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Bureau of Land Management’s Acting Director William Perry Pendley reinstated yet again

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Now? Indefinitely

DURANGO, Colo. — In response to the fifth reinstatement, and now apparent indefinite appointment of William Perry Pendley as Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management, without Congressional approval, Anna Peterson, the Executive Director of The Mountain Pact, issued this statement:

“The continued re-appointment of William Perry Pendley as the Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management, in defiance of Congressional oversight and approval, threatens our public lands. And now, indefinitely?

“Simply put, in direct opposition to what nearly three quarters of Americans say that the agency should do, Mr. Pendley prioritizes increasing oil and natural gas development and selling off America’s public lands more than he does on conserving and expanding our natural wild spaces.

“William Perry Pendley is not qualified to lead the Bureau of Land Management, and he and the Department of the Interior are blatantly attempting to circumvent the Senate’s constitutional “advice and consent” role in confirming high-level nominees. His continued re-appointment as Acting Director and now indefinite appointment sets a dangerous precedent in allowing an individual in a temporary, non-Senate confirmed position to make permanent and detrimental decisions about the management of America’s public lands.

“Mr. Pendley’s continued role as Acting Director and the absence of an official presidential nomination is an egregious abuse of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, and he must be removed.”

By Anna Peterson, Executive Director 
The Mountain Pact