** Acting BLM chief to defend relocation before Congress
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Tuesday, September 10, 2019
William Perry Pendley, Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])

William Perry Pendley, acting director of the Bureau of Land Management, will appear ([link removed]) before the House Natural Resources Committee this morning to testify on the agency's relocation plans. Pendley, who has spent his career advocating ([link removed]) for selling off ([link removed]) public lands ([link removed]) , has not been considered by the Senate, making him one of the many ([link removed]) Trump administration officials in an "acting" capacity. As a result, this is the first time
([link removed]) he will appear before Congress and will be lawmakers' first opportunity to question him.

Since it was announced, there has been widespread opposition to the relocation, based on the fact that the vast majority of BLM employees are already located in the West and the remaining staff in Washington D.C. are placed there for a reason. Steve Ellis, former deputy director of operations for the BLM, expresses this concern ([link removed]) : "It will be very difficult for the headquarters staff dispersed across the West to have daily, informal interactions with their counterparts in other national organizations who will remain in Washington, D.C. My concern is that over time, the BLM's voice will be lost in the national conversations about natural resource management. A loss that will likely result in national policies that are less balanced, and potentially smaller budgets for public lands."

Today's hearing ([link removed]) is the House Natural Resources Committee's first since returning from the August recess and will begin at 10am ET.
Quick hits


** Documents show extent of Interior plan to decentralize BLM
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The Hill ([link removed])


** BLM leader will defend agency's relocation before Congress
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The Hill ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])


** Cleaning up abandoned wells is costly to states
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Colorado Public Radio ([link removed])


** Oil drilling plan near Utah monument draws tribal opposition
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** Wyoming lawmakers want to make state and private land swaps easier
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Casper Star-Tribune ([link removed])


** Montana considers changing oil field waste disposal rules
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** Alabaster mining could soon start on land removed from Grand Staircase-Escalante
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


** Opinion: America's public land and waters need help of Congress
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The Hill ([link removed])
Quote of the day
When this oil and gas leasing happens on or near sacred lands, it risks destabilizing the bedrock (of the structures)... Hovenweep is in all of our stories, and to threaten the integrity of these structures jeopardizes everything we've carried forward as resilient people.”
—Ahjani Yepa, member of Utah Diné Bikéyah, Associated Press ([link removed])
Picture this


** @COParksWildlife ([link removed])
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Sunrise in Colorado's Staunton State Park


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