In a Tuesday letter, the entire Senate Democratic caucus, which includes the independents, slammed Pendley and urged Trump to pick a new nominee. Pendley’s public record, including his advocacy for reducing public lands and access to them, routine attempts to undermine tribes, and climate change denial makes him unfit for the position,” reads the letter, led by Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. “We urge you to identify a new, qualified candidate for this critical position ― one who supports public lands and the mission of the Bureau of Land Management,” the lawmakers said. “47 hard no votes on William Perry Pendley confirmation,” Collin O’Mara, president of the nonprofit National Wildlife Federation, wrote in a Tuesday post to Twitter. He is a former leader of the so-called “Wise-Use movement,” a group of anti-government organizations pushing to boost mining, drilling and logging on federal lands while deriding environmentalists as domestic terrorists.

Source: Huffington Post August 11, 2020 18:33 UTC