DOINews: Influential BLM Land Law Expert Retires after 40 Years of Federal Service

Nate Felton, supervisory land law examiner in the Bureau of Land Management Eastern States Office, will retire this month after 40 years of federal service. Felton began his career in the Bureau of Reclamation as a senior in high school, and continued his federal service with the BLM ESO for 36 consecutive years.

Mike Nedd, former BLM ESO state director and current BLM assistant director of Minerals and Realty Management, and Bob Faithful, former BLM ES associate state director and long-time Department of the Interior employee and leader, celebrate Nate Felton's retirement at a special luncheon. (From left: Nedd, Felton and Faithful.)

From his first position with Eastern States, Felton has been hands-on with patents and tract books. He said, “When you work with them every day, you develop a real appreciation for these records.”

As a machine operator (GS-3), Felton made copies of the General Land Office conveyance documents in response to requests from the public, attorneys and title companies. This was his first exposure to the timeless patents and other historic documents in the GLO collection. Each successive career assignment and experiences built upon that foundation, until one day Felton found himself providing expert witness testimony for a BLM quit title law suit.

Throughout his career, Felton has had daily contact with internal and external customers on a wide range of issues surrounding the legal status of lands. He has adjudicated difficult, unusual and complex land cases involving claims or applications for rights, privileges or benefits under public land laws. He has also evaluated and analyzed proposed rules, regulations, directives and manuals that impact the operations of land law adjudication. Bureau solicitors and private stakeholders respect the years of cumulative research Felton has put into his work and recognize him as an authority.

Coincidentally, his retirement comes as the BLM ESO prepares to relocate the state office from its current location in Springfield, Va. to Washington, D.C. While an overwhelming task at times, the staff has the benefit of Felton's experience with an earlier move of the office from a location in Silver Spring, Md. The biggest challenge ESO employees faced during that move across the Potomac is the same challenge now: the relocation of irreplaceable GLO records.

Because of Felton's stewardship and a personal sense of obligation to the tract books, he has done more than anyone else to ensure that they remain in the custody of the BLM ESO. He explained, “The tract books are ‘vital records' according to the BLM Manual. Actual language of laws dating back to the early 1800's specify that tract books are the final authority for adjudicating lands cases.”

BLM employee Kemba Anderson-Artis presents Nate Felton with a quill writing instrument from the BLM ESO Division of Natural Resources, in recognition of the special passion he has for the historic documents that have been the focal point of his career.

Felton takes a great deal of pride in the bureau's land management mission. But he often explains that the ESO's responsibility as a title company actually does set the office apart somewhat. “The General Land Office mission never went away,” he said. “We are still custodians of the Secretary of the Interior's collection of records.”
Felton's last official act as a BLM ESO employee will be to write the interest announcement for his replacement. The ESO employees have every faith that this new member of the Eastern States family will succeed, but will miss working with someone who feels the mission as he does.

"Nate is a truly exceptional public servant who has tirelessly dedicated his career to the BLM and the Eastern States Office,” said Dr. John Lyon, the BLM ESO state director. “He has been the bedrock of our lands and adjudication division, as well as a pioneer and leader as the first African-American land law examiner in the BLM. We will miss him terribly, but we wish him and his wife, Carole, our best wishes in this next chapter of their lives."

By: Davida Carnahan, public affairs specialist, BLM-ESO
Dec. 23, 2013

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