State leaders make it clear: Steve Pearce is completely unfit to serve as Director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management

Western U.S.: As Congress holds a nomination hearing for Steve Pearce to serve as Director of the Bureau of Land Management, conservation leaders representing some of the states with the most public lands in the country joined together to stand firm against his nomination in the following statements:

Colorado

“Putting Steve Pearce in charge of the Bureau of Land Management poses a profound threat to our public lands,” Kelly Nordini, Executive Director Conservation Colorado. “His documented history of treating our shared landscapes as assets to be liquidated is incompatible with the interests and values of Coloradans as highlighted in the recently released 2026 State of the Rockies Poll, in which the vast majority of Coloradans opposed public land sell-off. We deeply appreciate Sens. Bennet and Hickenlooper for drawing a hard line early and fighting to protect the public lands that drive Colorado’s economy and define our state.”

Idaho

“Public lands are what make our nation great,” Alexis Pickering, Executive Director Conservation Voters for Idaho. “Idaho needs a BLM Director who wants to work with Idahoans to improve management and invest in our land, not someone who wants to sell them to the highest bidder. When Steve Pearce sells America’s public lands for private development, they are gone forever. We can’t afford a BLM Director like Steve Pearce that will squander our most precious resource; the public lands that provide revenue, habitat, public recreation, and support our Idaho way of life.”

Montana

“Steve Pearce’s record makes him profoundly unfit to lead the Bureau of Land Management,” Ben Super, Executive Director Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund. “For decades, he has worked to weaken public-land protections, promote the sale and transfer of federal lands, and advance the interests of the oil and gas industry over the interests of the American people. His environmental voting record is among the worst in Congress, and his long financial entanglements with the oil industry cast serious doubt on his ability to serve the public trust.

Pearce has repeatedly opposed national monuments, pushed to open public lands to drilling, and aligned himself with extreme anti-government movements that undermine the very mission of the BLM. This is not the résumé of someone prepared to steward 245 million acres of land for future generations — including more than 8 million acres here in Montana.

Unsurprisingly, Montanans overwhelmingly reject this nomination. Recent polling shows that 75% of Montanans oppose Pearce’s nomination to lead the BLM — a clear signal that the public expects leadership that will defend, not dismantle, our public lands. Montanans will hold members of Montana’s congressional delegation accountable for this decision and for the impacts it has on our lands, waters, and outdoor way of life.”

Nevada

“Public lands are core to our identity in the West — and in Nevada, where over 80% of our lands are federally managed — this position couldn’t be more consequential,” Kristee Watson, Executive Director Nevada Conservation League. “92% of Nevadans support keeping national monument protections in place. Yet Steve Pearce spent his career pushing federal land selloffs and rolling back those very protections. How can someone who has repeatedly opposed public lands be trusted to manage them? Putting Pearce in charge puts 48 million acres of Nevada’s public lands at risk of sell-off, threatening sacred sites, and jeopardizing 75,000 outdoor recreation jobs. His nomination is another part of Trump’s effort to privatize America’s public lands. Our lands are part of our heritage and should be protected for future generations, not put up for sale.” 

New Mexico

“New Mexico’s public lands feed a deep well of values and traditions, of stewardship and land ethic,” said Demis Foster, Executive Director Conservation Voters New Mexico. “Steve Pearce has a devastating record of waging war on the very things that the Bureau of Land Management is tasked, in the heart of its mission, to protect.  In New Mexico, Pearce has a history of encouraging counties to overrule or ignore federal laws and activities. He was accused of encouraging Catron County officials to cut dozens of unpermitted road crossings over the San Francisco river in the Gila National Forest. He strongly opposed creation of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks monument in 2014, claiming that monument creation leads to economic downturn and lower quality of life for nearby communities. But a 2023 report showed the monument had generated $234 million in cumulative economic impacts for the region, something public lands advocates know is true of public lands in general. Steve Pearce is deeply out of touch with the people of New Mexico and the Western states and their fierce love of public lands.”

Utah

“Stewardship Utah opposes the nomination of Steve Pearce as Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM),” said Alma Baste, Public Lands Policy Associate Stewardship Utah. “The BLM manages nearly 23 million acres of lands in Utah for the public, representing about 42% of the state. This land includes some of our most iconic places, shapes our identity, and is central to Utah’s economy, particularly in the rural parts of our state. In his time in Congress, Steve Pearce worked to sell those same public lands he would be responsible for managing as Director of the BLM. We shouldn’t ask the fox to guard the henhouse. Utah cannot afford to have Steve Pearce at the helm of the BLM.”

Steve Pearce’s record on public lands:

Steve Pearce has frequently voiced his support for the sell off public lands, has numerous conflicts of interest with the oil and gas industry, and a history of trying to shrink and block the designation of national monuments:

• In Congress, Steve Pearce voted to fast-track public land sales, including BLM lands, and backed what was called “one of the largest land giveaways in our nation’s history.”   
• Pearce co-sponsored legislation to sell off federal public lands 
• He argued for selling national public lands to pay down the deficit, arguing “most of it we do not even need.”
• And, Pearce criticized President Teddy Roosevelt’s “big ideas of big forests and big national parks” and promised to “reverse this trend of public ownership of lands.”