About the Interior Board of Land Appeals

The Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) is an appellate review body that exercises the delegated authority of the Secretary of the Interior to issue final decisions for the Department of the Interior. Its administrative judges decide appeals from bureau decisions relating to the use and disposition of public lands and their resources, mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf, and the conduct of surface coal mining operations under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. Located within the Department's Office of Hearings and Appeals, IBLA is separate and independent from the Bureaus and Offices whose decisions it reviews.

IBLA has the authority to consider the following types of cases:

• Appeals from a variety of decisions of the Bureau of Land Management, including but not limited to decisions regarding mining, grazing, energy development, royalty management, timber harvesting, wildfire management, recreation, wild horse and burro management, cadastral surveys, Alaska land conveyances, rights of way, land exchanges, and trespass actions;
• Appeals from decisions of the Office of Natural Resources Revenue and the Deputy Assistant Secretary - Natural Resources Revenue regarding royalty management;
• Appeals from decisions of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement regarding offshore operations;
• Appeals from decisions of the Bureau of Indian Affairs regarding minerals management on Indian lands;
• Appeals from decisions of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement regarding surface coal mining operations; and
• Appeals from decisions of administrative law judges in OHA's Departmental Cases Hearings Division.

IBLA is headed by a Chief Administrative Judge. Its decisions are final for the Department and may be appealed to the United States district courts.

Contact Information

Interior Board of Land Appeals
Office of Hearings and Appeals
U.S. Department of the Interior
801 N. Quincy Street, Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22203

703-235-3750 (voice)
703-235-9902 (facsimile)

Key Personnel

H. Barry Holt, Chief Administrative Judge
James K. Jackson, Administrative Judge
Christina S. Kalavritinos, Administrative Judge
T. Britt Price, Administrative Judge
James F. Roberts, Administrative Judge
Charles S. Yordy, Counsel to the Board
Ryan Murray, Docket Clerk

Resources

Finding IBLA Decisions
IBLA Digest covering 151 IBLA 1 (1999) through 172 IBLA 395 (2007)
IBLA Manual
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Data Sheet
Procedural Regulations for Cases before the Interior Board of Land Appeals