NEVADA — Today, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Steve Pearce as the new Director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the agency responsible for overseeing 48 million acres of Nevada’s public lands. Nevada’s U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen voted against the nomination.
“In Nevada, where over 80% of our lands are federally managed, 92% of Nevadans support keeping national monument protections in place, and our public lands fuel a $13.7 billion outdoor recreation industry, the responsibility of the Bureau of Land Management carries enormous consequences for our state and the entire West,” said Kristee Watson, Executive Director of Nevada Conservation League.
“Steve Pearce has spent his career pushing to sell off public lands, rolling back national monument protections, and siding with the oil and gas industry — and now, he holds the keys to over 245 million acres of public lands nationwide, including 48 million acres right here in Nevada. Given his track record and deep ties to the oil and gas industry, Nevadans have every reason to be concerned that our lands will be managed for dirty-energy interests rather than for affordable, homegrown clean energy that benefits our communities,” Watson continued.
“Nevadans — and Westerners across the political spectrum – already rejected this sell-off agenda last year when Rep. Mark Amodei tried to put thousands of acres of our lands on the auction block. We will be watching closely and will sound the alarm if Pearce’s decisions put our lands, communities, and our economy at risk. We’re grateful to Senators Cortez Masto and Rosen for standing up for Nevada and making clear: our public lands belong to us, and they are not for sale.”
Recent federal rollbacks have opened millions of acres of Nevada land to road building, mining, and drilling. Accelerated permitting under the Trump administration has fast-tracked new extraction projects, while staffing cuts across federal agencies have cut back capacity to manage and protect these lands.
The former New Mexico representative is a lifelong champion of efforts to sell public lands and undo protections for National Monuments, including those that originally protected Death Valley and the Great Basin. As a member of Congress, Pearce vowed to “reverse this trend of public ownership of lands” and even criticized National Parks.
Pearce also has a 4% lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters, reflecting a long history of voting with polluters and against protections for clean air, clean water, and healthy communities.
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The Nevada Conservation League is the independent voice of Nevada’s Conservation Community. We work to maintain and enhance the natural character of Nevada and the quality of life for Nevadans through effective advocacy, the election of pro-conservation candidates, and building collaboration.