Judge tosses land management plans after ousting Pendley from role

A federal judge unraveled the work of former Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acting Director William Perry Pendley, throwing out land management plans in Montana in a case that could jeopardize the agency’s work elsewhere across the country. The late Friday ruling is a win for the state of Montana, with Montana-based District Judge Brian Morris cri1ticizing the Department of the Interior for “novel and last-ditch legal arguments.” It’s the second major decision in the case after Morris last month determined Pendley had violated federal vacancy laws by "serv[ing] unlawfully ... for 424 days" through a series of temporary orders. He gave the Department of the Interior 10 days to justify why it shouldn’t throw out many of the decisions Pendley The decision holds promise for environmental groups, who have a list of at least 30 land management plans overseen by Pendley they’d like to see reversed, many of which limit the scope of national monuments or open up significant portions of federal lands to oil and gas drilling. Pendley “had not been properly appointed to the position, and instead had exercised authority as acting BLM director through a series of unlawful delegations,” Morris wrote in reference to the maneuvers that kept him in the acting director role for over a year. “Any exclusive function of the BLM director performed by Pendley is invalid.” BLM said in a statement it will “fight this outrageous decision,” arguing the suit “comes at the expense of the great people of Montana who, for the time being, are subjected to decades old [resource management plans] that limit Montanans’ ability to work, recreate, and conserve our public lands.”...MORE