The Latest: Lawmakers say big US land agency moving West

DENVER (AP) — The Latest on Bureau of Land Management headquarters moving from Washington to Colorado (all times local):

5:45 p.m.

Utah Republican Congressman Rob Bishop says some federal jobs will move to his state when the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management moves out of the nation’s capitol.

Bishop was the second GOP lawmaker to claim Monday that some bureau positions were moving to his state. Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner said earlier that the bureau’s Washington headquarters and some of its jobs would move to his state.

Neither Bishop nor Gardner said how many jobs their state would get.

The bureau hasn’t confirmed the plans, so it was unclear how many jobs would move where.

The bureau manages nearly 388,000 square miles (1 billion square kilometers) of public land, and 99% is in 12 Western states.

Gardner, Bishop and other Western politicians have long argued the agency headquarters should be closer to the land it manages.

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2:15 p.m.

Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner says the Trump administration is moving the headquarters of the federal government’s largest land agency to western Colorado.

Gardner said Monday the Bureau of Land Management’s Washington office will move to Grand Junction.

Gardner didn’t say when the headquarters would move. A Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman in Washington said she couldn’t confirm or deny the move. She declined to give her name.

The agency manages nearly 388,000 square miles (1 billion square kilometers) of public land, and 99% is in 12 Western states.

Gardner and other Western politicians have long argued the agency headquarters should be closer to the land it manages.

The agency has about 9,000 employees, with fewer than 400 in Washington. The rest are scattered among 140 state, district or field offices.