Public Trust Over Politics: Why We Oppose Stevan Pearce for Director of the Bureau of Land Management
Millions of people who hike, hunt, fish, and find peace on our shared lands have a stake in this decision. RRI and 153 partner groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, GreenLatinos, Latino Outdoors, Native American Land Conservancy, Natural Resources Defense Council, and many more, are urging the Senate to reject Stevan Pearce’s nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). His record favors selling off public lands and elevating oil and gas interests over communities, wildlife, and the places we love.
What the BLM Does—and Why Leadership Matters
The BLM stewards 245 million acres of public land and roughly 700 million acres of subsurface minerals across the American West. By law, BLM must manage for “multiple use and sustained yield,” balancing conservation, cultural resources, recreation, and responsible economic activity. A director’s job is to be a neutral referee for the public interest.
Pearce’s Record: Sell-Offs, Conflicts, and Attacks on Protections
Public land sell-offs: Pearce has publicly supported reversing public ownership and disposing of public lands—flatly opposed by Americans across party lines. That stance defies the core idea that these places belong to all of us, forever.
Oil and gas conflicts: As a former oilfield services owner, Pearce has consistently championed unfettered drilling and fracking. That’s not neutrality—it’s bias that risks turning a shared commons into a single-use zone for fossil fuels.
Undermining bedrock protections: In Congress, Pearce worked to weaken safeguards for national monuments and the Antiquities Act, a century-old presidential tool used to protect landscapes with historic, cultural, and scientific value. In 2017, he pressed then–Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to slash Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument by 88%—despite strong local support and clear economic benefits tied to protection.
What This Nomination Signals
Placing Pearce at BLM would tilt the agency toward fossil fuel interests over local communities. “Multiple use” would narrow to extraction-first, crowding out recreation, cultural resources, wildlife habitat, and long-term stewardship. It points to a future of land sell-offs instead of safeguarding a living inheritance for the next generation.
Conservation, Tribal, recreation, and community groups, representing millions of members, are aligned on one thing: keep public lands in public hands. The public has shown, again and again, that we want access, healthy ecosystems, cultural respect, and honest process. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee should reject Pearce’s nomination and choose leadership that serves the public’s interests.
