It’s not enough just to withdraw BLM acting director’s nomination

Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020 | 2 a.m.

The White House dropped its nomination of William Pendley Perry to head the Bureau of Land Management, which is good news.

But Perry remains in charge of the agency, which is deeply worrisome. Until he boxes up his office belongings and walks out of the department, America’s public lands won’t be safe.

Perry had no business being appointed to the BLM, much less nominated. He spent 30 years as president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which fought on behalf of business interests to dismantle conservation policies and undermine the rights of Native American tribes. He’s also a hero of the sovereign citizen movement for his views that the federal government has no constitutional authority to own its millions of acres of public lands and should sell them off.

When he was appointed to the BLM, he came in with a whopping 17-page list of conflicts of interests. He still draws a “lifelong payment” annuity from the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which alone pretty much wrecks his outlandish claim that his previous work didn’t have an influence on his leadership of the BLM.

In an administration full of foxes guarding henhouses, Perry has one of the bigger appetites for destruction. When his nomination was announced, a coalition of more than 300 groups signed a letter to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee opposing his confirmation. The signees included Native American tribes, conservation organizations, outdoor recreation advocacy groups and many more, including many in Nevada.

Sample comments from those signees give you an idea of why Perry should be kicked out:

• “William Perry Pendley comes from the ideological fringes of society and is a racist with values that are deeply out of touch with the mainstream, including selling the very lands he’s charged with managing. He’s the worst possible person you could conjure to be a leading steward of our shared public lands.” — Dan Hartinger, National Monuments Campaign director at The Wilderness Society

• “Mr. Pendley’s long, racist, anti-science and anti-conservation record speaks for itself and it is truly disqualifying. From mocking Native American religious beliefs and sacred sites to siding with anti-public land extremists and spreading racist tropes, his beliefs are deeply offensive. As tribes across the country continue to fight to maintain their land, natural resources and sovereignty, this nomination is a slap across the face.” — John Echohawk, executive director of the Native American Rights Fund.

In pulling the nomination, the White House wasn’t responding to such criticism, though. The decision was based instead on political calculus. The confirmation vote would have forced some Republican senators from Western states to either vote against Perry — and risk backlash from supporters of the Trump administration — or vote for him and face outcry from their constituents.

The administration apparently felt it wasn’t worth it.

But Perry, who has been the BLM’s acting director since mid-2019, hasn’t been removed. So it appears he’ll be left in charge anyway, as an unconfirmed appointment.

The administration shouldn’t be allowed to sidestep the process. There’s too much at stake, including land of cultural and religious significance to Native American tribes, Nevada’s outdoor recreation industry, the need for Nevadans to be able to get out and enjoy our natural areas, and the protection of those areas for future generations.

Fortunately, several lawmakers are pressing for his ouster, including Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.

“Now that his nomination has been withdrawn, Mr. Pendley must step down from his role as de facto director of the BLM as soon as possible,” she said in a statement.

We urge Rosen and other leaders to keep monitoring the situation, and hound the administration if necessary. Pendley needs to pack up and get out.

We know how bad he is for the environment and other living things, and why he should never have been allowed near the BLM. We also know something else: the measure of the man who appointed this disaster in the first place.