** Lawsuit challenges Colorado land use plan due to Pendley's involvement
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Wednesday, October 28, 2020
William Perry Pendley, BLM Deputy Director for Policy and Programs. Photo: BLM.gov ([link removed])

A coalition of conservation and citizen groups is challenging the legality ([link removed]) of the Bureau of Land Management's resource management plan for the Uncompahgre field office in southern Colorado on the basis that William Perry Pendley was improperly exercising the authority of director of the BLM when the plan was finalized.

The Colorado lawsuit follows a recent federal court ruling ([link removed]) in Montana that found Pendley had served illegally as acting director of the BLM for more than a year because he hadn’t been confirmed by the United States Senate and didn’t fall in the permitted category of people who can serve as acting director. Federal Judge Brian Morris ruled ([link removed]) that three Montana land use plans must be put on hold because of Pendley's involvement.

Melissa Hornbein, a staff attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center who is representing the conservation groups in the Colorado lawsuit said ([link removed]) , "Pendley’s authority as bureau director is invalid and planning decisions approved on his watch are likewise invalid. The RMP is blatant in its disregard of the law, and our new claim merely reflects the fact that its legal failings stem from Pendley’s unlawful leadership of the bureau.”

Conservation groups are suggesting that at least 16 resource management plans ([link removed]) and other actions covering more than 30 million acres are subject to potential legal challenges because of Pendley’s involvement.
Quick hits


** BLM approves massive arctic oil and gas drilling project in Alaska
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The Hill ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Bernhardt shares political "propaganda" video, flouting Interior ethics rules
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Barrett sworn in just in time for Supreme Court's Endangered Species Act legal battle
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Lawsuit challenges legality of Colorado BLM's land use plan due to Pendley's involvement
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Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Trump administration continues to undermine climate science, force scientists out of government service
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New York Times ([link removed])


** Wyoming uses "dark money" to keep coal operations open in other states to support its own industry
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NPR ([link removed])


** Interior faces lawsuit for opening, expanding hunting opportunities at national wildlife refuges, fish hatcheries
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The Hill ([link removed])


** Opinion: Disastrous 2020 wildfires should become America's "dust bowl" reckoning for climate, land use
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Like the dust squalls that blew out of the Plains, the mega-palls of today’s unbounded fires testify to a profound disruption between climate and land use. The big burns make undeniable the ways in which a legacy of unwise fire suppression, broken wildlands, careless urban sprawl and a climate ratcheting relentlessly toward greater flammability have colluded to spread havoc."
—Stephen J. Pyne ([link removed]) , Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University
Picture this


** @BLMFire ([link removed])
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Other items smokejumpers carry include 4 quarts of water, radio, fire shelter, hardhat, yellow shirt, batteries, headlamp, snacks, paperwork to run a fire with, TP, sunscreen, & other hygienic products. #NotYourOrdinaryJob ([link removed]) #FireJob ([link removed]) #FirefightingResources ([link removed])

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