Former New Mexico congressman Steve Pearce tabbed by Trump to run Bureau of Land Management

SANTA FE — Former New Mexico congressman Steve Pearce was appointed Wednesday by President Donald Trump to run a federal agency that oversees roughly 245 million acres of public lands nationwide.

Pearce’s appointment as Bureau of Land Management director drew praise from Republican senators, but was greeted by swift criticism from environmental groups that cited his opposition to the designation of additional public lands such as the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in southern New Mexico.

“Pearce’s entire political career has been dedicated to blocking Americans’ access to public lands while giving the oil and gas industry free rein to drill and frack anywhere they wanted,” said Jennifer Rokala, the executive director of the Denver-based Center for Western Priorities.

A conservative Republican, Pearce has been a staunch Trump ally in recent years and spoke at his October 2024 campaign rally in Albuquerque, telling attendees, “New Mexico is broke, and Trump is going to fix it.”

Meanwhile, the White House’s appointment of Pearce to replace Tracy Stone-Manning as BLM director is subject to Senate confirmation, and a confirmation vote could be delayed due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., the chairwoman of the Senate Western Caucus, said Wednesday she would push for a swift confirmation.

“Steve’s leadership will be invaluable in managing our public lands and wisely stewarding our resources,” Lummis said in a statement.

However, Pearce’s nomination could face opposition from New Mexico’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján.

Luján expressed reservations about Pearce’s appointment on Wednesday, citing his past opposition to the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, which was officially designated by former President Barack Obama in 2014.

“I have serious concerns that Mr. Pearce would serve only to advance President Trump’s agenda and roll back the progress we’ve fought to achieve — from strengthening our outdoor recreation economy to protecting our lands and environment,” Luján said in a statement.

For his part, Heinrich said he would consider the nomination like he does all other appointments, but indicated he would also scrutinize Pearce’s record on public lands issues.

“We need a person in this position who will be a good steward of our public lands for all of us, not divvy them out as political favors,” Heinrich said in a statement.

Former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a Democrat who is running for governor in New Mexico, said Pearce was a “dangerous choice” to lead the federal Bureau of Land Management.

BLM’s long shadow in New Mexico

The BLM oversees more than 10% of the nation’s surface area and 30% of its minerals and soils, with most of its land holdings concentrated in the western United States.

In New Mexico, the agency manages about half of all federal land in the state, or about 17.3% of the state’s total land area. The state receives royalties from oil and natural gas drilling on BLM land that make up a significant part of the state’s total revenue mix.

In recent years, the federal royalty payments also fueled the explosive growth of a state early childhood trust fund that was created in 2020 and is now valued at more than $10 billion.

At least one other New Mexican has been BLM director, as former Albuquerque Mayor Jim Baca was appointed to the position in 1993 by former President Bill Clinton. But Baca served in the role for less than a year before being ousted amid tensions with western governors.

Long history in NM politics

The 78-year old Pearce has been a fixture in New Mexico politics for several decades.

The former owner of an oilfield services company, Pearce most recently served as state Republican Party chairman for six years before stepping down at the end of last year.

Prior to that, Pearce represented a Hobbs-based seat in the state House of Representatives for four years, and was then elected to two separate stints in the U.S. House.

Specifically, he held the southern New Mexico-based 2nd Congressional District seat from 2003 to 2009, then again from 2011 until 2019.

However, Pearce was defeated in two bids for statewide office, losing decisively in the 2008 U.S. Senate race to Democrat Tom Udall and coming up short again in the 2018 governor’s race against Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham.

As state GOP chairman, Pearce occasionally clashed with some members of his own party, including in 2019 when he sparred with several Republican state senators for supporting legislation legalizing recreational cannabis use.