A lawsuit by the state of Colorado says a federal plan to open public lands in southwest Colorado to drilling didn’t adequately address the state’s concerns and was approved while William Perry Pendley was unlawfully acting as the Bureau of Land Management director.
The lawsuit, filed Jan. 15 in U.S. District Court in Denver, asks that the plan be thrown out. The management plan by the bureau’s Uncompahgre Field Office was approved in April 2020 and will guide use of lands in six counties for the next 20 years.
State officials say the plan should be set aside. Several environmental groups sued late last year to toss out the plan for the same reasons.
In September 2020, a federal judge ruled in a complaint by the state of Montana that Pendley served as acting director longer than allowed for a position that requires Senate confirmation. Judge Brian Morris said any actions taken by someone serving in violation of the law “shall have no force or effect.”
The Interior Department has said the judge misinterpreted the law. It has defended the development and approval of the management plan, saying the state and local communities were involved through the years.
“The unfortunate fact is that if the Trump administration had followed the law in appointing a Senate-confirmed nominee to lead the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Colorado and other western states would not be in this predicament,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement.
State officials unsuccessfully protested the plan, which they said didn’t properly address Colorado’s concerns about potential impacts on wildlife habitat, climate change and the Gunnison sage grouse, a bird found only in western Colorado and a small part of Utah. The grouse is federally protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Hunting, fishing, wildlife watching and other outdoor recreation contribute more than $34.5 billion annually to the state economy and are important to the economy of rural areas, like the counties covered by the management plan, the lawsuit said.
The BLM management plan covers nearly a million acres in Montrose, Gunnison, Ouray, Mesa, Delta and San Miguel counties. The BLM oversees 675,800 acres of public lands in the region and administers 971,220 acres of oil, gas and other federal minerals in the region.
The BLM plan is also opposed by residents in the North Fork Valley who don’t want to see more drilling in the area. The valley, which includes the towns of Paonia and Hotchkiss, has become known for its organic farms, wineries and artists.
A permanent BLM director was never named during the Trump administration. Pendley’s nomination was withdrawn after opposition from Democratic senators and advocacy organizations flared.
Morris ruled in the Montana lawsuit that Pendley served as the acting BLM director for 424 days, violating a federal law that caps at 210 days the time an acting director can serve in a position that requires Senate confirmation.
Pendley, a native of Wyoming, is the former president of the Colorado-based Mountain States Legal Foundation, known for challenging public lands regulations.
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January 19, 2021 at 08:00PM
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Colorado sues to throw out land management plan that would open public lands to drilling - The Denver Post
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