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Agency Boss: Past Support for U.S. Land Sales is ‘Irrelevant’

William Perry Pendley disavowed his longtime advocacy for federal land sales or transfers in a radio interview

By Associated Press

BILLINGS — A newly appointed Trump administration official who oversees nearly a quarter-billion public acres in the U.S. West says his past support for selling federal lands is “irrelevant.”

Acting Bureau of Land Management Director William Perry Pendley disavowed his longtime advocacy for federal land sales or transfers in an interview with Montana radio station KBUL-AM.

The Wyoming native has previously accused government agencies of illegally blocking ranchers, miners and oil and gas companies from profiting off publicly owned range and forest.

Pendley’s appointment last month raised alarm among conservationists, who said it signaled a willingness within the Trump administration to sell vast swaths of federal lands.

Pendley says he is now in an administration opposed to such sales, adding that he knows how to follow orders.