Tester Statement on William Pendley’s Leadership of the Bureau of Land Management

U.S. Senator Jon Tester released the following statement on the news that William Pendley is now a top official at the Bureau of Land Management:

“William Pendley has built a career advocating for the sale of public lands to the highest bidder. His leadership of the agency tasked with protecting the very entities he’d like to sell is a grave threat to the future of public lands in Montana and across the country.”

Until last year William Pendley served as president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represents one of the oil companies attempting to drill in the sacred Badger-Two Medicine area. Tester has repeatedly slammed the Interior Department for reneging on its commitment to the Blackfeet Tribe by reversing its decision to permanently protect Badger-Two.