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On February 12, 2009, a group of retired
BLM folks gathered in Falls Church, Virginia to wish former BLM
Director Karl Landstrom a happy 100th birthday.
Following is a brief biographical sketch of Karl. Karl had a big
birthday cake served to all and he told us a few more of his
historic stories and all had a good time.
Born in Lebanon,
Oregon, Karl S. Landstrom received the degree of MA in economics
from the University of Oregon in 1932. He began his government
career in 1935 as a reserve Army officer assigned to the Civilian
Conservation Corps in the Pacific Northeast. He continued in 1937 as
an agricultural economist in the Department of Agriculture, working
on land economics studies in the Western states. After military
service in World War II, he continued with land economics research
in Oregon and Washington, joining BLM in 1949 as chief of land use
planning in its Pacific Northwest region
In 1952 Mr. Landstrom
was transferred to the bureau's Washington D.C. office working on
program planning, land classification and land appraisals. He
received his law degree from the George Washington University in
1958.
In 1959-60 he served as
a legislative consultant to the House Committee on Interior and
Insular Affairs. Karl then became one of the few career,
non-political BLM Directors during the period 1961-1963.
Landstrom was appointed as assistant to the Secretary of the
Interior for land utilization; and from 1966 until 1968 he served as
the Department’s member on the Public Land Law Review Commission’s
Advisory Council.
Mr. Landstrom retired
from government service is 1970. He is retired also from the Army of
the United States (colonel, AUS-retired.). In 1971-74 he was a
registered lobbyist. From 1975 until 1995 he served on call as an
administrative law-hearing officer for the State of Virginia. He is
a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the American Legion, the 70th Infantry
Division Association, and the Civil Affairs Association, and a
Charter Member of the Public Lands Foundation, and is a retired
member of the Virginia and District of Columbia bars. Although
Karl retired on paper he continues to this day to be active in
natural resources and other public issues. Often one can read his
letters to the Editor in the Washington Post calling attention to
faulty Congressional action or on talk radio expounding the true
facts of a public issue.
Through his career with
BLM and the Department of Interior, Karl has been a man of
uncompromising integrity. As BLM Director, Karl established firm
principals but with a light touch. He led BLM to implementing
President Kennedy’s Special Message to Congress in 1961 calling for
improved resource management of the public lands. It was through
Karl’s leadership that many obsolete public land laws were repealed;
the Multiple Use Land Classification Act became law and the
formation of the Public Land Law Review Commission, which culminated
in passage of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act in 1976. He
was the ultimate example of a career public servant who earned his
way up the ranks through integrity, leadership, and intelligence and
to always put the public interest in the forefront of his
decision-making.
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