I

BLM

Montana/Dakotas

Bureau of Land 

ManagemenT

Montana/Dakotas

2014 Annual 

Report

East Fork Blacktail Wilderness Study Area

Your land.

Your Treasure.
2 BLM Montana/Dakotas 2014 Annual Report

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Havre

Malta Glasgow

Dickinson

Belle Fourche

Miles City

Lewistown

Billings

Great Falls

Missoula

Butte

Dillon

MMOO NNTTAANNAA

SSOOUUTT HH DD AAKKOO TTAA

NNOORRTT HH DDAAKKOOTTAA

Upper Missouri River

Breaks National Monument

Pompeys Pillar

National Monument

Pryor Mountain

Wild Horse Range

Bear Trap

Canyon

Wilderness Area

Missouri Breaks

Interpretive Center

Madison River

Blackfoot River

Yellowstone River

Missouri River

M issouri River

Missouri River

Clark Fork

Schnell Recreation

Area

Fort Meade

Recreation Area

Garnet Ghost

Town

BLM-Managed Lands and Resources

BLM-Managed Lands

The Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas manages about 8.3 million acres 

of federal lands and about 47.1 million acres of federal mineral estate in the states of Montana, 

North Dakota and South Dakota. These public lands provide habitat for wildlife, forage for domestic 

livestock, forest products ranging from Christmas trees to commercial timber, and a wide range of 

recreational opportunities. The federal mineral estate, which includes oil, natural gas, and coal, is a 

critical source of energy as our nation works to develop domestic resources while creating jobs.

This report summarizes those contributions in Fiscal Year 2014.

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BLM Montana/Dakotas 2014 Annual Report 3

BLM Montana/Dakotas

MONTANA/DAKOTAS BLM ACREAGE

Surface Acres

Montana 7,985,093

North Dakota 58,788

South Dakota 267,033

TOTAL 8,310,914

Subsurface Acres

Montana 37,755,972

North Dakota 5,593,410

South Dakota 3,771,657

TOTAL 47,121,039

WILD HORSES

•	 Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range (PMWHR) consists 

of 39,651 acres of BLM, Forest Service, National Park Service and 

private lands in Montana and Wyoming. The appropriate management level (AML) is 90 to 120 adult horses. 

•	 6 Herd Areas closed to active wild horse management.

•	 3 long term holding facilities: 2 in South Dakota administered 

by the BLM Washington Office and BLM New Mexico; and one in 

Montana administered by the BLM Washington Office and the 

BLM Dillon Field Office.

•	 1 environmental assessment developed for proposed ecosanctuary deemed infeasible; no decision record issued.

•	 1 population inventory

•	 63 mares treated with fertility control by BLM, volunteers and 

National Park Service.

•	 5 range improvement projects maintained on the PMWHR

•	 1 Herd Management Area (PRWHR) monitored for rangeland and 

wild horse health.

•	 16 compliance inspections conducted on previously adopted 

wild horse and burros: 12 in Montana, 3 in South Dakota, and 1 

in North Dakota

•	 2 law enforcement patrols

•	 40 volunteer hours

for breakdown by county, and other links 

contained in this report, go to http//www.blm.

gov/mt/st/en/info/newsroom.html

WILDLIFE

Fish and Wildlife Habitat

•	 600 species of fish and wildlife

•	 3,500 acres of fish-bearing lakes and

reservoirs

•	 2,500 miles of streams

•	 More than 400,000 acres of grassland bird

habitat of international importance

•	 68 Seeds of Success collections – focused

on sage-grouse forbs

•	 65,000 native plant seedlings grown for

habitat improvement projects

Threatened and Endangered (T&E) Species

•	 3 T&E mammals; 1 proposed

•	 3 T&E birds; 2 proposed

•	 2 T&E fish

•	 2 candidate birds

•	 1 candidate plant

•	 1 candidate invertebrate

Special Status Species 

•	 4 amphibians	

•	 33 birds

•	 9 fish

•	 3 invertebrates

•	 12 mammals

•	 17 plants

•	 5 reptiles

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Hazardous Materials Management

•	 Completed follow-up CASHE audits (internal environmental

audit program) as scheduled by the CASHE audit team

(every office gets a follow-up on a 3-year cycle). For the 

fourth consecutive year, all 10 of the BLM Montana/Dakotas’ 

organizational units rated in good condition. 

