MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
President Trump has named his choice to lead the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. That agency plays a huge role in permitting and developing energy projects across the country. Colorado Public Radio's Caitlyn Kim reports that Trump's choice is a petroleum industry lobbyist from Denver.
CAITLYN KIM, BYLINE: For a president who's vowed to drill, baby, drill, Kathleen Sgamma is not a surprising pick to lead the BLM, which manages resources on 245 million acres of public lands. Since 2006, she's helmed the Western Energy Alliance, an association of independent oil and natural gas companies with interests on public lands. The BLM director requires Senate confirmation. And Sgamma's got fans there, including Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis. She calls Sgamma an inspired pick.
CYNTHIA LUMMIS: She's so knowledgeable about the West, about the oil and gas industry, about public lands, about permitting.
KIM: Sgamma was a contributor to the interior department section of Project 2025. And her group was part of a lawsuit against the Biden administration over a rule that put conservation on equal footing with other uses of public lands, from grazing and recreation to mining. Last month, she told Colorado Public Radio she expects Trump's energy policies to closely align with her industry's priorities.
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KATHLEEN SGAMMA: Moving forward with lease sales, moving forward with permitting on federal lands, moving forward with completing environmental analysis.
KIM: Sgamma would work under new Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who's pursuing the administration's push for industry deregulation in line with Trump's executive orders.
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SGAMMA: They're saying agencies, look at your regulations. Do what you need to do to adjust those regulations so that they are not an impediment to American energy.
KIM: Environmental groups have come out against Sgamma's nomination. Aaron Weiss is with the Center for Western Priorities.
AARON WEISS: The BLM director is in charge of multiple use, and Kathleen Sgamma has demonstrated over and over and over again that she believes oil and gas drilling is the primary and best use of America's public lands.
KIM: During his first term, the Republican-controlled Senate chose not to vote on President Trump's nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management, William Perry Pendley. He was a controversial choice and served in an acting capacity until a federal judge ordered him to step aside. For NPR News, I'm Caitlyn Kim. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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