William Pendley Loves To Sue The Federal Government

Pendley and his former employer, the anti-public lands front group, the Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF), was involved in suing Interior and its subagencies at least 40 times. Previous litigious efforts include: 

Suits supporting the Trump administration’s “illegal” monuments reduction

Pendley is still listed as the attorney in three ongoing lawsuits regarding Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante Monument reductions — despite clear conflicts of interest. 

A suit pushing to allow uranium mining around Grand Canyon

Pendley was president of MSLF,  which represented mining interests suing the federal government’s over efforts to protect the over one million acres surrounding Grand Canyon National Park from harmful mining, including uranium mining. 

Three suits challenging wild horse and burro management on public lands

Pendley represented groups intent on removing all wild horses and burros from public lands. Pendley is still pushing this agenda as the leader of BLM. 

A suit attacking Interior over sage-grouse habitat protection plans

Pendley sued Interior over sage grouse habitat protection plans, environmental impact statements, land use plan amendments, regarding the Greater Sage-Grouse area. 

A suit challenging the Endangered Species Act (ESA) fees

Pendley represented a private property owner that allegedly violated the ESA by taking a number of threatened prairie dogs. 

A challenge to previously designated critical habitat

Pendley sought the review of acreage that was already critical habitat in Colorado and Wyoming, in the hopes that it would be opened up to development. 

Expanding development drilling access in the sacred Badger-Two Medicine area

Pendley represented Solenex in their legal challenge to protection leases in the Badger-Two Medicine area, pushing to allow more development on sacred land. The case is still pending.

William Pendley Has A Messy Record On Civil Rights

Pendley was involved in litigation railing against diversity efforts, voting rights, and immigration.

In a 2006 case, Pendley represented a defendant pushing Arizona’s Proposition 200, which contained voter registration and identification provisions and was seen as a move to imposed restrictions on voting.

In another case, Pendley and MSLF represented a defendant pushing back against the “Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinance.” The ordinance was allegedly so poorly drafted that certain people would be unable to live, work, shop or secure services without a US birth certificate or immigration papers in hand.

William Pendley Pens Dangerous and Extremist Opinion Pieces

William Pendley has a wide-reaching array of radical and fundamentalist views:

• Pendley wrote in defense of the radical anti-environment group, the Sahara Club.
• Pendley defended Cliven Bundy — a known anti-government zealot.
• Pendley agreed with the Bundy delusion that the federal government is legally required to sell all public land.
• Pendley criticized the U.S. Forest Service for canceling a timber sale in the Bighorn National Forest — a decision made in deference to Native Americans who regard a portion of the forest a sacred.
• Pendley said animal rights activists were no “different from Hilter’s brownshirts.”
• Pendley called the National Environmental Policy Act “burdensome” for controlling wild horse and burro populations.
• Pendley pointed out that then-Republican nominee for president Donald Trump was not fit to pull off Ronald Reagan’s boots.
• Pendley said the Endangered Species Act was unconstitutional.
• Pendley called the effort to protect the sage grouse an “imposition of a draconian and illegal rule.”