U.S. Bureau of Land Management Working Its Hardest To Sell Public Property To Drilling, Mining Enterprises
William Pendley, acting head of the BLM, appears to be headed for reappointment without any involvement from the American public. OK, so what’s the issue? Perry’s decades-long career as a property-rights lawyer whose focus was removing federal control of the public lands he now oversees.
From this article:
The dustup over Pendley began in July 2019, when he became acting head of the bureau—which oversees drilling, ranching, and recreation on 245 million acres of public lands, primarily in the West—and it hasn’t cleared since. A dozen Democratic senators and 91 conservation, hunting, public interest and wildlife groups have called for his ouster,
The Old West firebrand also has an inflammatory streak. He has slurred climate-change believers as “kooks” and sympathized with Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who was part of an armed standoff with federal agents after he refused to pay the bureau’s grazing fees.
“As someone who has spent his career advocating for the widespread sale of public lands, Mr. Pendley is the last person who should be running the BLM,” Democratic senator Michael Bennet of Colorado said. “Coloradans place enormous value on our public lands—not just from a conservation perspective, but because they serve as the backbone of our economy.”
Those who say that this administration “ruins everything it touches” are referring to issues like this, i.e., one in which the damage will remain long after Trump leaves office. Last week’s news item involving Trump’s awarding overt racist/misogynist Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom was another good example. From here on into perpetuity, that distinction will mean precisely zero.
Craig,
I’m not sure quoting an article written by Vince Bielski, a former point-man for Mike Bloomberg and published in a green-left advocate publication. adds to your credibility.
When all the emotive lies and overly excited hyperbole is eliminated, reality is not on your side.
National parks and land under the care and management of the Federal Government were never intended to be totally inaccessible. These areas, because of their vast size were always intended to be accessible for some limited mining, drilling, ranching as part of land management.
Among the millions of square miles of National parklands there were always facilities and areas designated for public use, as well as areas where carefully controlled commercial activities could take place.
The fees, royalties etc, derived from such economic activities, athough occupying only tiny percentage of the land, help pay for the vast cost of Park maintenance including forest fire prevention.
The reason for such activities was always an obvious and inherent consideration when US National parks, and even State Parks and reserves, were created.
It was always recognized that National Parks are a “grab-bag” of acreage containing a percentage of irreplaceable wilderness and habitat preserved in pristine condition, but also a percentage of indifferent land where appropriate limited resource extraction and commercial usage has always been accommodated.
As for your hatred of Rush Limbaugh and William Pendley, you must learn to accept that any democracy requires a spectrum of views to be represented, even celebrated, not just your own.
Rush Limbaugh is not a commentator whose views and style I share, but I recognize he reflects the views and opinions of many Americans who have the right to participate in the political dialogue of the nation.
In your own way, you employ similar narrow mindedness, vicious invective and extremist opinions. Like Rush Limbaugh, you justify such abusive rhetoric by claiming to be “right”, and your enemies “deplorable”, when in reality they are merely equally deplorable.