CHEYENNE — Alleged ethics violations have led to Wyoming’s BLM director to be placed on administrative leave for accepting a gift dinner, drinks and treating his girlfriend to travel perks on the BLM’s dime, according to a federal watchdog agency.
Andrew Archuleta, who served for two years as director, was not available for comment Wednesday, but Wyoming’s BLM office in Cheyenne confirmed a report citing ethical violations from the Department of Interior’s Office of Inspector General.
Dated Feb. 21, the Inspector General report details alleged violations for accepting, “a gift of dinner and drinks at a Cheyenne, Wyoming, steakhouse from the owner of a commercial sign manufacturing company.”
“We determined that Archuleta misused a government rental vehicle in violation of DOI policy when he allowed his girlfriend to drive the rental vehicle,” continued the report, adding that Archuleta, “Violated the Federal Travel Regulation when he used the government rental car for personal purposes.”
The report also stated that Archuleta allegedly violated DOI policy by driving his girlfriend to and from Buffalo in a government vehicle because she was neither a federal employee nor conducting official Government business there.
“We also assessed whether Archuleta violated the Standards of Ethical Conduct by requesting or encouraging his subordinate executive assistant to make air travel arrangements for Archuleta’s girlfriend to accompany him on an official trip to Phoenix, Arizona,” the report said.
Sometime since February, when the DOI Inspector General filed its report, Kris Kirby stepped in as acting director.
Kirby was the associate state director. She transitioned to the Wyoming BLM office in 2022 after a six-year tenure as superintendent of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
In Archuleta’s tenure, he has overseen or played a role in a number of controversial land use issues such as the controversial Rock Springs Resource Management Plan.
Finalized in August 2024 after a 13-year contentious revision process, the plan emphasized conservation by designating over 1.3 million acres for special protections, including Wilderness Study Areas, while managing oil, gas, and coal development in ways that drew criticism.
The management plan swept Archuleta into debates over the BLM’s role in supporting the extractive industries. In June 2024, Archuleta fielded hard questions for legislators about a land sale to PacifiCorp.
Cowboy State Daily reported last June about controversy over the BLM's proposed Rock Springs RMP led to Wyoming legislators grilling the BLM over the sale of 300 acres of public land in Sweetwater County to PacifiCorp.
Legislators complained they were not given enough notice about the sale.
BLM Business
Archuleta’s departure comes at a time when the BLM continues to search for a national director.
Kathleen Sgamma, President Trump's nominee, withdrew her nomination April 10 after a 2021 memo surfaced in which she criticized Donald Trump's role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Currently in Wyoming, big changes are afoot in BLM’s oil and gas permitting process, with the BLM now offering an alternative route around the National Environmental Protection Act.
On April 23, DOI introduced, “a novel process for certain energy projects to circumvent existing environmental review procedures,” according to a news timeline posted by Harvard’s Environmental and Energy Law Program.
The policy offers the option of condensing work that took years into 28 days or less.
“The mineral estate and the federal lands BLM Wyoming manages here are important to you know local communities across the state,” Brad Purdy, senior advisor for the Wyoming BLM, told Cowboy State Daily.
Purdy said he could not discuss the allegations against Archuleta, but did underscore ongoing collaborations with BLM partners across Wyoming.
“Everybody recognizes that, so we have those close relationships with all of those different state agencies, Wyoming county commissioners, these are our partners and BLM is based on those kinds of strong partnerships,” said Purdy. “Here in Wyoming obviously, you know we have very close ties with the governor's office, Game and Fish, Wyoming Oil and Gas commission.”
“The governor and our office were made aware of this by the BLM state office and our office is engaging with the acting director,” Michael Pearlman, communications director for Gov. Gordon, told Cowboy State Daily. “The governor has no comment on the OIG report.”
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
