BILLINGS, Mont.—Butte, Mont.-native Jamie Connell has been named the new top Bureau of Land Management official for Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
BLM Director Bob Abbey says Connell will replace Gene Terland of Columbus, Mont., who retired in May. She will probably start her new job as state director in late October or early November.
The Billings-based position oversees oil and gas, livestock grazing, recreation and other activities on 8.3 million acres of land in the three states and 47 million acres of underground minerals.
Connell graduated from Montana Tech in 1985 with a degree in petroleum engineering. She began working for the BLM that year as an engineer in Miles City and for the past 18 years has been a public land manager for the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service in Montana, Idaho and Colorado. Since February 2009, Connell has been the BLM’s Northwest Colorado District Manager.
