On May 18th, the Senate passed S. RES. 690, confirming Steave Pearce, 46-43, as Director of the Bureau of Land Management, a division of the Interior Department that manages a quarter-billion acres, representing more than a tenth of the nation’s lands.
Pearce testified that “the security and economic health of the country, especially the Western states, rests squarely with the BLM.” “We can and must balance the different uses of public land. Local economies and future generations depend on us doing our job right.”
Pearce is a former fighter pilot and Vietnam War veteran who served seven terms in the U.S. House representing New Mexico. He is a strong proponent for ranchers and had a conservative voting record.
Pearce has said while in Congress the federal government had become what he called an “absentee landlord”. Instead of partnering with states and local communities on land management, he said, “the government was ruling over them”.
As director, he vowed he would ensure that local input would be part of his decision-making process.
