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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Sporting Community: Remove Pendley as BLM Head Immediately

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Monday, August 31, 2020   

HELENA, Mont. -- Western hunters, anglers and conservation groups are calling for the immediate removal of William Perry Pendley as head of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Pendley has served as acting director of the agency for more than a year. He was formally nominated to be director in June, but had his nomination pulled after a public outcry.

Alec Underwood, director of federal conservation campaigns for the Montana Wildlife Federation, said removing Pendley is just as much about protecting public lands as it is about transparency.

"The fact that he was nominated and then his nomination was withdrawn very quickly shows that Pendley is unfit to serve in a lead role," Underwood said. "And that the opposition from hunters and anglers and groups around the nation turned that decision around."

The National Wildlife Federation and its western affiliates have sent a letter to senators calling for his dismissal.

They say a string of temporary appointments to keep Pendley in office were illegally used to avoid a Senate confirmation process required by the Constitution.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock also has asked a federal judge to remove Pendley from his post. He has remained the de facto leader of the BLM because of a succession order he signed.

Underwood said the lack of a confirmed BLM director has come at the expense of public lands.

"To top it all off, we have not had a BLM director appointed under this administration," Underwood said. "And while we could have spent time improving public lands management, we've wasted time opposing somebody who was unfit from the start."

The BLM oversees 248 million acres of public lands.

In their letter to senators, the group also called out Pendley's inflammatory statements about the Black Lives Matter movement, immigrants and the LGBTQ community.


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