POLITICS

New Mexico Sen. Udall blasts Bureau of Land Management under Trump

Algernon D'Ammassa
Las Cruces Sun-News
U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., is seen in a May 16, 2018 file photo on Capitol Hill in Washington.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - New Mexico Democrat Tom Udall is not seeking a third term in the U.S. Senate but he may not be retiring from public life just yet.

Last week, national news outlet Bloomberg News reported, based on unnamed sources close to the process, that Udall is on a shortlist of possible nominees for Secretary of the Interior if former Vice-President Joe Biden wins the Nov. 3 presidential election. 

The federal Interior department oversees the management of most federal land in the U.S., territorial affairs and relations with indigenous American, Alaskan and Hawaiian peoples, and energy development on public land and offshore. 

Others are reading:Interior official: Bureau of Land Management is 'active partner' in Trump border wall

Ned Ariance, a spokesman for Udall, said the senator is focused on completing his term and supporting Biden in the election, but also praised Biden's platform on conservation and remarked, "Westerners and Americans all across the country are tired of President Trump’s attacks on our public lands, outdoor economy, and way of life."

Udall has argued that federal lands should be utilized in combating the effects of climate change, emphasizing the need to maintain habitats for flora and fauna and the danger of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, much of it extracted from federal lands. 

Notably, Stewart Udall — Sen. Udall's father — served as secretary of the interior from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. The C Street headquarters of the Interior Department is named after him

Udall responded Tuesday to a Las Cruces Sun-News interview with Casey Hammond, an Interior Department official who spoke on behalf of the federal Bureau of Land Management, which manages 245 million surface acres and 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate in the United States.

For statewide and local reporting, subscribe to the Las Cruces Sun-News today.

In the Sun-News interview, Hammond addressed leadership of the bureau following the court-ordered removal of acting director William Perry Pendley; BLM's recent forgiveness of oil and gas royalties, which was criticized by the federal Government Accountability Office; and BLM's active role in facilitating construction of President Trump's promised border wall.

In his remarks, Udall sharply criticized the management of BLM, an agency within the Interior Department.

Udall calls for Pendley to go

A ruling from a Montana federal district court last month removed Pendley as BLM's acting director after the Trump appointee had served for more than a year on an interim basis without being confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management Acting Director William "Perry" Pendley speaks at an Oct. 11 conference for journalists in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Interior Department Solicitor Daniel Jorjani has argued that the federal court ruling on Pendley's directorship "fundamentally misinterprets the law" but said the department would comply with the court's order as it pursues an appeal. 

Since the ruling, Pendley has continued to serve as the bureau's deputy director, saying the bureau would respect the court's order, with Interior Secretary David Bernhardt delegating authority to BLM's management team, including Pendley, and signing off on decisions.

"We're appealing the case," Pendley told Wyoming Public Media in an interview Friday, adding: "I have not been ousted. I'm still at my desk, I have the confidence of the president of the United States, I have the confidence of the secretary."

Keep reading:Bureau of Land Management opens photo contest for area residents

Trump formally nominated Pendley to head the bureau in June, but withdrew it in August amid controversy. The withdrawal left Pendley still in charge, however, through a temporary appointment that had been extended several times. 

Udall maintained that Pendley's authority flouts the law, and made reference to controversies that have dogged Pendley, among them his support for selling off public land and for his views, expressed in books he authored, of Native American culture and treaty rights.

“What does it say to Westerners that the administration will break the law to try to keep Pendley in place?" Udall remarked. "To try to keep someone running the BLM who doesn’t believe in public lands, who has racist writings against Native Americans? His nomination was pulled due to bipartisan opposition and now every single decision Pendley has signed off on is in legal jeopardy — it’s past time he is shown the door.” 

BLM spokesman Derrick Henry told the Sun-News Udall's criticism "is an attempt to smear the reputation of a dedicated public servant and former Marine. Mr. Pendley brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Department and is committed to carrying out the Administration's priorities and achieving the BLM’s multiple-use mission for the betterment of the American people.”

Interior has 'strayed far' from mission

Udall has been a staunch critic of the border wall, one of President Trump's signature initiatives.

Construction crews work on the US/Mexico border wall near Columbus, N.M. on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020.

Trump ran for president on the promise of building a physical barrier between the United States and Mexico. Despite vowing that Mexico would pay for it, the price has fallen to U.S. taxpayers as construction of a barrier system, including vehicle barriers and 18-foot steel bollard pedestrian fencing, has continued. 

Hammond said BLM was an "active partner" with the U.S. Border Patrol in securing the border, echoing an assertion made by Pendley upon inspection of wall construction in California last year that "illegal crossings are destroying our wilderness areas with unlawful fires, trash, foot traffic, and trails.”

More:US Attorney General Barr visits Albuquerque to tout success of federal crime fighting

But Udall said the Interior Department has "strayed far from its mission" of land stewardship and called the wall a "political pet project."

“Leadership at the Bureau of Land Management should be focused on protecting our natural resources," Udall said, "not endangering them with a border wall that is destroying habitat connectivity, harming wildlife and dividing communities. This border wall will not stop dangerous trafficking cartels, but is a slap in the face to border communities and Native people in the border region and a disaster for the environment. Construction should stop immediately.”

Oil & gas relief program 'haphazard'

Udall also addressed a report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office that criticized a BLM COVID-19 relief program for the oil and gas industry.

The program offered reductions in royalties paid by energy companies for oil and gas leases on federal land, reportedly from 12.5 percent of revenues to less than 1 percent for 60 days. The stated aim of the program was to prevent permanent shutdowns and losses of public revenue. 

In this Oct. 9, 2018, file photo, an oil rig and pump jack work along the roadside of FM 1788 in Midland, Texas.  With more barrels of oil being pumped monthly from the Permian Basin, New Mexico is among the nation's top producing states.

The GAO found that BLM did not establish the extent to which relief was needed to save facilities from closure, possibly costing taxpayers a fair return for the exploitation of public land. The report also found inconsistencies with how relief was granted in different states and for different companies.

Udall said the relief program “was completely misguided and done with no consideration for its effects on state and county budgets, when they were already facing revenue shortfalls due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic."

Citing the GAO report, Udall continued, "It is very unlikely that this haphazard proposal helped workers that were and still are facing layoffs but rather rewarded top executives and other large investors.”

Hammond defended the program last week, saying the relief granted was conservative and arguing the bureau "stayed within existing regs and existing law, and just tried to be responsive."

The bureau went further, alleging in a written statement Wednesday that the GAO "did not work with the Department in good faith" and did not follow best practices in evaluating the relief program.

"No special circumstances were granted to anyone," Henry wrote. "The BLM state offices only approved suspension of operations and royalty rate reduction applications for up to 60 days when it was legally permissible, in the best interest of the United States, and when it would encourage the greatest ultimate recovery of our natural resources. These longstanding processes help ensure America has a stable long-term energy supply and provide long-term value to American taxpayers.”  

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.