Critics blast confirmation of ‘eco-terrorist’ Stone-Manning as BLM chief

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Senate’s confirmation this week of Tracy Stone-Manning to lead the Bureau of Land Management has drawn the ire of critics who call her an eco-terrorist because of her past actions.

The Thursday Senate vote was 50-45 in favor.

Biden nominated Tracy Stone-Manning, former adviser to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, and director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, to lead BLM in April, but her connections to radical environmentalists in the 1980s quickly landed her in controversy, leading to a months-long delay in confirmation process.

Republicans on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee sent a letter earlier this year calling on Biden to retract the nomination, pointing to Stone-Manning’s involvement in “tree spiking.”

Tree spiking is a dangerous practice of some more radical environmentalists, critics of the practice say. It involves hammering metal spikes and nails into trees, often near the base, so that when the tree is cut down or processed in a logging facility it will damage saws. This practice can seriously injure or kill workers when the saw breaks upon impact with the unexpected metal rods.

Republicans also accused Stone-Manning of lying about her involvement in tree-spiking during a Senate committee confirmation hearing.

Power The Future Communications Director Larry Behrens criticized New Mexico’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, for their votes in favor of the nomination.

“Senators Heinrich and Lujan are hoping the wreckage of Joe Biden’s legislative agenda will distract New Mexicans from the confirmation of an eco-terrorist to a high-ranking government position,” Behrens said Friday in a statement. “All the while, green policies are sending energy prices soaring at home and putting Europe on the brink of a supply crisis heading into winter.”

The price of oil and gasoline have soared this year. Energy advocates blame Biden’s green energy policies in part on the increases.

“Tracey Stone-Manning’s confirmation is the clearest sign yet that ‘Blue Collar Joe’ values extreme environmentalism above all else and certainly more than the well-being of our energy workers,” Behrens said. “New Mexicans are watching, and they won’t be fooled.”

U.S. Sen. John Barassso, R-Wyoming, said from the Senate floor Thursday that Stone-Manning lied about her involvement in the tree-spiking incident.

Stone-Manning is a “dangerous choice to be put in charge of America’s public lands” Barassso said, according to the Montana Free Press. As BLM chief, Stone-Manning will be responsible for oversight of 12% of U.S. land.

In her own statement after the vote, Stone-Manning said she was grateful for the “vote of confidence.”

“I am grateful for the Senate’s vote of confidence today and look forward to bringing decades of experience – working on the ground and across the aisle – to carry out the critical mission of the Bureau of Land Management,” Stone-Manning said.

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