This piece was originally published in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on July 29, 2021.
Public lands make up over 36 percent of Colorado, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages 8.3 million acres – 12 percent of the state. These lands contribute to the natural beauty of Colorado, create some of the cleanest molecules of energy in the world, and support the state’s flourishing economic development. Whomever is chosen and confirmed to lead the BLM, an agency of significant importance to the West – and particularly, Colorado – should be someone who has the confidence of the American public, understands the importance of multiple uses on public lands, and is committed to keeping the BLM headquarters in the West.
Tracy Stone-Manning is not that person.
In addition to being a former advisor for the National Wildlife Federation, state agency official, and Capitol Hill staffer, Ms. Stone-Manning is also a former eco-terrorist conspirator.
In 1989, Ms. Stone-Manning was intimately involved with a radical environmental group called Earth First! – a group of eco-terrorists who nailed 500 pounds of metal spikes into trees in Idaho’s Clearwater National Forest. These actions – intended to cause serious physical harm or even death – posed a direct threat to the lives of loggers working to manage our nation’s forests. Years after this incident, Ms. Stone-Manning lied to the Montana legislature and, even more recently, lied to the United States Senate about her association with this dangerous tree-spiking.
On top of her affiliation with this eco-terrorist cell, Ms. Stone-Manning has opposed the BLM headquarters move to Colorado and has been adamantly against any kind of energy development on public lands throughout her career – contrary to the statutory multiple use mandate of the Bureau. If confirmed, Ms. Stone-Manning would be responsible for managing 8.3 million acres of Colorado’s federal lands and 27 million acres of mineral rights within the state.
Typically, any nomination of a candidate whose background has elicited such controversial information as Tracy Stone-Manning’s would have already been withdrawn. But not this time.
The Biden Administration continues to stand by this dangerous, radical nominee.
Meanwhile, even the former Obama Administration’s BLM Director, Bob Abbey, has publicly stated that based on her actions, she should be disqualified from leading an agency as important as the BLM. "As a 30-year BLM career employee, I don't take her actions lightly, nor should anyone else," Abbey said.
Aside from her eco-terrorist background and extreme stances against the statutory multiple use requirements of our public lands, it should be unacceptable to all Coloradans that a nominee who has been vocally opposed to the BLM headquarters being located in Grand Junction – a move that has garnered bipartisan support, resulted in more direct and effective land management, and generated economic benefits for the region – be supported by the Senators whose state currently houses said headquarters.
Colorado’s Representatives Buck, Lamborn, and Boebert have been active and staunch in their support for the Bureau’s headquarters to remain in Colorado, just as they have been completely clear that Tracy Stone-Manning is wrong for this position – and wrong for Colorado.
Last week, Senator Hickenlooper and his fellow Democrats on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources voted along party lines to advance Ms. Stone-Manning’s dangerous nomination. We are disappointed in the Senator’s vote, but we believe he – and Senator Bennet – still have the opportunity to represent the priorities of Coloradans and communities across the West. To reaffirm their support for keeping the BLM headquarters in Colorado, the Senators must first secure a public commitment from Ms. Stone-Manning that she will not move the agency’s headquarters out of state before they even begin to consider voting to confirm her based upon any of her qualifications and past actions.
If Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper are steadfast in their determination to select a qualified and serious nominee who understands the importance of keeping this agency’s headquarters in the West, they must call on Ms. Stone-Manning to make this guarantee. Doing anything less will call into question their commitment to Colorado, rural communities, and land managers across our great country.
Dan Newhouse represents Washington’s 4th Congressional District and serves as Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus. Chelsie Miera serves as Executive Director of the West Slope Colorado Oil & Gas Association.