•	 BLM Montana continues as the lead agency for the Department

of the Interior’s team for the Natural Resource Damage 

Assessment (NRDA) in the Silvertip Oil Spill on the Yellowstone 

River. Settlement discussions in conjunction with the Montana 

State NRDA team and the company began in 2013 and 

continued in 2014. Settlement is anticipated in early 2015.

•	 Disposed of unused hazardous products and waste from the

field offices and state office.

•	 Completed environmental site assessments for several land

acquisitions/disposals. 

•	 Provided necessary hazmat training for staff statewide.

•	 Continued to fund water treatment to clean acid rock drainage

at the Zortman/Landusky Abandoned Mine Sites in accordance 

with the Action Memo. The mine sites are designated CERCLA

(Superfund) sites managed by the Montana Department of 

Environmental Quality and the BLM, with the BLM as the lead

agency.

•	 Cleaned up several trespass landfills in the Butte Field Office.
4 BLM Montana/Dakotas 2014 Annual Report

LANDSCAPE

Rangeland Management 

•	 4,126 cattle/buffalo operators; 1,189,429

animal unit months (AUMs) authorized

•	 159 horse/burro operators; 5,294 AUMs 

authorized

•	 191 sheep/goat operators; 33,078 AUMs 

authorized

Source: FY14 Public Land Statistics

Forestry

• 1,330,000 acres of forest land base

•	 883,000 acres of available forest land from

forest land base

•	 5,809,000 board feet of timber offered by

timber sale contracts for $1,803,000

•	 46,000 board feet of timber offered by

stewardship contracts

•	 2,173 cords of fuel wood sold for $11,000

•	 316,535 board feet of posts/poles sold for

$3,000

•	 411 Christmas trees sold for $1,700

•	 5,500 pounds of boughs sold

•	 8 transplants/ornamentals sold

•	 9,550 tons of biomass offered

Forest Development

•	 163 acres of reforestation

•	 135 acres of site preparation

•	 1,365 acres of site protection

•	 20 acres of Genetic Improvement Trees

planted (whitebark pine rust-resistant)

•	 20 acres of stand release

•	 1,917 acres of pre-commercial thinning

•	 1,012 acres of commercial thinning

PLANNING & ACTIONS

Land Use Planning and Environmental Coordination

•	 11 resource management plans (RMPs) currently 

cover Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota

•	 4 planning efforts are in the later stages of revision:

Miles City, HiLine, South Dakota and Billings/Pompeys

Pillar RMPs

•	 1 planning effort is in the early stages of revision:

Lewistown RMP

LANDS CASEWORK

•	 117 rights-of-way processed

•	 10 permits/leases processed (includes film permits)

•	 177 patents issued for Bureau of Indian Affairs

•	 131 patents issued for special legislation sales (Fort

Peck cabin sites)

•	 2 Forest Service sale patents issued for 4 acres

•	 13 withdrawal applications pending, for 62,957 acres

CULTURAL AND PALEONTOLOGICAL 

RESOURCES

•	 1.4 million acres inventoried to date

•	 11,590 cultural properties recorded to date

•	 3,500 paleontological localities recorded to 

date

CONSTRUCTION/MAINTENANCE/ENGINEERING

Condition assessments performed on:

•	 46 hazard class dams

•	 23 bridges

Annual maintenance performed on:

•	 275 administrative site and recreation site buildings

•	 657 lane miles of road

•	 260 recreation and administrative site projects

•	 15 bridges

•	 194 miles of trail

Deferred maintenance and/or construction performed on:

•	 33 recreation and administrative site projects

•	 11 miles of trail

•	 3 dam projects

Other work completed: 

•	 316 facilities surveyed, designed or constructed 

•	 10 architectural and engineering task orders issued

•	 	61 radio sites –equipment maintained

•	 15 radio sites-radio infrastructure CASHE audits

performed

CADASTRAL SURVEY

•	 139 miles resurveyed

•	 258 miles approved

•	 162 survey monuments set

•	 137 survey monuments approved

•	 53 plats approved

HiLine District Office area

BLM Montana/Dakotas
BLM Montana/Dakotas 2014 Annual Report 5

BLM Montana/Dakotas

FIRE MANAGEMENT

•	 The BLM was involved with 115 fires that burned a total of 6,658

acres in Montana and the Dakotas. 

•	 Of these fires, 96 burned a total of 4,628 acres of BLM lands:

65 were started by lightning and burned 2,212 acres; 31 were 

human-caused and burned 2,416 acres.

