BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Donald Trump assigned Doug Burgum a singular mission in nominating the governor of oil-rich North Dakota to lead an agency that oversees a half-billion acres of federal land and vast areas offshore: “Drill baby drill.”
That dictate from the president-elect’s announcement of Burgum for Secretary of Interior sets the stage for a reignition of the court battles over public lands and waters that helped define Trump’s first term, with environmentalists worried about climate change already pledging their opposition.
Burgum is an ultra-wealthy software industry entrepreneur who grew up on his family’s farm. He represents a tame choice compared to other Trump Cabinet picks.
Public lands experts said his experience as a popular two-term governor who aligns himself with conservationist Teddy Roosevelt suggests a willingness to collaborate, as opposed to dismantling from within the agency he is tasked with leading.
That could help smooth his confirmation and clear the way for the incoming administration to move quickly to open more public lands to development and commercial use.
“Burgum strikes me as a credible nominee who could do a credible job as Interior secretary,” said John Leshy, who served as Interior’s solicitor under former President Bill Clinton.
“He’s not a right-wing radical on public lands.”
The Interior Department manages about one-fifth of the country’s land with a mandate that spans from wildlife conservation and recreation to natural resource extraction and fulfilling treaty obligations with Native American tribes.
Most of those lands are in the West, where frictions with private landowners and state officials are commonplace and have sometimes mushroomed into violent confrontations with right-wing groups that reject federal jurisdiction.