New BLM field manager:

WORLAND – The Bureau of Land Management has selected Mike Phillips as the new field manager for its Worland Field Office. Before this promotion he worked at the Worland Field Office as assistant field manager for renewable resources since 2007. The field manager has a variety of responsibilities and is the decision maker for the field office.

"I am the principle line officer and serve as the focal point in the field office for providing leadership, motivation, direction and decisions required to implement and carry out multiple use management consistent with bureau and departmental policies within my delegated authority. I make final planning and program conflicts dealing with conservation and management of the land and resource programs. These include: energy and mineral management, wilderness, range management, land and reality programs, wild horses and burros, wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation, archeological and paleontological resource management and protection, soil and water and air management, data management, program and administration support services, oil and gas inspections, law enforcement, invasive species management and off-road vehicle management," Phillips said.

Phillips comes with 25 years of experience with the BLM starting in May 1991 as a ranch land management specialist. "At that time it was called ranch conversationalists. I held that job for 16 years but during those 16 years, I was detailed to the Washington office to work on the '95 grazing regulations and detailed with the Wyoming State Office as the range program lead and wild horse and burro program lead. I have also been detailed twice to the Worland Field Office as acting field manager and also Rock Springs," he stated.

When Phillips started in the BLM, he started in an entry level position that required schooling. To obtain the job he earned an associate degree in agriculture from Eastern Wyoming College and a Bachelor of Science in range management from the University of Wyoming. Phillips also attributes growing up in the agricultural atmosphere to being able to start his career with the BLM. "Being on the rodeo team and doing those sorts of things all the way up from when I was knee high to a grasshopper through college. Working with ranchers and learning how to talk to people, how to communicate and deal with difficult situations in a calm manner all played a part," Phillips said.

Phillips was also selected and graduated from what the BLM calls its Leadership Academy in 2012. "Only the top 2-5 percent of people ever get to go or are nominated. To go you have to be nominated, it's a yearlong process. It teaches a lot of leadership qualities trying to move you up into the next tier in management. It's kind of on-the-job training but it's not and it's not a school, it's a combination of a lot of things," he said.

Phillips's plans for his new position include open communication. "I plan on taking forth my vision as related to what the state office vision is and kind of marrying that to the staff. Bringing forth communication, I think is one of the biggest that we need to continue, both internally and externally. I plan to use a common sense approach to management within the sideboards of our regulations. We do have quite a bit of flexibility. Being very open and providing a fair forum for everybody to have a discussion. Being able to listen is also important. Listening to what the public has to say and also what the staff has to say, so that we are making well informed decisions on resource management issues," he stated.

Communication with the public is important to Phillips. "Open communication, being able to discuss the issues at hand. We are not always going to agree about the direction that things will go but we are going to do what is best for the resource. There will be openness about how those decisions are being made and why," he said. "In the end we are all on the same team and we all want to protect our resources, we just see the processes differently," he added.

The public will be invited to meet Phillips at his office installation ceremony that will be help in Worland sometime in April.