Pendley’s nomination as the actual head of the BLM would face tough Senate confirmation hearings because of his ultraconservative views. The BLM is the caretaker of 245 million acres of public lands and 700 million acres of natural resources. In Nevada, instead of holding traditional quarterly lease sales, the BLM began holding monthly lease sales in September. The agency offered nearly 1.8 million acres of land, much of it in big game migration areas or sage grouse habitats, according to the National Wildlife Federation. “The Founding Fathers intended all lands owned by the federal government to be sold,” he wrote in a National Review magazine article in 2016.

Source: Washington Post January 02, 2020 22:59 UTC