further, her husband’s family would have to therein concerning Reagan’s grazing polidivest themselves of all BLM ranching enter- cies) As you can tell from the titles, Pendley prises. Instead, she accepted a position in was no fan of the environmental lobbyists the Solicitor’s office. or the entrenched bureaucracy in their by Frank Dubois We then rocked along for several years attempts to rule over the West. Take a guess. with various individuals moving in and out Pendley has been reappointed several Who is running of the position as temporary appointees. times, supposedly in compliance with the the BLM? Finally, in July of 2019 Secretary Bernhardt 1998 Federal Vacancies Reform Act. The appointed William Perry Pendley as the enviros don’t like the process and they acting director of BLM. I had known Pendley really don’t like Pendley. One spokesman for over thirty years. He had served at Inte- said selecting Pendley to run the BLM is like, he question four years ago was, “who rior during the Reagan Administration as “putting an arsonist in charge of the city fire is going to be the Bureau of Land Man- the deputy for energy and minerals at the department.” agement (BLM) director during the same time that I had served as the deputy Undeterred by all the enviro noise, PresTrump Administration?” At first we were for land and water. His appointment was ident Trump officially nominated Pendley told it would be Karen Budd-Falen. That controversial among environmental and to be the BLM director, which required would be good (at least from my perspec- liberal groups, primarily because of the Senate approval. Several months later, the tive) because I had hired her as a student positions he had taken as the author of President withdrew the nomination. Why? employee at the Interior department during several books. A prolific writer, Pendley had I’m positive it was at the request of two the Reagan Administration. Since then she penned volumes with titles such as War on weak-kneed Republican Senators who were had returned to Wyoming, earned her law the West: Government Tyranny on America’s up for reelection: Cory Gardner of Colorado degree, and had established herself as a Frontier; It Takes A Hero: The Grass Roots and Steve Daines of Montana. Gardner was very successful natural resource attorney. Battle Against Environmental Oppression; behind in the polls and Daines was in a However, we learned the ethics office at and Warriors for the West: Fighting Bureau- close race with the Governor of Montana. Interior had placed such onerous restric- crats, Radical Groups, and Liberal Judges on Meanwhile, the enviros decided to file tions on her appointment as to make it America’s Frontier. Most recently he penned suits challenging the continuous temporary impossible for her to accept the job. As I Sagebrush Rebel: Reagan’s Battle with Envi- appointments. In May of this year the Public recall she would have had to sell all her BLM ronmental Extremists and Why It Matters Employees for Environmental Responsibilpermits (she came from a long term ranch- Today. (Full disclosure: I was interviewed by ity (PEER) and the Western Watersheds ing family in Wyoming), and going even Pendley for this volume and am quoted Project objected to the continued appointments of the acting leaders of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Park Service (NPS). Their lawsuit was filed in the D.C. district court. In July, the current Governor of Montana, Steve Bullock, filed a lawsuit claiming Interior Secretary David Auction Bernhardt’s temporary delegation of Co., Inc. authority to Pendley violated the Constitution’s requirement that major officials undergo Senate confirmation. And yes, this is the same Bullock who is running against Daines in the Senate race. Steve Bullock is a former candidate for a political office Every Friday at 9 a.m. (President), currently holds a political office (Governor), is running for another political office (Senator), is suing over a political appointee (BLM Director) and yet has the audacity to say the lawsuit “has nothing to do with running for Senate”, i.e. is nonpolitical? Does he honestly believe we don’t 1st Tuesday think he conducted an internal poll before of Every Month at 10 a.m. filing this lawsuit, or that it has nothing to do with national fundraising for his camBelenLivestockAuction.com paign? Sorry, Governor, but we suspect For more information or to consign cattle, please give us a call or drop both things and recognize this for what it by. We guarantee our same high quality service as in the past. is, a political lawsuit. Bullock’s lawsuit was filed in Montana P.O. Box 608 • Belen, NM district court before an Obama-appointed OFFICE: 505/864-7451 • FAX: 505-864-7073 judge. Surprise, surprise, the judge ruled BRANDON MAJOR — 505-270-4873 • ELIJAH PADILLA — 505-573-0546 Pendley, “served unlawfully... for 424 days.” BUCKY RUSSELL — 505-410-3216 • CHARLIE MYERS - 505 269-9075 Pendley “had not been properly appointed NEW MEXICO FEDERAL LANDS NEWS
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