The Bureau of Land Management is temporarily moving the director of its California state office to a senior leadership position in Washington that was vacated when former Deputy Director Mike Nedd was involuntarily removed from the post in May.
Joe Stout, who has led the BLM California office since last year, is filling in as acting deputy director of administration and programs, according to two Interior Department officials familiar with the situation. The position is the top career post at the bureau, responsible primarily for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the agency and its roughly 8,000 employees who manage 245 million acres, mostly in the West.
Stout took over Monday for Jeff Krauss, BLM’s assistant director for communications, who was appointed acting deputy director last month. Krauss will return to his previous position, according to the officials granted anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
Stout is expected to fill in as acting deputy director until at least early August.
