"BLM: Long-Buried IG Probe Finds Ex-Official Took Gifts, Lied"

"A former top Bureau of Land Management official in New Mexico who later headed an oil and gas trade group accepted improper industry gifts while at the agency and 'attempted to obstruct' a federal investigation into his conduct, according to an inspector general's report that was kept from the public for more than three years.

The Interior Department IG's investigation centered on Steve Henke, who retired as manager of BLM's Farmington field office in May 2010 to become president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, which lobbies BLM and state regulators on a wide range of energy policy issues.

The investigation found 'no evidence' that Henke 'violated conflict of interest laws' by going to work for the association shortly after retiring from BLM."

Scott Streater reports for Greenwire September 7, 2016.