Biden’s Pick to Lead Land Management Approved by Senate Energy Committee

July 22, 2021

Today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced Tracy Stone-Manning’s nomination to run the Bureau of Land Management solely with democratic support.

As we previously reported on, back in 1989, Tracy Stone-Manning directly supported eco-terrorist group Earth First! tree-spiking activities. She sent an anonymous letter on behalf of eco-saboteurs who drove metal spikes into trees in Idaho set to be cut down. Tree-spiking is a felony in many states across the country and the aim is to maim or kill lumber industry workers or damage equipment.

For weeks, Republicans have called on Biden to withdraw Stone-Manning’s nomination due to her ties to the group and past involvement in an act of domestic eco-terrorism. The Washington Post reports on GOP’s strong opposition toward Stone-Manning’s nomination:

“None of her actions show any sort of remorse,” Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican from Stone-Manning’s home state of Montana, said in a floor speech this week. “They didn’t then, and they still don’t now.” He was among the 10 Republicans on the panel who voted against her nomination.

“Mr. Chairman, she straight-up lied to this committee,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the top Republican on the committee, at one point holding up a gray metal spike. “It is hard to imagine a nominee more disqualified than Tracy Stone-Manning.”

Stone-Manning told the Senate she was never the target of the investigation and continues to claim she sent the letter only because she “didn’t’ want anybody getting hurt.” Yet, the letter carried a threatening tone stating the forest, “is home to the Elk, Deer, Mountain Lions, Birds, and especially the Trees … You bastards go in there anyway and a lot of people could get hurt.”

And an investigator in the tree-spiking case, Michael Merkley, recently told the energy committee that Stone-Manning was an initial target of the investigation and only talked after she was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony. “Ms. Stone-Manning was not an innocent bystander, nor was she a victim in this case,” Merkley wrote in a letter to the committee. “And, she was most certainly not a hero.”

It is clear Stone-Manning is unfit to lead the Bureau of Land Management, which controls nearly 250 million acres of resource-rich federal lands. Her nomination now awaits a vote in the full Senate. Democrats control the Senate by the narrowest of margins and Vice President Harris may have to be the one to cast a tie-breaking vote to put Stone-Manning in the job. We hope the full Senate and Vice President Harris vote against the left-wing extremist and rightfully denounces eco-terrorism rather than rewarding it.