•	 The BLM sent tactical firefighting resources to 94 fires. The BLM

responded to 17 fires that burned 2,031 acres of other lands

that the BLM protects under agreement. Cooperating agencies,

under agreement, responded to 19 fires that started on or

involved BLM land. These fires burned 242 acres of BLM lands.

•	 A total of 74 fuels treatments were accomplished on 16,411

acres: 30 prescribed burns on 9,705 acres and 44 mechanical 

treatments on 6,706 acres. 

•	 The Community Assistance program had a very busy year

updating Assistance Agreements with our cooperators. Program 

activities resulted in more than 600 prevention and education 

events, reaching nearly 25,000 people with the fire message.

Efforts to reduce the threat of wildfire to communities resulted

in 1,420 non-federal acres of fuel reduction, reducing the wildfire

threat to more than 360 buildings. The BLM-funded veterans 

program continues to be well received and attract national 

attention.

SALARIES BY COMMUNITY

October 1, 2013 - September 30, 2014

Belle Fourche, South Dakota $1,568,000

Billings, Montana 

(includes Pompeys Pillar) $17,128,000

Butte, Montana $4,215,000

Dickinson, North Dakota $3,310,000

Dillon, Montana $3,228,000

Glasgow, Montana $978,000

Great Falls, Montana $962,000

Havre, Montana $889,000

Lewistown, Montana

(includes Fort Benton, Mont.) $6,465,000

Malta, Montana $1,568,000

Miles City, Montana $7,978,000

Missoula, Montana $2,425,000

Total $50,714,000

TOTAL BUDGET $78,042,000

ECONOMIC IMPACTS

Employment

•	 480 permanent full-time; 18 temporary; 106 career-seasonal/

part-time; 14 intern/indefinite; 618 total.

Volunteers

•	 824 volunteers contributed 46,469 hours valued at $1,047,875; 

the cost to Montana/Dakotas BLM was $67,734.

BLM firefighter

Field trip with a BLM paleontologist
6 BLM Montana/Dakotas 2014 Annual Report

SOLID MINERALS

Montana

• 16 producing federal 

and Indian coal leases 

on 42,430 acres

•	 26,461,301 tons of coal

produced, generating 

$46,834,974 in royalties

North Dakota

•	 5 producing federal and

Indian coal leases on 

7,774 acres

•	 4,900,622 tons of coal

produced, generating 

$2,230,650 in royalties

LOCATABLE MINERALS

•	 1,155 new claims

recorded

•	 1,977 claims closed

•	 1,492 claims covered by

401 small miner waivers

•	 2,847 unpatented

mining claims

•	 11 claims relinquished

•	 0 claims patented

•	 18,193 unpatented

mining claims

•	 228,061 active and

closed unpatented 

mining claims on record

FLUID MINERALS

Oil and Gas Lease Sales

•	 4 competitive oil and

gas lease sales held

•	 53,995.25 acres in 220

parcels offered

•	 53,035.25 acres in 217

parcels sold

•	 $23,969,671.00 bonus

bids received

FEDERAL OIL & GAS LEASES ISSUED IN FY2014

Competitive Noncompetitive Total

Number Acres Number Acres Number Acres

Montana 17 3,399 10 11,236 27 14,635

North Dakota 68 10,866 0 0 68 10,934

South Dakota 130 38,251 2 476 132 38,727

TOTAL 215 52,516 12 11,712 227 64,296

FEDERAL OIL & GAS LEASES IN EFFECT AS OF 9/30/14

Producing Non-producing Total

Number Acres Number Acres Number Acres

Montana 1,446 766,544 1,923 1,829,585 3,369 2,596,129

North Dakota 1,189 570,060 928 459,783 2,117 1,029,843

South Dakota 79 44,589 349 148,409 428 192,998

TOTAL 2,714 1,381,193 3,200 2,437,777 5,914 3,818,970

FEDERAL TOTAL REPORTED ROYALTY REVENUES

Oil

Sales Volume (barrels) Sales Value Revenues

Montana 2,655,077.58 $232,437,063.61 $26,605,884.77

North Dakota 17,758,781.88 $1,578,994,897.73 $194,965,534.58

South Dakota 154,994.69 $13,749,719.69 $1,734,082.10

TOTAL 20,568,854.15 $1,825,181,681.03 $223,305,501.45

Conventional “Wet” Natural Gas

Sales Volume 

(thousand cubic feet) Sales Value Revenues

Montana 12,427,621.88 $52,405,336.26 $7,441,163.47

North Dakota 9,661,187.59 $62,507,953.55 $7,604,050.09

South Dakota 114,273.53 $396,093.72 $46,064.45

TOTAL 22,203,083.00 $115,309,383.53 $15,091,278.01

Coal Bed Natural Gas

Sales Volume 

(thousand cubic feet) Sales Value Revenues

Montana 35,589.84 $123,603.04 ($106,551.35)

