By Paul Kink, Stevensville
Last Saturday, September 26th was National Public Lands day and thanks to Governor Bullock, those of us who have enjoyed the outdoor recreational opportunities provided by the 30 million acres of state and federal lands in Montana can now breathe at least a sigh of temporary relief.
On Friday, September 25th, a court blocked William Perry Pendley, the anti-public lands extremist, who has overseen the federal Bureau of Land Management for more than a year, from continuing to lead the bureau.
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris in Montana, ruled that Pendley has illegally served as Director of BLM for more than 400 days.
The decision comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by Governor Bullock in August, which argued that Pendley’s ongoing tenure violates the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which limits the amount of time Cabinet officials may serve in an acting (non-confirmed) role to 210 days.
Pendley, in a 2017 essay, argued that the “Founding Fathers intended all lands owned by the federal government to be sold.” He spent three decades as President of the nonprofit Mountain States Legal Foundation. Among the cases that Pendley worked on was one challenging grizzly bear protections on national forest land. In another, he sought to validate an energy developer’s claim to drill for oil on land considered sacred by the Blackfeet Indian Tribe near Glacier National Park.
Pendley has also weighed in on other issues. He has sued against the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and in a July, 2017 speech to conservative activists, he joked about the killing of endangered species. Pendley has called the science of climate change “junk science,” and has written that climate change believers are “kooks.”
It should be noted that last November, Senator Steve Daines said he would support confirmation of William Perry Pendley to head the BLM. Under growing pressure, Senator Daines’ current change from a hard “yes” to a soft “maybe” reflects growing pressure on Senate Republicans to oppose the conservative lawyer’s nomination.
Do we want four more years of these types of individuals appointed by the Trump administration to lead the government agencies that affect all of us, or do we want to elect Senators who have proven that they really do care about Montana values, like Steve Bullock has done:
• Steve fought against out of state interests when they tried to overturn Montana’s Stream Access Law and fought efforts to block access to Montana’s public lands.
• He restored funding for the Habitat Montana program, and went to court to defend conservation easements that created new opportunities for access.
• As a member of the state’s Land Board, Steve used his office to open up tens of thousands of acres for recreation in Montana and create new fishing access sites, while managing state trust lands responsibly to ensure that our schools received the funding they needed.
• Steve created the Montana Office of Outdoor Recreation to support businesses that rely on public lands and the jobs they create.
• As fire seasons become longer and more intense in recent years, Steve created the Fire Suppression Fund to ensure Montana has adequate resources to address this threat.
I truly believe Steve when he says that in the Senate, he will represent Montana’s outdoor heritage and make sure Montana stays the last best place for hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation.
Please consider these facts when you vote on November 3rd.