Protect Our Public Lands
Reject Pearce Nomination for Public Lands
The US Senate is scheduled to deliberate and vote on the appointment of the Director of The Bureau of Land Management at 8:30 a.m. Central Time, Wednesday, Feb. 25. The President has nominated Steve Pearce, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives for New Mexico, to be the director of the Bureau.
The person chosen to lead the Bureau wields extraordinary power over wildlife habitat, and land-use decisions. This agency controls 245 million acres of public land, including the huge Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, in Utah; the Upper Missouri Breaks (of Lewis and Clark fame) in Montana; and even 86 islands in Lake Vermillion. Besides Wilderness Areas and National Monuments, the Bureau manages hundreds of millions of acres of subsurface minerals deposits, grants permits and leases for ranchers to use lands for livestock grazing, and manages more than 63,000 oil and gas wells on public lands.
Pearce is an avowed anti-public lands advocate with strong ties to the oil and gas industry. The conservationist community has expressed fierce opposition. Western Watersheds Project stated: “Pearce is not just unfit for the job. His long record shows he is actively hostile to the core values the agency is supposed to uphold”. Deb Haaland, Former United States Secretary of the Interior, warned that Pearce is “a dangerous choice”.
Our Call to Action
Contact our U.S. Senators to urge them to oppose the confirmation of Steve Pearce for BLM Director. The time is now— Pearce's confirmation hearing is slated to begin tomorrow (at 8:30 a.m. Central Time, Wednesday, Feb. 25). The up-to-date hearing schedule should be posted on energy.senate.gov/hearings (http://energy.senate.gov/hearings).
Suggested script:
Block U.S. Representative Steve Pearce (R-NM) from being appointed as director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Put in a sentence or two about why this issue is important to you. Do you care about protecting wilderness areas? Have you traveled to some areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management? Are you concerned about climate change? Do you want to ensure public lands do not subsidize private profits?
Contact information.
U.S. Senator Tina Smith:
DC Office Phone: (202) 224-5641
MN Office Phone: (651) 221-1016
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar:
DC Office Phone: (202) 224-3244
DC Office Fax: (202) 228-2186
MN Office Phone: (612) 727-5220
