Biden nominee would manage public lands for everyone—not just drilling and mining interests

The U.S. Senate will soon consider the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning to be the director of the Bureau of Land Management. An outdoorswoman and highly experienced collaborative leader, she is the ideal choice to steer public land management away from its recent focus on drilling and mining and toward an approach that benefits everyone.

The Bureau of Land Management oversees about 245 million acres of public lands, more than any other agency. The agency must manage these places in a balanced way, ensuring responsible development, conservation of wildlife habitat and recreation access. Stone-Manning's background makes it clear she is up to the task: 

• Stone-Manning is a Westerner and avid outdoorswoman, lending her crucial insight on the need for the Bureau of Land Management to increase access for outdoor recreation as part of its responsibility to manage public lands in a balanced way 

• She has experience as a former Montana state official, congressional staffer, and advisor at the National Wildlife Federation 

• Her nomination has drawn praise from groups including the Montana Wildlife Federation, Montana Conservation Voters, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

• From the director of the Montana Petroleum Association to Republican state lawmakers and conservation organizations, those who have worked with Stone-Manning say she is someone who can bring people together, listen to opposing views and solve problems. These will be useful skills in this fiercely divided political moment

To coin a new version of an old saying: “If all you have is drilling and mining, everything looks like a place to drill and mine.”

That’s certainly how the Trump administration approached management of public lands and waters. Under the “energy dominance agenda,” over 108 million acres of public lands and waters were leased for oil and gas development, and places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Bears Ears National Monument were exposed to destructive development. This Trump doctrine left habitat and important cultural sites irreparably scarred and set industry up to belch billions of tons of climate-warming greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

But right now, lawmakers have a chance to turn the page: by confirming Tracy Stone-Manning to lead the Bureau of Land Management.

Help prioritize a balanced approach to public lands management by asking senators to confirm Tracy Stone-Manning.