An unusual coalition of hunters, military veterans and environmental activists is opposing President Trump’s choice to lead the Bureau of Land Management, Steve Pearce, calling him a threat to public lands.
Mr. Pearce, 78, a Republican and former member of Congress from New Mexico, would oversee about 245 million acres of federal land, and 700 million acres of minerals beneath the ground. .
He would also manage the government’s coal, oil and gas leasing programs at a time when President Trump wants to substantially increase drilling and mining on public lands. Mr. Pearce is expected to field questions Wednesday about his views on the use of federal lands when the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources considers his nomination.
Critics said they were concerned about actions Mr. Pearce had taken as a lawmaker to try to sell public lands to private interests. The Vet Voice Foundation, an advocacy group made up of military veterans, is helping to organize a campaign against Mr. Pearce’s confirmation and has created a “Sell-Off Steve” website.
Anna Kelly, a spokeswoman for the White House, said in a statement that Mr. Trump “was elected with an overwhelming mandate to ‘Drill, Baby, Drill,’” and increase energy production. “It’s totally logical that nominees like Steve Pearce, who is highly qualified to lead the Bureau of Land Management, would align with the agenda the President was elected to implement and have a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter,” Ms. Kelly said.
Mr. Pearce could not be reached for comment.
A decorated Air Force combat pilot, Mr. Pearce founded an oil and gas drilling services company in New Mexico before getting into politics. He later served in the state legislature representing part of the oil-rich Permian Basin before he was elected to Congress in 2003. He served two terms before running unsuccessfully for governor of New Mexico. He then worked for six years as the New Mexico state chair of the Republican Party.
The League of Conservation Voters, which tracks lawmakers’ environmental records in Congress on a scale of 1 to 100 percent, gave Mr. Pearce a 4 percent lifetime rating. He took numerous votes to expand oil and gas drilling and mining, and also to loosen environmental protections.
In 2005, Mr. Pearce voted in favor of a provision in a budget bill that would have allowed the Bureau of Land Management to sell public lands containing minerals to companies below market value. That measure ultimately failed.
In 2012, he criticized former President Theodore Roosevelt for popularizing “big ideas of big forests and big national parks.” He called for reversing the “trend” of public ownership of land, particularly in the West.
Mr. Pearce also cosponsored a bill in 2016 that aimed to speed up the sale or exchange of some lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management . The next year, he voted for a rules package in the House that also would have made it easier to sell off public lands. Neither of those measures became law.
He also voted several times to make it harder to use the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create national monuments, and once introduced legislation to prevent presidents from establishing any national monument in New Mexico.
“Hunters and sport shooters across our state treasure these lands,” said Zac Fort, president of New Mexico Shooting Sports Association. “We use them constantly and we do not want to see them sold off.”
According to financial disclosure forms that Mr. Pearce submitted when he was nominated last year, he earned between $100,000 and $1 million from leasing “frac tanks,” which are storage containers designed to hold petroleum products.
Mr. Pearce and his wife, Cynthia, also told the federal government that they would divest themselves of an investment in several oil and gas leases in the Permian Basin. He said they also would divest themselves of interests in more than a dozen companies, including American Electric Power Co., Inc., and Chevron.
Aubrie Spady, a spokeswoman for the Interior Department, which oversees the Bureau of Land Management, did not respond when asked whether Mr. Pearce’s views on selling public lands aligned with those of Secretary Doug Burgum.
She said in a statement that the selection of Mr. Pearce “reflects not only his deep knowledge of the issues, but also his proven record of results,” and added that the agency “looks forward to the informed leadership and unmatched experience he brings to this critical role.”
Melissa Simpson, the president of the Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas companies, said in a statement that critics should take a “sober look” at Mr. Pearce’s record.
“You’ll see evidence that he also supports increased access for recreation, and he introduced legislation to designate wilderness area protections,” Ms. Simpson said, adding, “His record as a small-business owner and public official reflects the broad mission of the bureau he’s been nominated to lead.”
Mr. Trump’s first choice to lead the Bureau of Land Management was Kathleen Sgamma, a former president of the Western Energy Alliance. Ms. Sgamma was asked to withdraw her nomination after a memo surfaced showing that she had criticized the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Mr. Trump. In a private memo to Alliance members, Ms. Sgamma wrote that she was “disgusted” by President Trump’s role in spreading the misinformation that led to the riots.
Mr. Pearce, who was then serving as the head of the New Mexico Republican Party, defended Mr. Trump and voiced his support.
In a Jan. 9, 2021, post on social media, which has since been deleted, Mr. Peace wrote, “God bless President Donald J. Trump. He will be our President FOREVER and no one can take that away from us.”
Lisa Friedman is a Times reporter who writes about how governments are addressing climate change and the effects of those policies on communities.
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