North Dakota 0 0 0

South Dakota 0 0 0

TOTAL 35,589.84 $123,603.04 ($106,551.35)

All FY 2014 FEDERAL TOTAL REPORTED ROYALTY REVENUES figures from the ONRR website at: http://statistics.onrr.gov/

BLM Montana/Dakotas
BLM Montana/Dakotas 2014 Annual Report 7

BLM Montana/Dakotas

RECREATION & VISITOR SERVICES and

NATIONAL CONSERVATION LANDS

In 2014, BLM Montana/Dakotas hosted more than 5 million 

public visits and collected more than $494,910 in recreation fees. 

These fee funds are used to improve facilities and visitor services 

at developed recreation sites. 

Our top six recreational activities in 2014, listed from highest to lowest in participation, are:

•	 Interpretation/environmental education/nature study

•	 Non-motorized travel (hiking, walking, snow shoeing, skiing, 

etc.) 

•	 Camping/picnicking

•	 Hunting – all types

•	 Driving for pleasure

•	 Fishing

Montana/Dakotas BLM lands provide a diversity of settings: 

•	 8.3 million acres of varied landscapes and opportunities

•	 2,500 miles of streams

•	 60,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs

•	 32 boating access sites

•	 19 Watchable Wildlife sites

•	 5 Outstanding Natural Areas

•	 5 Backcountry Byways (185 miles)

•	 100+ miles of groomed snowmobile/cross country ski trails

•	 400+ family camping units

•	 15 day-use sites and 24 developed recreation sites

•	 400+ undeveloped recreation sites

•	 27 miles of mountain bike trails in the Blackfoot River corridor

•	 Cabin rentals at Axolotl Lakes, Henneberry House, and Garnet

Ghost Town

•	 Garnet Ghost Town and Visitor Center (Missoula Field Office)

National Monuments

•	 Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument (374,976

acres); www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/umrbnm.html

•	 Pompeys Pillar National Monument (51 acres); www.blm.gov/

mt/st/en/fo/billings_field_office/pompeyspillar.html

National Trails

•	 310 miles of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

•	 13 miles of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail

•	 10 miles of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail

•	 30 miles of the Garnet Winter Trail

•	 9 miles of the Bear Trap Canyon Recreation Trail

•	 12 miles of the Centennial Trail (South Dakota)

National Historic Landmarks

•	 Pompeys Pillar

•	 Wolf Mountain, which includes the Battle Mountain

ACEC (2,850 acres, of which 120 acres are BLM)

Of special interest, our public lands offer:

•	 Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River

(149 miles) 

•	 Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range (about 38,000

acres)

•	 State-of-the-art interpretive centers at Upper

Missouri River Breaks and Pompeys Pillar 

National Monuments

•	 Numerous interpretive wayside exhibits

Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas

•	 One 6,347-acre designated wilderness: the Bear

Trap Canyon Unit of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness

(Montana’s first and only designated BLM

wilderness area)

•	 39 Wilderness Study Areas totaling over 450,000

acres

Areas of Critical Environmental Concern

•	 54 ACECs

Recreation Highlights from 2014

•	 The BLM recently joined the Public Lands 

Foundation in awarding the Montana 

Conservation Corps the Landscape Stewardship

Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of its

outstanding contributions to public lands. The 

BLM/MCC partnership enables the BLM to focus

on several key goals involving youth, leadership, 

and public land stewardship. In the last three 

years, nearly 500 youth have served more than 

15,000 hours on projects such as planting 

trees and shrubs; treating noxious weeds; 

restoring sagebrush, grassland and riparian 

environments; constructing and maintaining 

trails; removing old fences and building new 

ones; installing signs; and inventorying and 

stabilizing cultural resources. 

Montana Conservation Corps constructs a trail at Log Gulch

Hands on the Land Field Trip, Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument
AN ANNUAL REPORT

PUBLISHED BY THE 

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

MARCH 3, 1849

Bureau of Land Management

Montana State Office

5001 Southgate Drive

Billings, Montana 59101

(406) 896-5011

www.blm.gov/mt/st/en.html