The Bureau of Land Management’s new acting director, William Perry Pendley, is a longtime proponent of selling off public lands and waters
The Trump administration’s move to appoint William Perry Pendley to the top policy position at the Bureau of Land Management comes as yet another blow in its continued assault on public lands.
As Time, The Washington Post and The New York Times have reported, Pendley is a longtime and outspoken advocate for selling public lands. When he assumed the role of acting director of the BLM on Monday, July 29, the announcement caused widespread alarm across the conservation community, particularly in Western states. In Oregon, the agency manages 13.5 million acres, mainly in the high desert.
ONDA Executive Director Ryan Houston had this to say:
“From our perspective, as an organization dedicated to preserving and restoring the sagebrush steppe ecosystem, having a Bundy sympathizer and a Sagebrush Rebellion proponent at the helm of the BLM could not be more concerning.Pendley’s views are completely out of line with the majority of Americans who want public lands to stay in public hands and to be protected for the future. These are the constituents that the Interior Department should be listening to.
Thousands of knowledgeable people who know and love the landscapes they manage work for the BLM. But this administration is skipping over these people who have worked for the BLM for their entire careers and instead appointing someone who has relentlessly attacked the very notion of public lands.
It’s really appalling to see Interior deny the accusations that they are aiming to dismantle America’s prized legacy of public lands. If you’re not looking to sell off our public lands, then we can give you a long list of better choices to head up this agency.
This is 100% partisan cronyism. Putting William Perry Pendley in charge of 248 million acres of public land nationwide is, as other conservation and sportsmen groups have already noted, asking the fox to guard the hen house.”
