BLM

I can guess what your mind goes to here, but for my daily life, BLM means Bureau of Land Management. This agency, part of the Department of the Interior, manages about 250 million acres of public land, most of which is in western states.

Why does this matter to me? Well, I sleep in my car (safe from grizzlies AND sexual predators!), and since some campsites out here offer no amenities whatsoever, I started wondering about paying to sleep there. On BLM land, I can park and sleep for free instead of paying upwards of 30 dollars to park and sleep, sometimes with no running water. (Where do I shower when there are no facilities where I sleep? That’s for another post.)

Fun fact: The BLM also manages subsurface minerals:

When I’m out in the middle of nowhere, I sometimes use an app to find places to sleep on BLM land. One of them is called FreeRoam. It has reviews of the spaces available with information about amenities, crowdedness, noise, etc. Some of the spaces include land next to lakes that is used for boat ramp access, campgrounds that are actively managed or not, and national forest space.

Of course, there are many lovely campgrounds in national parks too. Last night, I slept in Craters of the Moon National Park in Idado (post forthcoming!), not BLM, but the low price makes up for the lack of amenities. Tonight, I will sleep at a free campground in Balanced Rock Park, managed by the BLM.