Public lands official defends job despite judge's ruling

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The top official at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said Thursday he’s still working despite a federal judge ruling he’s illegally holding the position.

“I love this job,” William Perry Pendley said, adding he's looking forward to implementing policies put forward by President Donald Trump on nearly a quarter-billion acres in the U.S. West. “I’m proud of what the president is doing.”

Perry wore an American flag face covering that he took off to speak to a handful of reporters in Boise at the National Interagency Fire Center, which manages the nation’s wildland firefighting efforts.

He also wore a form of the Gadsden flag on the left arm of his jacket. The green patch contained the image of a coiled rattlesnake with “Liberty or Death” across the top and “Don't tread on me” across the bottom.

Perry had instructed staff to set up the news conference despite the agency having nothing to announce. Perry used the time to praise the work of wildland firefighters this year while also contending with COVID-19, and defended his role at the bureau.

At the end, he had fire center workers hand out four double-sided pages titled news releases and fact sheets laying out a legal argument as to why the federal judge was wrong, and arguing that Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, who brought the lawsuit, did not have legal standing to file it.

Specifically, Pendley said he couldn’t be ousted from his role leading the bureau because he was never officially named the acting director. Pendley said that U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has the authority to delegate powers to others to manage the bureau, making Pendley’s role in the agency legal.

Bernhardt appointed Pendley in July 2019. Pendley said that appointment was not as acting...