Saw a great show on the History Channel that gave details on the BLM's involvement in helium. Basically it runs the US national Helium storage facility, they pump it into the ground somewhere out west, Texas maybe, and store 2/3ds of the World supply of Helium there. Pretty cool show.
Yet another bureaucracy and tax expenditure from WWI days. The bureaucracy was created for our zeppelin program.
In the 1930's the United States controlled almost the entire world Helium supply and refused to sell it to the Nazis, which is why the Hindenburg used Hydrogen.