Having a qualified and collaborative director at the Bureau of Land Management has never been more important than it is today. Unprecedented challenges face the 245 million acres of public land under the agency’s jurisdiction.
Whether it’s wildfires, invasive species, drought, a wildlife crisis, or the thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells that pollute our air and water, our public lands are in trouble. The problems are made worse by the fact that this very important agency has been rudderless, without a Senate-confirmed director, for four and a half years.
Fortunately, President Joe Biden has nominated a superb and uniquely qualified leader to provide the direction the agency so desperately needs. Tracy Stone-Manning is a Westerner and avid outdoorswoman who understands the many challenges facing the BLM – including the restoration of degraded wildlife habitat, the expansion of access for hunting and outdoor recreation, and the need to make sure local communities benefit from public lands. She has spent her entire career breaking down barriers to public lands and ensuring that federal land management policies serve all Americans.
She has also worked tirelessly to bring together broad coalitions of people to solve the difficult problems that face public lands and waters. Two decades ago, she led the Clark Fork Coalition in Montana, which successfully advocated for Superfund cleanups and a dam removal that created thousands of jobs and revitalized the local economy. The group also co-owned and managed a cattle ranch in the heart of the Superfund site.
Stone-Manning used those same coalition-building skills during her tenure with Sen. Jon Tester when she brought together ranchers, timber interests, outdoor recreationists and local community members to develop a plan to protect wilderness and open up new areas for snowmobiling and mountain biking while safeguarding local timber and recreation jobs.
She has continued her bipartisan coalition-building work at the National Wildlife Federation, where she led the organization’s successful efforts to get the Land and Water Conservation Fund fully funded and permanently authorized in Congress, and has led key bipartisan legislative initiatives to get funding for restoration of our nation’s grasslands, forests, wetlands and coastal areas.
It is clear that Stone-Manning has the experience, the knowledge and the temperament to be a strong and effective leader at the BLM. That’s why I’ve been so disheartened to see the partisan smear campaign that has been launched by some Senate Republicans. The focus of their attacks center on her brief association with the radical environmental group Earth First when she was a 23-year-old grad student 30-plus years ago. It’s as if the past 25 years of her steady, collaborative, pragmatic work don’t count for anything.
I urge the Republican senators who have launched these attacks to take a moment to consider some of the letters of support sent to Congress, written by leaders who have worked with Tracy over the years. People like Wayne Boich, owner of a coal mine in Montana, who said, “Tracy consistently had an open door and an open mind. She was fair, pragmatic and never jumped to conclusions.” Or the Cattlemen’s Association in Idaho, which said, “She’s willing to work with producers and conservationists to bring about innovative, cooperative solutions.” Or the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes that wrote she has “proven her ability to deliver successful outcomes regarding resource management – many of which were dependent on broad coalition-building and bipartisan support.”
Tracy is clearly the kind of collaborative leader we need right now. She understands that we do not have to choose between maintaining our rural economies and combating climate change through the protection of our lands. Both goals can be accomplished through proper stewardship and working collaboratively with all stakeholders. I urge Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper to continue their strong support for this most qualified nominee.
Gwen Lachelt is a former La Plata County Commissioner (2012-2020) and is the founder and executive director of Western Leaders Network.
