTC) located in Phoenix, Arizona provides this benefit. The NTC does not duplicate training that can be obtained at a college or university. Instead the NTC supplements what is taught at the university by providing training that is tailored to meet BLM’s need to have employees that are versed in BLM’s roles, responsibilities, procedures, and authorities so that they are fully capable of implementing a successful rangeland management program in concert with multiple other uses on the BLM’s vast western holdings.