Billings, Mont. — President Donald Trump nominated a former New Mexico state lawmaker on Wednesday to oversee management of vast public lands that play a role Central role In Republican attempts to intensify Fossil fuel production.
The Senate must confirm the Bureau of Land Management’s nominee, former Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico. She runs the agency A quarter of a billion acres — About 10% of the land in the United States, it is also responsible for 700 million acres of underground minerals, including major reserves of oil, natural gas, and coal.
The agency’s policies swung sharply as control of the White House shifted between Republicans and Democrats.
Under Democratic President Joe Biden, former bureau director Tracy Stone Manning restricted oil drilling and coal mining on federal lands while expanding Renewable energy In an attempt to reduce climate change.
Trump and Republicans in Congress moved quickly to expose Biden’s actions. Within months, they opened millions of acres of public lands to mining and drilling and scrapped land plans and conservation strategies that took the Biden administration years to formulate.
But some moves haven’t panned out, including Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee’s proposal to sell More than 2 million acres From federal lands to states or other entities. In October, it attracted the largest government coal lease sale in more than a decade Dirt cheap try Which was denied by BLM.
The previous nominee to lead the agency, Kathleen Sjama, a longtime oil and gas industry representative, withdrew in April after it was revealed that she Trump criticized in 2021 Charged with incitement to January 6 Attack on the US Capitol.
Pierce is a former fighter pilot and Vietnam War veteran who led a successful oil services company in New Mexico. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2003 and served seven terms in a district that spans oil fields and vast swaths of public land under federal supervision.
Pierce had a conservative voting record and defended New Mexico ranchers when parts of the Lincoln National Forest were closed to protect the endangered New Mexico prairie jumping mouse.
He ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Tom Udall in 2008, and lost a bid for governor in 2018 to Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Pierce later served as state Republican Party chairman and was a vocal supporter of Trump, who lost three times in New Mexico.
The land office went four years without a confirmed director during Trump’s first term. The Republican president also moved his headquarters to Colorado before returning it to Washington, D.C., under Biden.
The agency had about 9,250 employees at the start of the government shutdown on Oct. 1. This has decreased by about 800 employees since the beginning of Trump’s term, after widespread layoffs and resignations due to the administration’s efforts Reducing the size of the federal workforce.
Oil, gas and coal permitting continued during the shutdown and most Land Office employees were furloughed.
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Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico.