The BLM announced Wednesday that Sally Wisely, who has headed the BLM's state office since 1999, will move to Colorado to become the agency's state director there. Wisely is relocating to replace Ron Wenker, who will become the BLM's state director in Nevada.

"Ron and Sally are looking forward to these new challenges and I am excited about bringing two excellent and very experienced BLM managers to these states to work with our many and varied constituencies," said BLM Director Kathleen Clarke, who also is a former Utah BLM director.

Wisely's territory will be reduced in the move. After overseeing 23 million acres of BLM land in Utah, she is moving to a state with 8 million BLM acres.

But Wisely will face many of the same issues she did in Utah, particularly in regard to energy development. Western Colorado, like eastern Utah and Wyoming, is a hotbed of natural gas exploration and drilling. Prior to her stint in Utah, Wisely served as the BLM's associate state director in Alaska, and has been an area manager in Durango, Colo. She has a master's degree in outdoor recreation from the University of New Mexico and is a native of Atchison, Kan.