Southwest Public Policy Institute Vice Chairman Zachary Fort has recently emerged as a leading voice in national and regional discussions surrounding federal land management and public access in the American West. As debate intensified over the nomination of former Congressman Steve Pearce to serve as Director of the Bureau of Land Management, Fort’s perspective—representing New Mexico’s hunting, recreation, and outdoor communities—was featured across major media outlets, including The New York Times, the Albuquerque Journal, the Santa Fe New Mexican, and the Las Cruces Sun-News. The following media coverage reflects Fort’s growing influence in policy conversations affecting public lands, conservation, recreation, and stakeholder governance throughout the West.
New York Times
On February 25, 2026, the New York Times examines President Donald Trump’s nomination of former Congressman Steve Pearce to lead the Bureau of Land Management, highlighting bipartisan scrutiny of Pearce’s longstanding support for privatizing federal lands alongside his assurances to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that he would not pursue large-scale public land sales if confirmed. The piece situates the nomination within broader national debates over energy development, conservation, and Western land access, noting organized opposition from hunters, veterans, environmental advocates, and lawmakers concerned about preserving recreational use and federal stewardship. Among those quoted is Southwest Public Policy Institute Vice Chairman Zachary Fort, speaking as president of the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association, who emphasized that hunters and sport shooters rely heavily on public lands and oppose any effort to sell them, underscoring growing grassroots concern over maintaining public access to federally managed landscapes.
Santa Fe New Mexican
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports on former Congressman Steve Pearce’s Senate confirmation hearing as he seeks appointment as Director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, where Democratic senators scrutinized past statements suggesting portions of federal public lands could be sold or reduced. Pearce defended his record, arguing prior comments reflected frustration with federal land mismanagement rather than opposition to public lands themselves, while emphasizing he does not support large-scale land sales. The article highlights strong public sentiment in Western states favoring preservation of public lands and presents reactions from stakeholders across New Mexico, including Southwest Public Policy Institute Vice Chairman Zachary Fort, who voiced concern that selling federal lands could limit public access for hunting and recreational shooting despite acknowledging ongoing management challenges. The piece frames Pearce’s nomination within broader national debates over land stewardship, energy development, and competing political visions for federal land management.
Albuquerque Journal
In a February 22, 2026 Albuquerque Journal opinion column, Southwest Public Policy Institute Vice Chairman Zachary Fort, writing in his capacity as president of the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association, argues against the nomination of former Congressman Steve Pearce to serve as Director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Fort contends that Pearce’s longstanding support for selling or transferring federal public lands, along with past efforts to reduce protections for areas such as the Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument, demonstrates a governing philosophy incompatible with responsible land stewardship. Emphasizing the importance of public land access for hunters, sport shooters, and outdoor recreation communities, Fort asserts that BLM leadership requires balanced, competent management rather than political partisanship, urging the U.S. Senate to reject Pearce’s nomination in order to protect public access and preserve New Mexico’s outdoor heritage for future generations.
Las Cruces Sun News
A February 26, 2026 Las Cruces Sun-News article covers former Congressman Steve Pearce’s Senate confirmation hearing for Director of the Bureau of Land Management, where lawmakers questioned his past support for selling federal lands and his approach to balancing energy development, recreation, and conservation across the West. Pearce sought to reassure senators that he does not envision large-scale public land sales and would prioritize local stakeholder input in federal land management decisions. The article also highlights organized opposition to the nomination, including participation by Southwest Public Policy Institute Vice Chairman Zachary Fort, speaking as president of the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association, who argued during a Vet Voice Foundation press conference that public lands are a shared resource vital to hunters and sport shooters and should not be transferred to private or corporate ownership, reflecting broader concerns among recreation and conservation groups about maintaining public access.
Center for Western Priorities
Southwest Public Policy Institute Vice Chairman Zachary Fort appeared on the Center for Western Priorities’ Landscape Podcast to discuss his opposition to former Congressman Steve Pearce’s nomination to serve as Director of the Bureau of Land Management, speaking in his role as president of the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association. During the interview, Fort outlined concerns among hunters and shooting sports advocates regarding Pearce’s historical support for transferring federal public lands to private ownership, arguing that such policies could restrict public access and undermine outdoor traditions relied upon by generations of New Mexicans. Fort also addressed broader concerns about land stewardship, balancing energy development with recreation, and the importance of maintaining public lands as shared resources accessible to diverse stakeholders across the American West.
Washington Post
In a November 18, 2025 Washington Post opinion column that launched the Southwest Public Policy Institute’s national advocacy campaign, SPPI President and CEO Patrick M. Brenner argued against the nomination of former Congressman Steve Pearce to serve as Director of the Bureau of Land Management, contending that the agency requires competent, consensus-oriented leadership capable of balancing the competing economic, environmental, and recreational demands placed on federal lands. Drawing on his experience as a New Mexico conservative and former Republican, Brenner criticized Pearce’s record as chairman of the New Mexico Republican Party, asserting that his tenure was marked by political division, electoral decline, and an inability to build stakeholder trust — qualities Brenner argued would undermine effective management of the nation’s public lands. The article framed opposition to the nomination not as ideological but as a matter of governance and institutional competence, helping to elevate SPPI’s campaign into the national policy conversation surrounding federal land stewardship.
