Ackerman on Trump’s Nomination for BLM Director: “Unacceptable”
Patricia Ackerman, Democratic candidate for Nevada Congressional District 2, last Friday stated her vehement opposition to news that President Donald Trump plans to nominate William Perry Pendley to be the Bureau of Land Management Director.
Last week, President Trump announced his intent to nominate William Perry Pendley to be the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. On the same day, Ackerman stated: “Pendley should NOT be in charge of 10% of our nation’s land. He thinks all federally owned land should be sold, denies climate change, & his leadership is already under challenge by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Unacceptable.”
Pendley has made numerous claims denying the existence of climate change and the value of BLM land. As an anti-environment lawyer, he spent 40 years undermining federal land protections, and in his time as acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management, has allowed public lands to be exploited by special interest groups in the fossil fuel industry.
"Pendley’s nomination is a threat to our public lands and by extension a threat to Nevada,” Ackerman added today.
80% of Nevada’s lands are managed by the federal government and 48 million acres, or 67% of Nevada, is specifically managed by the BLM. Pendley has criticized environmentalism and advocated for the selling of all public land east of the Mississippi.
In addition to attacking the lands he is meant to protect, in the past Pendley has also: condemned the Black Lives Matter movement and stated it was “built on a lie”, as well as criticize non-Christian faiths.
Patricia Ackerman has made protecting public lands a centerpiece of her candidacy. “This land is what makes our state special. We should be preserving its beauty and thinking about climate, wildlife, and conservation. We need a Director that understands the importance of public land and recognizes the dangers of climate change.” Ackerman was an early opponent of the Washoe Lands Bill, and published an op-ed in the Reno Gazette Journal expressing what she believes any public lands bill should entail.
Patricia Ackerman is the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants who arrived in this country fleeing the destruction of World War II. Patricia’s mother was forced slave labor for Nazi Germany, while her father almost starved to death in a concentration camp. At the age of 15, Patricia left a home plagued by domestic violence. With a GED in hand, Patricia started her own successful small business as an interior landscape designer at the age of 21. Patricia would go on to become an award-winning stage actress, a member of the Long Beach Mounted Police, an FBI independent contractor, and an accomplished high-altitude mountaineer. Patricia’s greatest driving force in her run for public office is her mother. From 2007-2013, Patricia acted as her mother’s primary caregiver. Toward the end of her mother's life, Patricia could not find a local doctor who would take medicare in a timely fashion. Having to wait weeks, her mother passed away the day before her appointment. Patricia Ackerman wants to lead the charge in producing a healthcare system that is affordable and accessible to Northern Nevada. Follow Patricia on Twitter or Facebook.
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