Conservation Groups Protest BLM Leader Who Supports Sale of Public Lands
Suzanne Potter, Producer
Monday, October 21, 2019
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Conservation groups are speaking out against the appointment of a long-time opponent of public ownership of federal lands to run the Bureau of Land Management. The National Wildlife Federation and all its western affiliates recently sent a letter to the feds opposing the appointment of William Perry Pendley - which was recently extended until January.
Tracy Stone-Manning, associate vice president for public lands with the National Wildlife Federation, said the president is supposed to formally nominate a candidate - who would then have a confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate.
"We have to stop this shady, underhanded back-door way of getting people into these positions, and do it in the light of day, through the regular process, in front of the American people,” Stone-Manning said.
Both President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt have said they oppose the sale of public lands. But Pendley has called on the federal government to dispose of publicly owned land and, when asked about the BLM's mission, he said, "We drill for oil. We mine coal. We cut trees. We allow ranchers to graze cattle."
The Bureau’s actual mission statement says the agency, which controls one-third of all public lands in the United States, must balance commercial concerns with recreation and conservation. Stone-Manning said a sell-off would rob the West of its natural heritage.
"It would fundamentally change who we are as westerners and ultimately change the health of those lands for wildlife habitat and for clean water and for the future,” she said.
Pendley also has expressed support for the Bundy family's armed standoff with the BLM in Nevada and for their takeover of a wildlife refuge in Oregon.
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