(Reuters) – Oil industry lobbyist Kathleen Sgamma has withdrawn her nomination to lead the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Senator Mike Lee said at a Senate hearing on Thursday.
Sgamma had been scheduled to appear Thursday morning before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to consider her nomination, and Lee made the announcement at the start of the hearing.
Sgamma later issued a statement through Lee’s office that did not give a reason for her withdrawal.
“It was an honor to be nominated by President (Donald) Trump as Director of the Bureau of Land Management, but unfortunately at this time I need to withdraw my nomination,” Sgamma said. “I will continue to support President Trump and fight for his agenda to Unleash American Energy in the private sector.”
Sgamma was the longtime head of the Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas companies that operate on federal lands, and had been critical of efforts by the administrations of former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama to set aside public land for conservation instead of opening more acres for energy development.
The Western Energy Alliance declined to comment.
The BLM is a division of the Interior Department that manages 245 million acres (99 million hectares)of public land, primarily in Western states.
The director of the bureau oversees federal leasing programs for oil and gas, mining, grazing and renewable energy development. The BLM is expected to play a key role in implementing Trump’s agenda to maximize domestic energy production and mining and slashing government regulations.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; editing by Timothy Gardner)
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