This week’s appointment of William Perry Pendley as co-director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has drawn fire from Montana conservationists and sportsmen who see Perry as an opponent of public ownership of land.
A coalition including Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, the Montana Wilderness Association, the Montana Wildlife Federation, Montana Trout Unlimited and Montana Conservation Voters voice strong opposition to Pendley’s appointment, the Missoula Current reports.
“The BLM manages some of the most revered places in Montana, and we now have someone in charge of the BLM who would prefer to sell those places off rather than do the job of caring for them on behalf of all Americans,” said Kayje Booker, Montana Wilderness Association policy and advocacy director. “It’s hard to imagine anyone in this position more dangerous than William Perry Pendley.”
Pendley, of Colorado, was lead counsel for a Louisiana oil company that is suing the federal government for oil-drilling rights in the Badger-Two Medicine National Monument. He was also president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a property-rights group.
“On July 15, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt hired Pendley as the BLM’s deputy director of policy and programs, a position newly created for him. A week later, Bernhardt moved Pendley into a co-leadership spot with Michael Nedd after the previous acting director, Casey Hammond, stepped down,” Missoula Current staff writer Laura Lundquist reports.
“Pendley now oversees the management of 250 million acres of public land and 700 million acres of subsurface mineral rights throughout the nation. In Montana, the BLM manages approximately 8 million acres of public land, including a region just east of Missoula where conservation groups are opposing a recent draft management plan that emphasizes extractive activities.”
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| William Perry Pendley (Missoula Current photo) |
“The BLM manages some of the most revered places in Montana, and we now have someone in charge of the BLM who would prefer to sell those places off rather than do the job of caring for them on behalf of all Americans,” said Kayje Booker, Montana Wilderness Association policy and advocacy director. “It’s hard to imagine anyone in this position more dangerous than William Perry Pendley.”
Pendley, of Colorado, was lead counsel for a Louisiana oil company that is suing the federal government for oil-drilling rights in the Badger-Two Medicine National Monument. He was also president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a property-rights group.
“On July 15, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt hired Pendley as the BLM’s deputy director of policy and programs, a position newly created for him. A week later, Bernhardt moved Pendley into a co-leadership spot with Michael Nedd after the previous acting director, Casey Hammond, stepped down,” Missoula Current staff writer Laura Lundquist reports.
“Pendley now oversees the management of 250 million acres of public land and 700 million acres of subsurface mineral rights throughout the nation. In Montana, the BLM manages approximately 8 million acres of public land, including a region just east of Missoula where conservation groups are opposing a recent draft management plan that emphasizes extractive activities.”
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