Pendley: Building trust with Westerners

William Perry Pendley

...Every day, Rangers Hilderbrand and Stewart — and more than 200 of their colleagues — patrol the 245 million acres of public lands managed by the BLM, keeping 70 million annual visitors safe, while protecting America’s scenic, cultural and historical treasures. They work closely with local, state and federal partners — particularly, Western county sheriffs and their deputies — to perform rescues, conduct welfare checks and confront criminal activities, including drug and human smuggling, illegal dumping, drug cultivation and vandalism. BLM Rangers also answer the call when their services are needed elsewhere, as with disaster relief efforts for Hurricane Dorian in Florida.

Today’s BLM Rangers are highly regarded, well-respected and wholeheartedly embraced by their Western colleagues in the law enforcement community. But that was not always the case. 

Until recently, rural Westerners had come to distrust not the individual rank-and-file Rangers — many of whom were friends and neighbors in their small communities — but rather the Rangers’ leaders in Washington and the policies that made them the pointy end of a misaimed federal spear. To make matters worse, some of those leaders seemed to think they were above the law.

Not surprisingly, it was the Ranger community that helped blow the whistle and aided Trump administration officials in addressing troubling allegations of employee misconduct, destruction and mishandling of evidence and misappropriation of government funds.

In 2017, the department tasked its inspector general, solicitor and bureau leadership to clean house; end the mischief, malfeasance and criminal wrongdoing; and restore the professionalism that had once been the Rangers’ hallmark. This effort continues under Secretary Bernhardt, who has reinforced professional accountability and demanded adherence to the highest ethical standards. Today, the bureau is committed to exceeding the expectations of the American people that federal law enforcement professionals are paragons of truly dutiful and dedicated public service.

To this end, the bureau is reaching out to local sheriffs to ensure that Rangers recognize that, although local law enforcement bears primary responsibility for enforcing state and federal law, Rangers are there to assist — lending their expertise to better local communities. Rangers, therefore, partner with local law enforcement, while recognizing that counties are a governmental-arm of sovereign states. Maintaining that deference is essential to making BLM a truly productive and valued partner to Western communities.

READ ENTIRE OP-ED_ 

I appreciate what Pendley is trying to do here, although I don't believe they have gone far enough to correct their problems and he may overstate the popularity of the program in the West. Pendley has, though, certainly managed to stir up the enviro-left. Check out Trump’s Public-Land Boss Says Feds Should Bow to Sheriffs Therein he is accused of far-right views, placating the militia and patriot movements, and endangering his own employees:

The op-ed could appeal to the so-called “Patriot” movement, a loose collection of far-right ideologies, said Lindsay Schubiner, a program director at Western States Center. “Pendley’s statement that federal BLM agents should defer to local law enforcement not only undermines his own staff, but potentially puts them in danger,” Schubiner told The Daily Beast. “This rhetoric risks emboldening the Patriot movement, which already sees BLM agents as their enemy.”

These circles often hold local sheriffs in high regard. Police who join the far-right Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, for instance, believe sheriffs are the highest level of the law. It’s a conspiratorial view that previously appeared with the white supremacist group the Posse Comitatus, and has also found footing with the tax-protest movement, the militia movement, and with “sovereign citizens,” a group that falsely believes themselves to be liberated from the federal government and most laws. John Freemuth, the Cecil D. Andrus endowed chair for environment and public lands at Boise State University told the energy publication E&E News that Pendley’s comments would appeal to some of this far-right fringe. “He revved up the crazies with that statement,” Freemuth said. “Now some nut job could confront [BLM rangers] with, ‘Well, your boss said you're subservient.’”

All that just because he asked them to defer to local law enforcement, which is just another way of saying to recognize their jurisdiction?

What Pendley should do is implement the law, in this case Section 303(c)(1) of FLPMA, which states: 

When the Secretary determines that assistance is necessary in enforcing Federal laws and regulations relating to the public lands or their resources he shall offer a contract to appropriate local officials having law enforcement authority within their respective jurisdictions with the view of achieving maximum feasible reliance upon local law enforcement officials in enforcing such laws and regulations.

 Please note the "maximum feasible reliance upon local law enforcement" language. Do that, and many of these issues will be resolved.