William Perry Pendley remains acting director of the Bureau of Land Management more than a month after his nomination to officially lead the agency was withdrawn.
Pendley was appointed to the role of acting director of the BLM in July 2019 by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. President Donald Trump nominated him to officially lead the public lands agency in July 2020. Pendley’s nomination was withdrawn Sept. 8 after an outcry from legislators and environmentalists because of his past legal work seeking to open public lands for development.
Pendley is the latest in a series of acting directors to lead the BLM. His nomination in July was the first time Trump put forth a candidate to lead the agency that manages more than 35 million acres of land in Colorado. The BLM has been without a Senate-confirmed director since January 2017. Environmentalists have criticized the lack of an appointment, saying that by not officially nominating candidates, the administration is subverting governmental checks and balances.
“It’s allowed the administration to bring forth people that would quite likely not pass through hearings in the Senate,” said Jimbo Buickerood, with the San Juan Citizens Alliance, a Durango-based environmental advocacy group.
Although the Trump administration did not give an official reason for the withdrawal of Pendley’s nomination, it came after doubts were raised whether Pendley would survive the nomination process. Pendley once argued in favor of the federal government selling off public lands, and as president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation had sued the Department of Interior to open public lands for development.
Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., who sits on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that would have led Pendley’s confirmation hearing, had said Pendley would face a “very, very difficult confirmation process,” although Gardner did not say whether he planned to support the nomination. He has not made a statement about Pendley’s role since the nomination was withdrawn.
Pendley remains acting head of the agency and will do so until Bernhardt nominates a new acting director, Pendley is removed from the position or a candidate for director is confirmed by the Senate.
“To me, it’s apparent that the strategy in withdrawing (Pendley’s) nomination is to keep him ... as the acting director as long as possible,” Buickerood said. Although it is difficult to know what decisions from the BLM are made by which levels of the agency’s leadership, Buickerood said that the agency has been negating community input in its decisions.
“It doesn’t matter what the local expertise is, or the field manager or the state director. ... They’re making the decisions in D.C., and as much as they talk about local input ... they’re not taking it in.”
Recently, the agency’s headquarters was officially moved from the nation’s capital to Grand Junction because the administration said it wanted the agency to be headquartered closer to the actual lands it manages; however, concerns remain about the BLM’s procedures.
Buickerood pointed to a resource management plan that the BLM released this year through its Uncompahgre Field Office as a sign of the negation of local input. The original plan introduced in 2019 was met with resistance as it expanded potential for oil and gas development in the region. Locals were concerned it would negatively impact the area’s agricultural and outdoor recreation prospects.
Colorado BLM leadership drafted an alternative plan intended to take the local communities’ concerns into consideration; however, most of the recommendations in the alternative plan were not incorporated into the final plan presented by the agency’s higher-ups.
Buickerood acknowledged that because of the bureaucracy within the BLM, there is no way of knowing exactly how much of a role Pendley or anyone else had in finalizing the resource plan, but he said the lack of acknowledgment of the local concerns is a reflection of issues present in the agency, both since Pendley’s appointment and in general since a Senate-confirmed director led the agency.
Since Pendley’s nomination was withdrawn, some have called for his removal from the position. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., joined 46 other members of the Senate Democratic Caucus in signing a letter to Bernhardt calling for Pendley’s removal. They signed a similar letter in early August calling for the withdrawal of Pendley’s nomination. The letter referenced Pendley’s advocacy for development on public lands and comments about selling off public lands.
However, there have been no changes to Pendley’s role since his nomination was withdrawn. With the Nov. 3 presidential election just a few weeks away and a Supreme Court nomination fight looming in the Senate, few expect to see any new nomination to the position before the election, regardless of who wins.
John Purcell is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C.
