Party-line committee split may not halt vote on BLM nominee
President Biden's choice to run the Bureau of Land Management will face a confirmation vote in the Senate without the committee endorsement given to nearly all nominees. After a heated debate that one senator called "a skunk fight," the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee split, 10-10, along party lines on whether to recommend Senate approval of Tracy Stone-Manning as director of the Interior Department agency.
Potential BLM chief has fought the agency for years
Karen Budd-Fallen, a Wyoming-based lawyer with a history of representing ranchers against the Bureau of Land Management, has announced that she’s in the running to be the BLM’s next director. With a long career of protecting private-property rights, Budd-Fallen, “has challenged grazing regulations and endangered species protections, and in a landmark case attempted to sue individual BLM employees under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.
Trump signs repeal of BLM planning rule, says more regulation-busting on the way
As he signed legislation to repeal it, President Trump called an Interior Department land-management rule a federal power grab and, hinting at action planned for today on power plant emissions, said he would "eliminate every unnecessary, harmful, and job-killing regulation that we can find." The Interior Department rule covered 245 million acres of land under control of the Bureau of Land Management.
Senate sends resolution to Trump to overturn BLM land-planning rule
On a 51-48 party-line vote, senators passed a resolution to revoke an Obama administration regulation intended to give the public more input into land management decisions by the Bureau of Land Management. The Republican majority said the rule, which covered 245 million acres of federal land under BLM control, gave outsiders too large a voice and diluted local input over decisions on how to use use land for grazing, recreation and energy and mineral development, said Reuters.
House scraps Obama’s plans for federal land management
The U.S. House struck down a Bureau of Land Management rule drafted under the Obama administration that was meant to give the public more say in decision-making around public lands. “BLM officials developed the rule saying it would increase public involvement and incorporate the most current data and technology to decide whether and where drilling, mining and logging will happen on public land,” says The Denver Post.
BLM doesn’t know what to do with 44,000 wild horses
The internet rumor that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would kill 44,000 wild horses and burros isn't exactly true — at least not yet. As the site Snopes.com reported, the BLM still has to vote on the suggestion by its advisory committee that the animals be euthanized, and opposition to the idea from outside groups has been vigorous.