President Donald Trump has nominated former U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce (R-New Mexico) to lead the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which oversees about 10% of land in the country.
His nomination has been met with a mixed response.
The Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas companies, said Pearce, as a westerner himself, understands the BLM’s mission.
“Steve [Pearce] has been a longtime friend who understands the value of energy development among other uses,” the alliance’s president, Melissa Simpson, said in a statement.
Pearce, who owned an oilfield services company, is known for supporting energy development on federal lands and fighting against the expansion of national monuments.
Before losing a run for New Mexico governor in 2018, Pearce served in the U.S. House for seven terms. The Senate will be responsible for confirming Pearce, and some Republican senators have applauded the nomination.
“This nomination is a major win for Wyoming and the entire west,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) said in a press release. “I urge a swift confirmation."
But for Sierra Club Conservation Campaign Director Dan Ritzman, this is bad news.
“It's bad news for our public lands. It's bad news for the climate,” Ritzman told the Mountain West New Bureau. “He’s going to put the values of the oil and gas industry and their leaders first.”
The League of Conservation Voters has classified 96% of Pearce’s votes as “anti-environment.”
The BLM manages 245 million acres of public land, most of which is in the West.
There is already energy development on many acres of BLM land, but the Trump administration has been pushing for more in its quest to “unleash American energy.”
Pearce is Trump’s second pick to lead the agency. The first was Kathleen Sgamma, the former president of the Western Energy Alliance. She withdrew after comments came to light of her criticizing Trump’s response to the 2021 insurrection.
Pearce didn’t respond to a request to comment.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
