** Calls to remove anti-public lands BLM chief intensify
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Tuesday, August 25, 2020
William Perry Pendley | @Sagebrush_Rebel ([link removed])
Calls to remove William Perry Pendley, the anti-public lands extremist serving as acting Bureau of Land Management director, are intensifying ([link removed]) . Although President Trump formally withdrew his nomination ([link removed]) to become BLM director last week, Interior Secretary Bernhardt made clear he would leave Pendley in charge of the 10,000-person agency responsible for managing one-tenth of America.
Now, 47 U.S. Senators are demanding Pendley be removed ([link removed]) , citing his extensive racist, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-public lands track record ([link removed]) . "For the same reasons that Mr. Pendley is unfit to be confirmed as director, he is unfit to exercise the authority of the director without being confirmed, and we ask that you remove Mr. Pendley from this position," says the letter ([link removed]) , led by Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico.
Prior to Pendley's failed nomination, President Trump had not nominated a BLM director for the entirety of his term, and multiple lawsuits allege that the administration is violating the Vacancies Reform Act ([link removed]) by allowing Pendley to serve as acting BLM director for years. Last week it was revealed that Pendley signed the very order ([link removed]) currently allowing him to serve as acting director, an act that legal scholars believe is illegal ([link removed]) .
Quick hits
** Voter support for drilling on public lands has dropped significantly since 2014
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Morning Consult ([link removed])
** Multiple lawsuits filed against Interior Department plan to drill in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | Alaska Public Media ([link removed]) | Bloomberg ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed])
** Colorado regulators begin overhaul of oil and gas drilling rules
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])
** Wolverines return to Mount Rainier National Park after 100 years
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Seattle Times ([link removed])
** Squatters rights? Forest Service ponders how to handle decades old cabin on public land in Montana
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Billings Gazette ([link removed])
** EPA to initiate review of historic mining sites in Utah, impacts on drinking water
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Deseret News ([link removed])
** Opinion: With millions of acres of inaccessible public lands, it's time for a change
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Backpacker ([link removed])
** Opinion: Leaving Pendley in charge of BLM is pinnacle of bad faith
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Colorado Newsline ([link removed])
Quote of the day
[Colorado's] current setback is 500 feet, about one city block. No one wants oil and gas operating one block from their home. We wouldn’t let a factory or refinery set-up shop next to someone’s house.”
—Mike Freeman, Earthjustice attorney, Colorado Sun ([link removed])
Picture this
** @BLMNational ([link removed])
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Take a short break from your day and escape on a musical virtual visit to the #publiclands ([link removed]) of @BLMNewMexico ([link removed]) 's Gila Lower Box Canyon Wilderness Study Area: [link removed] ([link removed]) .
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