Steve Pearce Committee Approval Endangers California's Public Lands

SACRAMENTO - This week the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee voted 11-9 down party lines to move forward the nomination of Steve Pearce for Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Pearce is facing steep backlash from conservation, hunting and outdoor groups for his radical positions on land management. The Senate is expected to make a final vote on the nomination soon.

Pearce previously supported selling federal public lands to private interests and the mass expansion of oil and gas operations on public lands. He also worked to undermine climate action and attempted to shrink the size of national monuments. While serving in Congress, he made up to $2 million from personal stakes in oil and gas projects and received $2.3 million from the industry for his political campaigns.

According to BLM, it manages 15 percent of California's total land and 47 million acres of subsurface mineral estates. California Senator Alex Padilla, a committee member, voted against the nomination and was a leading proponent for the creation of the Chuckwalla National Monument, which is under attack by industry groups.

"Pearce is a disastrous choice for BLM and cannot be trusted when he suddenly says we shouldn't worry about his past remarks, including statements hinting that he believes we don't need public lands. We thank Sen. Padilla for voting 'No' and for defending Chuckwalla National Monument," said Mary Lunetta, Conservation Campaign Strategist at the Sierra Club. "Now we need more Senators to step up and recognize 'Sell Off Steve' and his fossil fuel backers run counter to everything people love and cherish about BLM lands. Their constituents consistently say public lands, recreation, wildlife and natural resources should be protected, not sold off to polluting industries. Those constituents are angry and losing faith under this radical administration."

"The nomination of Steve Pearce to lead the Bureau of Land Management is extremely troubling for our region. As someone who regularly leads hikes on BLM lands, I've seen firsthand how these landscapes connect people to nature - from wide-open desert vistas to quiet canyons where families come to learn about wildlife and public lands for the first time," said Norman Bossom, Outings Leader at Sierra Club's San Gorgonio Chapter. "Leadership at BLM should prioritize conservation, responsible stewardship, and public access. I worry that Pearce's record signals a shift toward prioritizing privatization, which could mean selling off or developing the very places we depend on for recreation, education, and renewal. These lands belong to all of us, and we deserve a director committed to safeguarding them for future generations."