(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump nominated former congressman Stevan Pearce to serve as director of the Bureau of Land Management, the agency responsible for managing 245 million acres of public lands.

Pearce, 78, is from New Mexico, the largest producer of oil and gas on federal lands. He has long supported expanding domestic oil production and nuclear power.

As head of the BLM, Pearce will oversee federal leasing programs for oil and gas, mining, grazing and renewable energy development. Trump has looked to federal lands to carry out his "energy dominance" agenda to maximize domestic energy and minerals production and slash red tape.

The BLM is a division of the Interior Department.

A Republican, Pearce represented New Mexico in the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2009 and again from 2011 to 2019. He ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 2008 and for governor in 2018.

Prior to entering politics, Pearce owned an oilfield services company. He also served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Nia Williams)