New USFWS, BLM directors could diminish public lands, wildlife
Laura Lundquist
(Missoula Current) President Donald Trump’s new picks to lead federal land and wildlife agencies are already causing concern for those who value science-based, conservative management.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration nominated former Wyoming Fish and Game director Brian Nesvik to lead the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to Congress.gov. He would take over from Martha Williams, who was the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks director before being nominated by the Biden administration to lead the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The administration also nominated Kathleen Sgamma, the president of the Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, to lead the Bureau of Land Management, according to Congress.gov. Sgamma would take over from Tracy Stone-Manning, a Montanan who had been the senior advisor for conservation policy for the National Wildlife Federation before being tapped by the Biden administration.
Nesvik retired from Wyoming Fish and Game in October after serving as director for five years, according to the Powell Tribune. During that time, he supported investments in aquatic invasive species prevention and wildlife crossing structures. Wyoming has several crossing structures that protect migration corridors for antelope and mule deer.
But Nesvik drew some public criticism during his directorship for the department’s initial lack of transparency and the minimal enforcement and punishment in a Sublette County wildlife abuse case involving “wolf whacking” with snowmobiles and the subsequent torture of a mortally wounded wolf by Wyoming resident Cody Roberts. Roberts had to pay a $250 ticket for possession of live wildlife.
Before being selected for Wyoming Fish and Game director, Nesvik served as a Sublette County game warden, regional wildlife supervisor and chief game warden.
Wyoming does not take an ecological approach toward managing wildlife. As is increasingly the case with state wildlife agencies, Wyoming prioritized management of game animals, such as elk, over all other species, especially predators.
Wyoming was the last Northern Rocky Mountain state where wolves were delisted because the state initially had a shoot-on-sight policy for wolves. Most recently, the Wyoming legislature killed a bill that would have outlawed running wolves over with snowmobiles. However, legislators are considering a bill that would require a clean kill to reduce suffering after an animal has been run over.
Wyoming also filed a lawsuit to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to rule on Wyoming’s petition to delist the Yellowstone population of grizzly bears. In January, the Fish and Wildlife Service decided against delisting any grizzlies but loosened the rules on when people could kill bears. But recently, the agency canceled all public meetings on the ruling although it’s still taking public comment until March 17.
After the first Trump administration tried to delist the Yellowstone grizzly in 2017, Wyoming quickly rolled out a trophy grizzly bear hunting season that would have killed up to 12 bears. The state of Idaho planned a hunt for one bear and Montana decided to hold off. A federal district court stopped the hunt, ruling the Department of the Interior decision had violated the Endangered Species Act.
In 2023, Wyoming’s petition said a hypothetical state-managed grizzly hunt could kill up to 10 females and 29 males in Wyoming’s portion of the “demographic monitoring area,” according to Dan Thompson of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
The National Wildlife Federation praised Nesvik’s work improving wildlife highway crossings in Wyoming and encouraged him to continue working on conservation.
“We look forward to working with Mr. Nesvik to support and fund the professionals at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the national wildlife refuge system as they continue to pursue a science-based, collaborative approach to recovering imperiled species — while providing opportunities for all people to enjoy the great outdoors,” said said Mike Leahy in a National Wildlife Federation statement.
The nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, which often files petitions to list threatened or endangered species, was more direct, issuing a statement saying Nesvik’s nomination was the equivalent to “declaring war on wolves, grizzly bears and imperiled wildlife across America.”
“In Wyoming Nesvik led one of the most anti-conservation wildlife agencies in the country, and it’s glaringly obvious that he wants to destroy the Endangered Species Act and with it our best chance of fighting the extinction crisis. You only put a guy like this in charge of protecting endangered animals if you want to see them wiped out,” said Stephanie Kurose, the Center for Biological Diversity’s government affairs deputy director, in a statement.
Turning to the BLM, director nominee Sgamma is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-educated political science and policy expert whose oil and gas trade group has long advocated for more industry access to public lands and less regulation of resource extraction.
Sgamma co-authored Project 2025’s chapter on energy policy. Published by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, Project 2025 is a 900-page policy "wish list” of proposals to expand presidential power and impose an ultra-conservative social vision. Sgamma was also one of the parties that sued to stop the creation of BLM Public Lands Rule, which would have put conservation on an equal footing with other land uses by allowing areas to be leased for conservation. The Public Lands Rule was published in May.
“The biggest opponent for that rule is now going to be be the director of the BLM. I would say that rule is going to be effectively dead,” said Russell Kuhlman of the Nevada Wildlife Federation.
The Colorado-based Center for Western Priorities said Sgamma has consistently misrepresented the oil and gas industry’s impact on public lands. The Center for Western Priorities also opposed Trump’s previous BLM acting director, William Perry Pendley, who also pushed resource extraction on public lands and transferred the BLM headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Colorado. Stone-Manning restored the headquarters to the nation’s capital.
“This appointment will hand the keys to our public lands over to oil and gas companies. Sgamma will seek to lease every inch of our lands for drilling, no matter their recreational, scenic, ecological, or cultural value. Her appointment is a direct threat to Western communities and wildlife that depend on healthy landscapes, clean air, and clean water,” said Rachael Hamby, Center for Western Priorities policy director.
The Center for Biological Diversity also weighed in, calling Sgamma’s nomination “an unmitigated disaster for our public lands.”
“She’s a fossil fuel industry hack with breathtaking disdain for environmental laws, endangered species, recreation, or anything other than industry profits. It’s hard to imagine how Trump could give a bigger middle finger to America’s public lands. Everyone who treasures the outdoors should oppose her nomination,” said Taylor McKinnon of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Both Nesvik and Sgamma have to go through the nomination process. Trump never sent Pendley before the U.S. Senate to be appointed, because with the chamber evenly split, he wouldn’t have enough votes.
But with the slim GOP majority in the current Senate, Nesvick and Sgamma will likely follow their future boss at the Department of the Interior, former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, and pass unhindered through the confirmation process.
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.