BOISE, ID – Idahoans are watching the confirmation hearings for Steve Pearce as director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management closely.

Pearce is a former Republican New Mexico congressman and owner of an oil services business who, if confirmed, would oversee 245 million acres of BLM land. But his past comments pushing for the sell-off of public lands has rankled people across the West.

Alexis Pickering, executive director of Conservation Voters for Idaho, said public lands are treasured in the Mountain West.

“The idea of selling lands, of not staffing the BLM, to leave it vulnerable to wildfires, is something that is deeply politically unpopular,” she said, “especially in places like Idaho.”

There are nearly 12 million acres of BLM land in Idaho – more than a fifth of the state’s land area. When confronted with his record on public lands, Pearce offered contradictory statements but noted that selling these lands is currently illegal. A Conservation Voters for Idaho poll from 2025 found 96% of voters in the state agree that public lands should stay public and protected, including 95% of Republicans.

In Pearce’s hearing on Wednesday, U.S. Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, said, “Idahoans do not want their public lands sold, period, full stop.”

Pickering said most of Idaho’s congressional delegation has been united in its opposition of giving away public lands.

“If he is confirmed,” she said, “we are going to be watching his every move and really putting a lot of pressure on our Idaho delegation to hold Pearce to the standard that they said are their expectations as well.

Last year, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, proposed legislation that would have allowed the sale of millions of acres of public land. The measure received opposition from three of Idaho’s four members in Congress, all Republicans: Risch, Sen. Mike Crapo, and Rep. Mike Simpson. The measure was eventually scrapped from the budget reconciliation legislation that would eventually become the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”