A former U.S. congressman from New Mexico has been nominated by President Trump to be director of the Bureau of Land Management, in Trump’s second attempt this year to fill the position.

Trump has nominated Steve Pearce, immediately drawing criticism from a conservation group and praise from an oil and gas group.

Earlier this year Trump nominated Coloradan Kathleen Sgamma, until recently the president of the Western Energy Alliance oil and gas group, for the job. But in April Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said just ahead of her confirmation hearing that she had withdrawn from consideration for the post. That was just after a memo surfaced that Sgamma had written to Western Energy Alliance members on Jan. 7, 2021, voicing disgust over T

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