Senate Confirms Fed. Land Agency Head  05/19 06:07

   

   ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump's 
pick to oversee the management of a quarter-billion acres of public lands on 
Monday, as the administration pushes ahead with more mining and drilling while 
reversing conservation plans.

   Former congressman Steve Pearce will lead the Interior Department's Bureau 
of Land Management following Monday's 46-43 confirmation vote. Pearce's 
background as a Republican Party leader in New Mexico known for supporting 
public land leasing and industry made him a contentious pick. Democrats and 
environmental groups were strongly opposed.

   He attempted to assuage any fears during his February confirmation hearing 
by noting that he grew up on a family farm where conserving the land and water 
was a necessity.

   "The security and economic health of the country, especially the western 
states, rests squarely with the BLM," he testified. "We can and must balance 
the different uses of public land. Local economies and future generations 
depend on us doing our job right."

   The land bureau has about 10,000 employees who manage roughly 10% of land in 
the U.S. It's also responsible for 700 million acres (283 million hectares) of 
underground minerals, including major reserves of oil, natural gas and coal.

   Trump and Republicans in Congress have been unraveling regulations from 
former President Joe Biden's administration that are viewed as burdensome to 
industry. They have opened millions of acres of public lands for mining and 
drilling and canceled land plans and conservation strategies formulated under 
Biden.

   The Democratic Party of New Mexico prior has called Pearce "an outright 
enemy of public lands," suggesting he's beholden to the oil and gas industry.

   The Center for Western Priorities said Pearce's confirmation was part of a 
broad assault by Trump and Republicans on public lands, pointing to the recent 
cancellation of grazing rules and other changes.

   Pearce, a former fighter pilot and Vietnam War veteran, served seven terms 
in the U.S. House representing a district that spans oil fields, including 
portions of the Permian Basin and vast tracts of other public land.

   He had a conservative voting record and advocated for ranchers when parts of 
Lincoln National Forest were closed to protect the endangered New Mexico meadow 
jumping mouse.

   Pearce has said that his time in Congress and his visits to constituents 
showed him that the federal government had become what he called an absentee 
landlord. Instead of partnering with states and local communities on land 
management, he said the government was ruling over them.

   As director, he vowed he would ensure local input would be part of his 
decision-making process.

   While in Congress, Pearce urged the U.S. Interior Department to reduce the 
size of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument outside Las Cruces, 
New Mexico, as part of a nationwide review of monument designations during 
Trump's first term. He said a reduction would preserve traditional business 
enterprises on public lands. That earned him lasting ire from environmentalists 
who called for his nomination to be rejected.