Proponent of Public Land Sell Offs Will Continue to Lead BLM

Photo credit: Leslie Kehmeier, via BLM Flickr

Last week, Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced that he would extend the tenure of William Perry Pendley, who has been leading the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) since the summer.

Pendley is an outspoken advocate for selling off America’s public lands. In a piece he wrote for the National Review in 2016, he argued that “The Founding Fathers intended all lands owned by the federal government to be sold.” Now he’s in charge of the BLM, which cares for 245 million acres of public lands.

Pendley was installed as acting director of the BLM in July, since the agency has been without an official director since Trump entered office. While it’s important that these roles are filled, they are supposed to be confirmed by the Senate. Senate confirmation ensures some balance in these appointments and gives voters the opportunity to have a voice in who is installed in important offices.

Pendley’s background – as an advocate for selling off America’s public lands – would likely come under scrutiny in the Senate during a confirmation vote and some people surmise it would be difficult for him to get confirmed.

In the meantime, the agency is moving ahead with relocating its DC headquarters to Grand Junction, which is primarily a political move intended to shed top leadership positions. 96% of the BLM’s employees already live out west, and the few that are based in DC are here to work with other agencies and government leadership. We’ve written a bit more about that here

You can help by writing your Senators to express your concern about this appointment, and ask them to hold the administration accountable. We’ve made it easy with the tool below: