ALARMING

Interior Secretary Chooses Opponent of U.S. Public Lands to Oversee Them

Interior Dept. appointee William Pendley once wrote that the “Founding Fathers intended all lands owned by the federal government to be sold.”

Conservative lawyer William Perry Pendley, who’s argued the benefits of selling off America’s public lands, has been appointed as acting head of the Bureau of Land Management. The bureau manages 250 million acres of land across America, as well as 30 percent of the nation’s minerals. Pendley formerly served in the Reagan administration, and has penned books accusing the government of “waging war on the West,” in addition to arguing in the National Review that the “Founding Fathers intended all lands owned by the federal government to be sold.” Pendley once called fracking “an energy, economic, AND environmental miracle!” Conservation groups expressed their concerns, with Phil Hanceford, conservation director for The Wilderness Society, an advocacy group, telling the AP that Pendley’s appointment “strongly suggests the administration is positioning itself to liquidate our shared public lands.” The White House denied the accusation.