Trump nominates former New Mexico lawmaker to lead Bureau of Land Management [View all]

Source: AP

Updated 5:54 PM EST, November 5, 2025


BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Donald Trump nominated a former lawmaker from New Mexico on Wednesday to oversee the management of vast public lands that are playing a central role in Republican attempts to ramp up fossil fuel production.

The nominee for the Bureau of Land Management, former Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico, must be confirmed by the Senate. The agency manages a quarter-billion acres — about 10% of land in the U.S. It’s also responsible for 700 million acres of underground minerals, including major reserves of oil, natural gas and coal.

The agency’s policies have swung sharply as control of the White House has shifted between Republicans and Democrats. Under Democratic President Joe Biden, former bureau Director Tracy Stone-Manning curbed oil drilling and coal mining on federal lands while expanding renewable power in a bid to curb climate change.

Trump and Republicans in Congress have moved quickly to unravel Biden’s actions. In a matter of months they’ve opened millions of acres of public lands for mining and drilling and canceled land plans and conservation strategies that Biden’s administration took years to formulate.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-public-land-agency-nominee-fa23f16ca1dddd5b2083624e2cc2427d