A government watchdog on Wednesday filed suit against the Bureau of Land Management to find out why it hired a one-time, anti-public lands advocate to run the agency.
The non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, said it initially filed a public records request asking for emails and correspondence related to the hiring of acting director William Perry Pendley, a self-described “sagebrush rebel” who once advocated for selling off many federal lands west of the Mississippi.
“Like a lot of people, we were shocked that Mr. Pendley had even been named into a high position there,” said PEER attorney Peter Jenkins.
