Sierra Club Statement on Confirmation Hearing on Nomination of Steve Pearce to Lead BLM

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a confirmation hearing on Donald Trump's nomination of Steve Pearce to run the Bureau of Land Management.

During the hearing, Pearce was peppered with questions about his previous support for selling off vast swaths of federal public lands to private interests and opposition to national monuments. BLM manages approximately 245 million acres of public surface land and an additional 700 million acres of subsurface mineral rights.

Trump named the 78-year-old Pearce, an ex-U.S. Representative, as his second choice to run BLM in November. As a congressman, Pearce supported expanding oil and gas drilling on federal public lands and led the charge to shrink the size of existing national monuments. Pearce served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2003-2009, before attempting to run for New Mexico governor, a race he lost. He returned to Congress from 2011-2019, before launching a second gubernatorial bid, which he also lost. This week, Pearce's home state newspaperurged the Senate to reject his nomination.

Trump's first pick to run the agency, former head of the Western Energy Alliance Kathleen Sgamma, withdrew her nomination after emails condemning Trump's actions during the Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021, came to light.

In response, Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program, released the following statement:

"Steve Pearce's record speaks for itself. For years, he supported the mass sell-off of federal public lands to private developers. Pearce can say that only Congress can authorize the mass sale of public lands, but that's exactly what the Congressional GOP attempted this summer, until the American people told them 'no.' That should concern every American who treasures public lands and wants to preserve them for future generations. The Senate should remember what Americans across the political spectrum made clear over the summer and reject this nomination."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.