“Law enforcement rangers working for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management — working at much beloved places like Basin and Range National Monument — have very tough jobs. They are responsible for patrolling one of every 10 acres in the U.S. Each one of the roughly 200 rangers is now tasked with patrolling an area approaching the size of Delaware while safeguarding some 35,000 recreational visitors each year.
Making this job even harder is the stance toward federal law enforcement embraced by BLM acting director William Perry Pendley, who was recently reappointed to his role as acting director of the agency through April 3. In a highly unusual newspaper op-ed to the Las Vegas Review-Journal penned by Pendley late last year, Pendley said BLM law enforcement Rangers should defer to local sheriffs regarding violations of federal law — even on BLM land.”
