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Wednesday, December 19, 2001
Deseret News
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Edition: All
Page: B04

BLM appraiser will keep his job

By Donna Kemp Spangler
Deseret News staff writer

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's chief appraiser, Dave Cavanaugh, will keep his
job.
Two watchdog groups sought his resignation after an audit found him sidestepping federal
standards for land trades in Utah.
Western Land Exchange Project and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
earlier this month fired off a letter to the BLM seeking Cavanaugh's resignation after the
Department of Interior Inspector General audit found that Cavanaugh allowed landowners in
Washington County to set their own price.
But Carson Culp, the assistant director for Minerals, Realty and Resource Protection, said
he doesn't agree with the allegations.
"The BLM supports the actions taken by Cavanaugh unequivocally and without
reservation," he wrote in a letter to Janine Blaeloch, director of Western Land Exchange
Project. "His work has been in support of complex and difficult land exchanges and
acquisitions that clearly have served the public interest. His actions have been appropriate,
and the agency will not consider his removal."
Blaeloch was disappointed.
"BLM is in complete denial of the problem," she said. "It's almost scary how little they
care. I mean, for heaven's sake, how many more millions of dollars does the public have to
lose in these exchanges before something is done?"
Questionable land trades have prompted several federal audits.
Last year, the federal General Accounting Office cited numerous problems with the land
exchanges conducted by the BLM and U.S. Forest Service. It further recommended that
Congress remove BLM's ability to sell and buy land under its land exchange program.
In the latest audit, published in July, the Interior inspector found similar problems.
Cavanaugh, the senior specialist for appraisals in Washington, D.C., was the official reviewer
in several Utah land deals. The report highlighted a 1998 land exchange in southwestern
Utah in which Cavanaugh is taken to task for not seeking comparable sales or explaining
reasons for adjustments to the amount paid to the property owner.
Culp said the BLM has implemented many changes as a result of them.
"The BLM has taken seriously the recommendations made by the General Accounting
Office and the Office of the Inspector General regarding the BLM land exchange program.

http://www.desnews.com/cgi-bin/cqcgi_plus/@plus.env?CQ_SESSION_KEY=WOJVB... 12/31/2004
Deseret News Archives Page 2 of 2

The agency has implemented many of their recommendations and is working to complete
others," he wrote.

E-MAIL: donna@desnews.com

Words: 398
Section: Local

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