Tracy Stone-Manning, President Joe Biden’s nominee for director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), faced hard-hitting questions from Republican lawmakers on a host of issues during her confirmation hearing on June 8.
In her opening statement, Stone-Manning assured the Energy and Natural Resources Committee her previous record of working in public service and lands for the people of Montana has prepared her for the role of BLM director.
“The [BLM] is tasked with the daunting mission to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of our public lands,” Stone-Manning said in her opening statement. “The Bureau manages these lands for multiple uses and multiple values—for present and future generations. Those uses range from energy development to recreation, from grazing and timber to scientific and cultural resources, and from critical minerals mining to wildlife habitat.”
Despite assuring the committee she would work with all stakeholders, Republican lawmakers had a different opinion, criticizing her previous comments opposing oil-and-gas development, energy policies under the previous administration and relocating the headquarters to Grand Junction, CO.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) raised concerns about her previous work with former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) and his campaign against Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), along with her work as treasurer and board member of the environmental group, Montana Conservation Voters, which ran ads against Daines.
“You’ve been incredibly partisan in your past, including working actively against the candidacy of Sen. Daines,” Cassidy said. “Theoretically, you’re going to work with Republicans in your office. Can you speak from your heart? Because it seems like in your heart, you really don’t particularly care for Republicans.”
Stone-Manning indicated her late parents were Republicans and they would be “rolling in their graves” over the assertion of her partisanship.
“I think that my career has shown that the only way to get things done in the country, and specifically in the West, is to work together,” she replied.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the committee’s ranking member, said the position of BLM director is too important to be left to “an advocate.” Barrasso said the position would have a considerable amount to say “over lands and minerals in every state, including my home state of Wyoming.”
“The [BLM] needs a director who believes in, and is committed to, upholding the agency’s multiple-use mandate. Based on her record, I am concerned that Ms. Stone-Manning does not fill the bill,” Barrasso said in his opening statement.
Barrasso stated her previous career indicates “her support for policies that restrict multiple-use activities on public land,” including “the livelihoods of energy producers, of ranchers, of farmers, of loggers and others with a stake in the responsible use of our natural resources.” Barrasso stated what was most troubling is her partisanship, particularly with Republican opposition to Deb Haaland as the secretary of the Interior.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who introduced Stone-Manning at the hearing, took issue with Barrasso’s assertions, saying his criticisms “do not describe the person” he knows.
“There are places we can mine; there are places we can drill; there are places appropriate for resource extraction; there are other places that are not. I think Tracy Stone-Manning brings that understanding to the table,” Tester said.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) questioned whether she had a conflict of interest receiving a personal loan while working on Tester’s staff. According to the Associated Press, disclosure filings showed she received the 12-year loan from a Missoula developer at a 6 percent interest rate, which Marshall said was below the 11 percent going rate for consumer loans at that time.
Stone-Manning replied she is deeply concerned about ethics and her family experienced troubles during the 2008 recession and they “came to terms and honored the loan.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) took issue with her work at the National Wildlife Federation. Murkowski stated the concern was the reversal of making lands in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge available for drilling and it would be up to Stone-Manning to end the pause.
Stone-Manning was conciliatory and said she would follow the law despite ongoing environmental lawsuits.
“I understand that being the director of BLM is a very different job than the work I have done at the National Wildlife Federation,” Stone-Manning told Murkowski.
BLM headquarters
During questioning from Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), the senator asked Stone-Manning about the relocation of the BLM headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Grand Junction, CO, stating the move “was done in haste and it didn’t pan out the way it was promised.”
Hickenlooper stated 328 jobs were slated to be moved to the new headquarters, but 287 retired or found other employment. Only 41 moved west, resulting in a disservice to the city that was hoping for an economic boost, he said. According to the Interior Department, of the 41 positions at Grand Junction, 11 career positions and two political positions, including the director’s office, remain vacant.
Colorado Newsline reported that Interior Department officials confirmed only three workers ultimately relocated to Grand Junction. The BLM noted to Colorado Newsline some workers have been telecommuting due to the pandemic.
Stone-Manning told Hickenlooper that it is her understanding that the Interior Department and Interior Secretary Haaland are currently reviewing the headquarters status, stating “that they are surveying employees, and if I have the honor of being confirmed and get there in a timely way, you have my commitment to dive in and carry the folks of Grand Junction and their concerns with me to the consideration.”
Prior to the hearing, a group of over 100 environmental organizations spanning ideological beliefs from hunting and fishing enthusiasts to conservation organizations sent a letter urging the confirmation of Stone-Manning.
“As a Westerner, an avid outdoorswoman, and a consensus builder, Stone-Manning has spent her career advocating for the wise stewardship of our nation’s public lands and waters,” the letter stated. “Stone-Manning also has shown that she has the temperament and management skills necessary to bring together diverse groups of stakeholders in pursuit of collaborative policy solutions.”
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) urged the Senate to quickly confirm Stone-Manning, saying the agency has been without a director for the last four-and-a-half years. All Republican senators plus one Democratic lawmaker is required to block her nomination. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has not yet scheduled a vote on Stone-Manning’s confirmation. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
