Steve Pearce, former New Mexico House Member and outspoken champion for the SALE of public lands, is now Donald Trump’s nominee for Director of the Bureau of Land Management. Throughout his career, Steve Pearce has taken deliberate steps to erode public lands ownership and ecological protections. He currently has a personal interest in oil and gas, including a company he owns that is heavily associated with the industry. Now, he could become the decision maker on 245 million acres of our public lands.
Steve’s slimy public-lands track record could fill up a dumpster, but here’s a succinct, albeit stinky, list of his most wretched moments: |
-
2006: Introduced the public land “giveaway” bill
- Pearce’s 2006 bill would permit counties to claim the power to create passages through national parks, national forests, wilderness areas, and military bases, and open trails to motorized vehicles.
-
2008: Attempted to eliminate wilderness study areas and sell 60,000 acres
- By introducing the Doña Ana County Planned Growth, Open Space and Rangeland Preservation Act, Steve Pearce hoped to void eight wilderness study areas and dispose of over 60,000 acres of BLM land.
-
2011: Prompted Catron County to bulldoze the Gila National Forest
-
Defying the need for Clean Water Act permits or Forest Service permission, Pearce issued a news release declaring Gila National Forest roads “open for use.” He claimed the Forest Service had “bullied the people of New Mexico into believing that they can close our roads.”
- 2011: Urged counties to illegally take control of federal lands within their borders
- This extreme and erroneous public lands sale tactic is often proposed with the idea that “counties can run their own public lands.” Steve doesn’t mence words. He doesn’t believe any land should remain public.
- 2012: Vowed to “reverse this trend of public ownership.”
- Steve said this in a speech he gave at CPAC in 2012. Does it get more incriminating than that?
- 2012: Led a proposal to liquidate public lands to reduce the deficit
- Despite the billions of dollars generated on public lands through recreation and tourism, Steve proposed selling our national public lands, “most of which we do not even need.”
- 2016: Co-sponsored the HEARD Act to sell off public lands
- This bill would have authorized the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to dispose of national public lands through sale or exchange to local governments.
|
|
|
What's at Stake in the Eastern Sierra? |
|
|
Here in the Eastern Sierra, nearly half of the land is managed by the BLM. These landscapes are central to our way of life: |
-
They provide world-class recreation, from climbing in the Buttermilks to hiking in the Southern Inyo Mountains.
- They hold sacred cultural sites for Indigenous communities.
- They support local economies by drawing visitors who come to hike, climb, fish, camp, and explore the Eastern Sierra.
- They serve as critical wildlife corridors, connecting habitats across the Sierra Nevada, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert.
|
The Bureau of Land Management currently manages both the Bodie Hills and Conglomerate Mesa. Should Steve Pearce be confirmed as the Director of the BLM, our efforts to defend these areas from the threat of mining would be greatly impaired. |
|
|
Steve Pearce’s hearing for the position of Director of the Bureau of Land Management is expected within the month. Let’s make sure our senators know we oppose giving this anti-public lands advocate control over 245 million acres of the land he hopes to eliminate. |
CALL Adam Schiff: (202) 224-3841 CALL Alex Padilla (202) 224-3553 |
Outside California? Call Capitol Switchboard (202-224-3121) |
|
|
Donate to Friends of the Inyo Please donate to help ensure Friends of the Inyo can continue to push back on attacks against public lands and the environment. |
| Volunteer with Friends of the Inyo Give back to the land and help support public land managers in this difficult time. Sign up for our Volunteer email newsletter to be notified of volunteer opportunities. |
|
|
Don't let another anti-public lands advocate get put in charge of the public lands they wish to dismantle. |
|
|
|
.jpg)
