May 18 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate voted on Monday to confirm Steve Pearce, a former oilman and congressman from New Mexico, to lead the Bureau of Land Management.

• Pearce was one of 49 nominees for federal positions that were confirmed in one Senate bloc vote of 46-43.

• The BLM, a division of the Interior Department, manages more than a tenth of the nation’s surface area.

• Pearce is the former owner of an oilfield services company and supports President Donald Trump’s goal to increase fossil fuel development on public lands.

• Democrats and conservation groups opposed Pearce’s nomination in part because he has advocated for sales of federal lands to pay down the deficit.

• Oil and gas trade group Western Energy Alliance praised Pearce’s confirmation, calling him a champion of multiple uses of public lands, including oil and gas drilling and protecting landscapes.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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