Trump nominates anti-public lands advocate to lead blm

On Tuesday, William Perry Pendley was officially nominated by Donald Trump to be the first permanent director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) during Trump’s presidency. Yes, you read that correctly. For the last four years, the Trump administration has skirted the political system of checks and balances by allowing “acting directors” to run several public land agencies. Pendley, one of those acting directors selected by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, was tasked with managing 245 million acres of public lands. This official nomination from the White House is three and a half years too late and is still the wrong candidate.

What should have happened?

When Trump was elected president, he had the responsibility of nominating people to leadership roles across all government agencies. Once someone is nominated for a role, the Senate is tasked to assess whether or not the individual is the right fit for leading an agency by voting to confirm the individual. Two-thirds, or 67 members of the Senate must agree to confirm Pendley to the role of BLM Director.

Who is Pendley?

Like many other public land officials involved in this administration, Pendley has a long history of staunchly supporting the sale of public lands. In addition to this, he’s also considered by many to be more of a fringe voice in the public lands conversation, emphasizing the need for less government control of land and claiming that “The Founding Fathers intended all lands owned by the federal government to be sold,” (National Review, 2016).

What can we do to stop this?

Many senators in key re-election races throughout the west, and across the country, rely on public lands voters. This puts those senators in a tricky position knowing that they will let those voters down if they confirm Pendley right before the November election. We can act now to put pressure on our senators, and let them know that we see Pendley as unfit to lead the BLM.