Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments for a case from Solenex – a former client of Acting Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director William Pendley – challenging the cancellation of oil and gas leases by the Interior Department in the sacred Badger-Two Medicine region. Pendley still has deep ties to Solenex despite a supposed recusal order. The industry front group Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) that Pendley led for almost 30 years is still representing Solenex in their suit against Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and the Trump administration.
“William Pendley is, once again, on the wrong side of history and the American people. He’s too conflicted to run the Bureau of Land Management and he’s too extreme to protect our public lands. Given his resume and his previous misconduct in regards to his recusal order, he, simply put, cannot be trusted,” said Jayson O’Neill, Deputy Director of Western Values Project. “He pushed to allow oil and gas development on sacred tribal land and his former industry front group is still representing this oil and gas corporation. That, alone, should be more than enough to make any Senator in their right mind buck this industry ally once and for all.”
Pendley’s extensive recusal list includes Solenex, who he is supposed to be excluded from working with until July 2021. But Pendley is still deeply connected to his former employer, the Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF), who is representing Solenex in tomorrow’s consequential case against Interior.
Just a few short months ago, around September 2019, Pendley received a payout from MSLF amounting to $324,000. Further, he is set to receive a “lifelong payment” from MSLF as part of a “charitable gift” starting in 2025, valued between $250,000 and $500,000. Given Pendley’s deep ties to MSLF and Solenex, his behind-the-scenes agenda at the helm of BLM is dubious. Ultimately, it remains unclear if Pendley still agrees and supports Solenex’s claim or if he stands with Interior’s decision to cancel the oil and gas leases.
BLM is required to consult with tribal leaders before allowing any oil and gas development. Part of the reason Interior canceled all leases in the Badger-Two Medicine was because of the lack of conversation between the U.S. Government and the Blackfeet tribe. Strikingly, Solenex is the only oil company still refusing to stand down from their lease claim on this sacred tribal land.
Despite Pendley’s clearly conflicted standing and extremist viewpoints, Montana’s junior Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) has called constituent concerns over Pendley’s appointment “overblown.”
This is hardly the first time Pendley’s previous views contradict the administration he now works for. Interestingly, before his appointment, Pendley claimed that Trump wasn’t “fit to fill” former President Ronald Reagan’s boots.
Background
Pendley has a history of continuing to work on critical public lands issues that he was supposed to be recused from. His vested interest in the outcome of so-called “particular matters” was best showcased only a few months ago. Pendley filed a petition on behalf of San Juan County opposing efforts to restore Bears Ears National Monument and was still the attorney for two other Utah counties defending the Trump administration’s illegal move to shrink the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument — calling into question whether his active role in this litigation presented a conflict of interest.
Finally, Pendley’s recusal list itself is questionable at best. The list, which spans a striking 17-pages, actually excluded the Northwest Mining Association, despite Pendley’s connection to their previous lawsuit against the agency he now heads.