Conservation groups say they fear for the future of Nevada’s national monuments at Avi Kwa Ame, Gold Butte, and Basin and Range if the U.S. Senate confirms former New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce as director of the Bureau of Land Management. (Tom/Adobe Stock)
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By Suzanne Potter
Feb 25, 2026
Conservation leaders in Nevada are speaking out against President Trump’s choice to lead the Bureau of Land Management as the U.S. Senate holds a nomination hearing Feb. 25.
Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev., who sits on the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is expected to question nominee Steve Pearce about his past efforts to undo public lands protections.
Kristee Watson, executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, said she fears Pearce will prioritize development and disregard concerns about animal habitat, migratory patterns and public access for hiking, hunting and fishing.
“We’re fearful that he’s looking to just sell the land off to the highest bidder with zero benefit to the state of Nevada,” Watson explained. “Using our land as kind of a blank check for the federal government to steal that resource from us.”
President Donald Trump nominated Pearce last November but it requires Senate confirmation. In the past, Pearce ran an oil field services company, served as a congressman from New Mexico and was chair of the New Mexico Republican Party.
Watson argued Pearce’s track record makes him unfit to run an agency that controls 48 million acres, about 68% of the land in Nevada.
“We object to him being a denier of climate change, denying that greenhouse gas emissions are caused by oil and gas use,” Watson emphasized. “In the past, he’s fought policies that would increase royalties on oil and gas production. He has worked to eliminate protections across millions of acres of America’s public lands.”
In the past, Pearce has also cosponsored legislation to roll back the Antiquities Act, which would allow President Trump to revoke the status of national monuments and open them up to development.
