You might be wondering what direction the U.S. Bureau of Land Management will be taking now. Steve Pearce is on track to become its Director after his nomination was advanced on May 11 by the U.S. Senate.
Mr. Pearce is well known to New Mexicans. He was a Congressman for the 2nd district (mainly southeastern NM) from 2011 to 2019, and led the state Republican party for many years. His loud support for Donald Trump and his consistent anti-environmental stances won him the President’s recognition and nomination to this latest post.
The BLM’s holdings comprise public lands in all western states, including over 13 million acres in New Mexico. The agency has long operated under a multiple-use doctrine, and since 2024 has followed the Conservation and Landscape Heath Rule, which specifically authorized it “to advance the BLM’s multiple use and sustained yield mission by prioritizing the health and resilience of ecosystems across public lands.” Late last year the Administration announced the rescission of this Rule, allowing it to prioritize extractive industries on its public lands without regard for environmental protection.
Although Pearce’s confirmation is a given, all who care about conserving public lands and their ecosystems — which include habitat for not only birds but all wildlife and game animals, as well as a foundation for traditional sustainable practices of grazing and forestry — will need to tell our elected officials that we, the people, have not given up on conservation, and don’t accept letting BLM land become a sacrifice zone for increasing private wealth.
https://sourcenm.com/briefs/feds-officially-cancel-conservation-rule-for-public-lands/