Just what do the foresters, biologists, communication, recreation workers and more do at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management office based in North Bend?

A lot.

At least that might be the impression a person might form after checking out the agency's latest printing of "BLM Facts: Oregon and Washington 2001." The recently released fact book details everything from the number of workers in each district's offices on down to the number of acres leased to oil and gas companies.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management oversees 15.7 million acres of land in Oregon and handles mineral rights on 23.4 million. The Coos Bay District office manages 333,307 acres, which include Oregon & California Railroad and Coos Bay Wagon Road lands. In fact, the local office employs 173 people, making it a sizable employer locally.

Financial

In 2001, the BLM paid $7.2 million to Coos County almost solely as payments for its Oregon and California Railroad lands. That was up from $4 million in 2000, 1999 and 1998. Revenues from Coos Bay Wagon Roads totaled $845,323. Payments to Curry County totaled $4 million. The top revenue-getting counties were Douglas, $27.5 million; Jackson, $17 million; and Lane at $16.8 million.

Overall in Oregon, the agency collected $21 million in revenues in fiscal year 2001 from various sources including mineral and mining operations, timber and land sales, grazing fees and land leases, in addition to recreation and communication site fees.

Those 2001 revenues dropped in half from 2000 almost exclusively due to a decrease in timber sales. Revenues in 1999 totaled $69 million and in 1998, $58 million.

The agency's Oregon expenses were $181 million in 1998, 169 million in 1999, $201 million in 2000 and $245 million in 2001, with the bulk of the increase in 2001 year due to wildfire assistance and other related costs.

Jobs in the Woods

As many as 275 Oregonians found work through this program designed to restore waterways. In the Coos Bay District, the program funded 76 projects at almost $2 million dollars.

Forestry

Many people, though, still think of BLM as a timber-owning agency. Ironically, the local office, as did most BLM offices statewide, saw a substantial drop in timber sale revenues between fiscal year 2000 and 2001. Receipts went from $8.4 million to $2.7 million.

In preliminary figures for 2002, the local district offered 16.2 million board feet of timber for sale, selling 10.6 million. Workers planted 179,692 seedlings on 334 acres.

When considering forest lands, the Coos Bay District actual acre breakdown is as follows: 144,000 acres are set aside as reserves, 32,000 acres are special management areas, 90,000 acres are riparian reserves, with 45,000 acres in general forest management and the rest managed for other uses.

BLM revenues off forest lands aren't limited to timber sales. The annual report shows the agency profits from the sale of floral and greenery; cedar boughs; firewood; burls and even Christmas trees and moss. But the revenues are pretty minuscule in comparison bringing in $160,000 statewide in 2001.

Forestry work isn't limited to timber sale management. The agency also works in site preparation, planting and seeding commercial forestland, in addition to treating lands to control pests and disease. In 2001, the Coos Bay District did precommercial thinning cuts on 2,162 acres, down from 34,586 acres in 2000.

Wildlife

When it comes to gaming, BLM's got a corner of the business. On the Coos Bay District lands, there are an estimated 15,000 deer, 3,000 elk, 500 black bear and 50 cougar. The local agency also manages 356 acres of fishable streams.

On the preservation side, the local office reported banding a total of 23 northern spotted owls. In all, there were 19 confirmed pairs of the birds on the district in 2001 compared to 67 in 2000.

Recreation

Recreationally, this district not a top earner when it comes to fees collected. The district brought in $122,093 in day-use fees in 2001.

In all, an estimated 617,000 visited the Umpqua Resource Area and 256,000 traveled into the Myrtlewood Resource Area in 2001.

Other

Despite being located mostly in the coastal rain belt, the Coos Bay District made a blip on the fire radar screen. In 2001, four fires were reported, with two being caused humans. In total, the blazes burned four acres, as compared to 281,702 of BLM burned statewide. Of those 431 fires, people caused 76 of the blazes.

As to land purchases, the local district bought 44 acres on Coos Bay's North Spit in 2001.

The agency also works in law enforcement. Statewide, BLM workers tallied 2,051 violations of laws on their lands. The biggest offense was littering, but they also cited people for vehicle and recreation rule violations, in addition to investigating forest product thefts and infringements on archaeological resources.

In drug law enforcement, 39 people were arrested for drug crimes on BLM lands and the agency confiscated 1,350 marijuana plants in 2001 compared to 6,281 in the previous year.