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Temporary acting director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), William Pendley, has already proven he is intent on cruelly eradicating America’s wild horses and burros from our public lands. Things will get much, much worse for equines, other wild animals and the environment if Pendley’s nomination to become director is pushed through — yet that’s a very real possibility. We must act now to stop this horse hater in his tracks!

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin said of Pendley, “His past comments calling the Endangered Species Act ‘a joke,’ comparing global warming to the existence of unicorns and arguing the federal government should sell off its public lands are disqualifying.”

While it may come as no surprise that the Trump administration would nominate a climate-change denier to care for the environment, it is incomprehensible that the government would nominate a man who has advocated for selling America’s public lands to private interests to manage our public lands. Pendley has not only advocated for that, but he has plans to remove or brutally sterilize most of the wild horses and burros on western public lands. 

Pendley has called wild horses the “biggest existential threat” to our public lands, which is ludicrous for multiple reasons. Climate change, private and corporate ranchers grazing their exploited animals, and ruinous extractive industries are far more damaging to our public lands than wild horses and burros could ever be. It is also a preposterous statement because wild horses and burros occupy only 12% of public land managed by this out-of-control agency, and are grossly outnumbered by the grazing animals exploited by private ranchers.

Even with all this damning evidence about Pendley, many senators appear undecided. We must act now to urge Congress to reject Pendley’s nomination as the Director of the BLM.

What YOU Can Do:

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