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Former U.S. Representative Steve Pearce, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management, is an avowed advocate of selling off public lands.
In a new Westwise blog post, Creative Content and Policy Manager Lilly Bock-Brownstein highlights seven occasions where Pearce has attempted to dispose of or undermine the management of America's public lands.
For example, in 2008, Pearce introduced a bill that sought to nullify eight wilderness study areas—including the Organ Mountains WSA, which is now protected as Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument—and mandate the disposal of over 60,000 acres of BLM land.
More recently, in 2016, Pearce co-sponsored the HEARD Act, which would have authorized the U.S. Interior and Agriculture departments to dispose of national public lands through sale or exchange to local governments.
Bock-Brownstein notes that Pearce's nomination is a threat to the very existence of public lands. “Confirming Pearce would put America’s public lands in the hands of someone who intends to destroy them, not steward them for future generations,” she writes.
Some park rangers still haven't gotten back pay after the shutdown
As many as 100 seasonal workers at the National Park Service have not received some back pay after being furloughed during the government shutdown, according to the The New York Times. The Interior department owes these workers as much as $200,000 in total. The situation is predominantly affecting seasonal workers at national parks in the Northern and Central Rockies—among the most visited parks in the U.S.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Look West will be taking a break for the rest of the week. We'll be back in your inbox on Monday, December 1.
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Philanthropy can't fund the national parks.”
