Former New Mexico Rep. Stevan Pearce is President Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management. The agency oversees nearly 250 million acres of federal land, and 700 million acres of subsurface minerals. If voted in, Pearce would fill the position held by Montanan Tracy Stone-Manning under former President Biden.
Pearce was questioned by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee about his vision for the agency. His initial nomination drew criticism from public lands advocacy groups for his past support of privatizing and selling off federal land. Democratic lawmakers echoed these doubts at the two hour hearing.
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon:
"Not long ago, you said, with respect to public land located in western states, 'most of it, we do not even need.' Now, my question to you then is, is there too much public land in the West now, in your view?"
Pearce said that statement was made out of frustration from his time as a congressman trying to work with federal agencies.
"I do not believe that we're going to go out and wholesale land from the federal government," he told the committee.
Current law does not allow the BLM to sell large swaths of public lands without congressional approval – a point Pearce continued to reiterate throughout the hearing. But changes to those laws have been attempted in recent years, including this past fall by Utah Sen.Mike Lee, chairman of the Natural Resource Committee. Montana’s congressional delegation was instrumental in killing Lee’s sell-off proposal last fall. Public lands advocates are hopeful that trend will continue.
Montana Sen. Steve Daines did not question Pearce’s stance on public lands during the hearing.
The BLM oversees 8 million acres of public land in Montana. BLM lands are mixed-use – from grazing, to oil and gas extraction, wildlife habitat and migration corridors, and a variety of recreation activities. Well known BLM lands in western Montana include the Madison River corridor, the Centennial Valley, and fishing access sites along the Blackfoot River.
Sally Schrank with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition says she hopes to see Daines and other members of Montana’s congressional delegation continue to support public lands.
"We know that the push to sell off and privatize public lands is far from over. Mr. Pearce would likely be a willing partner to those who wish to sell off public lands. And we'd hope our senators in Montana would oppose this nomination of Mr. Pearce if he still supports selling America's public lands."
Pearce will need to receive a majority vote in the Senate to confirm his nomination.
