Watchdog organization Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) is calling for the investigation of a top Bureau of Land Management (BLM) official.
Protect the Public’s Trust recently called attention to a BLM official allegedly promoting the policies of a former employer, a potential conflict of interest in violation of federal ethics laws and/or the Biden Ethics Pledge.
In October 2020, while Nada Culver was vice president of Public Lands and senior policy counsel at the National Audubon Society, the society petitioned the Department of the Interior (DOI) and then-Secretary David Bernhardt to take specific actions regarding a series of Public Land Orders (PLOs) covering 28 million acres in Alaska, according to a PPT complaint.
The DOI took a different approach and finalized the PLOs in January 2021. After joining the Department of the Interior in 2021, Culver took the precise actions recommended by her former employer, possibly violating ethics laws and the Biden Ethics Pledge that political appointees must adhere to.
“The American public deserves to trust that the decisions of its government are made in an impartial and unbiased manner,” Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust said in a statement. “The high-ranking officials who are entrusted with authority over rulings that affect the lives and livelihoods of the public must not be influenced by potential conflicts or the specific Federal actions sought by previous employers. The Department of the Interior must provide a maximum level of transparency to assure the American public that its officials are living up to this standard.”
Culver currently serves as the Biden administration's point person tasked with advancing the National Audubon Society's agenda, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
Though the petition in 2020 was signed by Audubon Alaska, no legal distinction exists between Alaska Audubon and the National Audubon Society. Audubon Alaska has not filed an independent Form 990, an annual form nonprofits are required to file with the IRS.
“Ms. Culver’s participation in a matter in which her former employer was involved raises serious questions,” Chamberlain said in a previous statement. “The American public deserves to be assured political appointees are carrying out their duties in an ethical, impartial manner without favoritism to previous employers or these large special interest groups. If a high-ranking official like Culver can come in and, as one of her first actions, do her former employer’s bidding, it’s hard for the American public to understand exactly what purpose the impartiality regulations or the Biden Ethics Pledge serve.”
Culver is currently Deputy Director for Policy and Programs Exercising the Delegated Authority of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). She is temporary acting head of the BLM until a permanent director can be confirmed by the Senate.
