Trump’s pick to lead BLM is a threat to our great public lands (Opinion)
By Daily Camera guest opinion | Boulder Daily Camera
PUBLISHED: March 19, 2026
By Elaine F. Leslie
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) exists to sustain and safeguard our nation’s public lands in the present and for future generations. And yet, the current Administration’s pick to lead the agency — former New Mexico Representative Steve Pearce — has spent his career trying to sell off these treasured spaces to the highest bidder. Allowing him to lead BLM would be devastating for the nation, and especially for us Coloradans.
Colorado includes more than 8 million acres of public lands that are managed by the BLM. They protect the air, water and free movement of wildlife that support our National Parks. From many of the nation’s tallest peaks, to canyons made of all the colors of the rainbow, to important archaeological sites, we have it all here — and it belongs to each and everyone of us.
Protecting these spaces is essential for our enjoyment, for the health of our state’s economy, and for the livelihoods of many Coloradans. Our state is home to animals like elk and waterfowl that people come from all over the world to see. And our dark night skies are cherished by Coloradans as well as “astrotourists” bringing economic resources. In 2025, recreational visitors to these public lands brought over $2 billion to our state. If Mr. Pearce is allowed to take over the Bureau of Land Management, he could end all of this.
Unlike many other Republicans, Mr. Pearce has been a consistent opponent of the very concept of public lands. Time and time again, he supported legislation and other proposals that would rid the federal government of the very places he is now nominated to protect. In 2012, at the Conservative Political Action Conference right here in Colorado, he criticized President Teddy Roosevelt for introducing public lands, and vowed to work with then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney to get rid of them. He has even gone so far as to suggest that counties should take land away from the federal government and arrest those who steward those lands.
So too has he attacked the Antiquities Act, which allows Presidents to designate national monuments, as both Democrats and Republicans have done many times over — including President Trump. He has tried to limit the act, to prevent new monuments, and to downsize those already existing.
Mr. Pearce claimed monument designation hurt local priorities like jobs and the economy — but it, in fact, has the opposite effect. Research shows that monuments actually increase local incomes. And folks here don’t agree either. A 2025 poll found that an overwhelming 92% of Coloradans want existing monument designations to be kept in place.
Prior to serving in Congress, Mr. Pearce owned his very own oilfield services company, and he retains significant interests. He still has hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock in the industry, and the company he still owns reportedly leases out oil equipment. Accordingly, Mr. Pearce has been an outspoken advocate for more and easier fossil fuel extraction, especially on public lands. In 2018, he introduced two bills that would streamline oil and gas development.
Here in Colorado, oil and gas drilling is a growing problem. The “Big Beautiful Bill” already opened up significantly more land, with a drilling rights lease proposed for this month that is eight times the acreage of a sale in September. Allowing mining threatens sacred Indigenous lands, contributes to climate change, threatens wildlife and pollutes our air. According to the American Lung Association, 80% of Colorado residents now live in a community with unhealthy air, over twice the national average.
The people of this state want to reverse this trend. A 2025 poll found that 76% of Coloradans want better protections for the environment — not fewer.
Colorado has long been defined by our iconic natural landscapes, but these are all under threat, and Steve Pearce would undoubtedly increase the strain. To preserve Colorado, we must protect our public lands — and say no to a Bureau of Land Management Director Steve Pearce.
Elaine F. Leslie has nearly 30 years of experience in the National Park Service, following decades as a wildlife biologist in private industry — always working to conserve and restore natural and cultural resources. She now lives in Durango and serves on the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks executive council, the NPCA Wildlife Advisory Committee and the Alabama River Diversity Network and Paint Rock Preserve Executive Boards.