Raml Named Desert District Manager for Bureau of Land Management

Raml Named Desert District Manager for Bureau of Land Management

Teresa A. Raml has been selected as the new Desert District manager for the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) vast, 10.5 million-acre California Desert District in Southern California. Acting BLM State Director Jim Abbott announced the appointment of Raml today in Sacramento.

"Teri’s diverse experience on the national, state and local levels will help us further the collaborative efforts in addressing the many challenges facing the BLM in the California Desert District," said Abbott. "Her demonstrated ability in team building will lend greatly to managing the vast southern California public lands, where partnerships are the basic foundation of our management efforts in this complex region.”

Raml is currently working in the BLM Arizona State Office as the program manager for the Restoration Design Energy Project, a pilot program funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to identify previously disturbed lands that are suitable for renewable energy development. Previous to taking on the pilot project, she was the Phoenix District manager.

Raml received a degree in wildlife biology from Colorado State University in 1979 and shortly after, began her government career with the U.S. Forest Services as the first wildlife biologist for the Fall River Ranger District in the Nebraska National Forest. She was also the wildlife biologist at the Black Hills National Forest before becoming the program assistant for the national threatened, endangered and sensitive species program in Washington, D.C. Other Forest Service positions Raml has held include appeal coordinator, endangered species program coordinator, legislative assistant, information manager, biological scientist, adaptive management area coordinator and district ranger.

In 1999, Raml transferred to the BLM to become the field manager for the Klamath Falls Resource Area in Oregon. She became the Phoenix District manager in 2003.

Raml is scheduled to assume her California Desert District manager duties within the next two months. She replaces Steven Borchard, who retired. Until Raml arrives, Jack Hamby, currently associate district manager of the California Desert District will serve as acting district manager.

The Desert District is comprised of public lands in the lower third of California, including the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA), created by Congress in 1976 to protect the desert's special values. The CDD also includes 300,000 acres of scattered parcels in the south coast area.