It should be celebrated that a man who once claimed that the founding fathers intended for all public lands to be sold and that climate science is “junk science” is no longer the acting leader of a federal agency that manages 10 percent of the US landmass, even if Interior is still keeping him on in a leadership role. Read more >

Pendley Is Ousted, but Interior Continues to Protect Its Illegal Hire
September 30, 2020 4:22 PM EDT

William Pendley is Still Bad News—and Still Illegally Leading the Bureau of Land Management
August 18, 2020 2:00 PM EDT
Pendley never should have been nominated in the first place. His myriad conflicts of interest and his very opposition to the mission of the agency he was nominated to lead should have disqualified him from the beginning. That makes it all the more troubling that the administration is illegally continuing Mr. Pendley as the effective acting administrator of the BLM despite withdrawing his nomination. Read more >

As Oil Prices Crash, BLM Wants to Open Up Public Lands in New Mexico for More Extraction
May 12, 2020 12:35 PM EDT
BLM leadership has chosen to use the current public health crisis to muffle the voices of people living near the public lands the agency is supposed to protect. The agency recently announced a plan to proceed with oil and gas extraction efforts in northern New Mexico, including in an area near Chaco Canyon National Historical Park Read more >

The Trump Administration’s Latest: A Plan to Foul the Alaska Arctic
December 6, 2019 6:32 AM EDT
In a complete disregard for science, conservation, and climate change, the administration has released a draft plan that could allow oil and gas operations on more than 17 million acres in Alaska’s Arctic. Read more >

Recusal Is Not an Excusal: William Pendley and Conflicts of Interest at the BLM
October 4, 2019 7:19 AM EDT
The acting director of the BLM is deeply conflicted, unqualified, and fundamentally opposed to the mission of the agency he is leading. Read more >