BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – A senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration who oversaw controversial efforts to tackle climate change by curbing oil drilling on federal lands while expanding renewable energy was named Tuesday as the next president of a prominent environmental group.
Tracy Stone-Manning, director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, will become president of The Wilderness Society effective February next year, the Washington, DC-based group announced.
Biden’s 2021 nomination of Stone-Manning was bitterly opposed by Republicans, who labeled her an “eco-terrorist” because of her past ties to environmental extremists. Senate Democrats pushed through her confirmation on a party-line vote.
Trusted news and daily treats, straight to your inbox
See for yourself: The Yodel is the source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.
The land bureau has jurisdiction over nearly a quarter of a billion acres (100 million hectares) of land, mainly in western states, used for oil exploration, mining, livestock grazing, recreation and other purposes.
Under Stone-Manning, it has sharply reduced lease sales of oil and gas and increased the royalties companies must pay to extract the fuel. It also issued a rule that increased the importance of conservation by making it a “use” of public lands, similar to drilling or grazing.
That marked a sharp departure from the land agency’s long-standing reputation for promoting commercial development over environmental conservation.
These moves drew resistance from the energy, mining and ranching sectors and their Republican allies in Congress. They have vowed to reverse Stone-Manning’s actions when the Republican Party takes control of Washington next year following the 2024 election victories.
The land office also approved new solar and wind energy projects and opened more public lands to renewable energy development under Biden.
Before joining the administration, Stone-Manning served as a senior aide to U.S. Senator Jon Tester, Montana Democrats, and Governor Steve Bullock. Her nomination by Biden sparked intense Republican opposition over Stone-Manning’s involvement in a 1989 environmental sabotage case.
As a 23-year-old graduate student at the University of Montana, Stone-Manning sent a letter to federal officials in 1989 saying spikes had been stuck in trees in Idaho’s Clearwater National Forest. Tree cutting involves inserting metal or ceramic rods into trunks so that they cannot be felled safely, and this tactic is sometimes used to stop the sale of timber.
Two men were charged in the case, and Stone-Manning later testified against them, saying she sent the letter at the request of one of the men and to prevent people from getting hurt. She was given immunity to testify and was never charged with any crimes, although an investigator later said she had obstructed the criminal investigation.
During the debate over her nomination, Republican lawmakers called her a dangerous choice. She was confirmed with support from moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
President-elect Donald Trump nominates North Dakota’s Republican governor, Doug Burgum, as secretary of the Interior, which includes the Bureau of Land Management. His selection for land office director has not yet been announced.
During Trump’s first term, the agency was without a Senate-confirmed director. The Republican instead used acting directors who did not have to go to the Senate to advance his agenda to boost American energy production.
The agency’s headquarters were moved to Colorado under Trump, leading to the firing or retirement of hundreds of employees before it was returned to Washington, DC, under Biden.
