Biden’s public lands director named to lead environmental group

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration who oversaw its contentious efforts to address climate change by curbing oil drilling and coal mining on federal lands while expanding renewable power was named Tuesday as the next president of a prominent environmental group.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning will become president of The Wilderness Society effective next February, the Washington, D.C.-based group announced.

The land bureau shifted sharply away from fossil fuel extraction during her tenure, including two decisions released Tuesday that end new federal coal sales from the nation’s most productive reserves of the fuel along the Wyoming-Montana border.

Stone-Manning’s 2021 nomination by Biden was bitterly opposed by Republicans who labeled her an “eco-terrorist” over her past ties with environmental extremists. Senate Democrats pushed through her confirmation on a party-line vote.

The land bureau has jurisdiction over almost a quarter-billion acres (100 million hectares) of land, primarily in western states, that is used for oil exploration, mining, livestock grazing, recreation and other purposes.

Under Stone-Manning the bureau sharply reduced oil and gas lease sales and raised royalty rates that companies must pay to extract the fuel. It also issued a rule elevating the importance of conservation, by making it a “use” of public lands on par with drilling or grazing.

That marked a sharp departure from the land bureau’s longstanding reputation for favoring commercial development over environmental preservation.

The moves drew pushback from the energy, mining and ranching industries and Republican in Congress. They have vowed to undo actions taken by Stone-Manning when the GOP assumes control in Washington next year as a result of its 2024 election wins.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said the decision to end coal leasing in the Powder River Basin area of northeast Wyoming and southeast Montana would have devastating economic effects. The Republican accused the Biden administration of a “crusade” against coal and said he would work with his state’s congressional delegation to reverse it.

“This is not a balanced resource management strategy, but an anti-fossil fuel, politically-motivated action taken before the door slams on this administration,” Gordon said in a statement.

The land bureau under Biden also approved new solar and wind power projects and opened more public lands to renewable energy development.

It is uncertain if the changes will last.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona, praised the work done by Stone-Manning on renewable energy, but added that it could be “completely undone” by the next administration.

“Whether it’s through rock-bottom royalty rates, rigged rulemaking, or stripped environmental protections, our public lands will soon be a profit playground for the rich,” said Grijalva, the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to drop Biden’s climate and energy policies in a bid to increase oil and gas production that is already at record levels. He has nominated North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum to lead the Interior Department, which includes the Bureau of Land Management. Oil industry representatives and Republicans from energy states cheered Burgum’s nomination.

Before joining the administration, Stone-Manning worked as a senior aide to Montana Democrats U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Gov. Steve Bullock. Her nomination by Biden sparked intense Republican opposition because of 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 inserted into trees in an Idaho national forest, a tactic sometimes used to halt timber sales.

Two men were criminally charged, and Stone-Manning testified against them. She was given immunity and never charged with crimes, although an investigator later said she had stonewalled the probe.

After Tester and moderate Sen. Joe Manchin defended her, Stone-Manning was confirmed on a 50-45 vote.

The bureau’s headquarters were relocated to Colorado under Trump and hundreds of employees resigned or retired before it was returned to Washington, D.C., under Biden.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s chief of staff, Rachael Taylor, said in a statement that Stone-Manning had reshaped the bureau after it was “damaged” by the relocation. Taylor said Stone-Manning also helped restore balance to public lands decisions and made sure Native American tribes have a role in managing their homelands.

Trump has not announced his nominee to lead the land bureau. During the Republican’s first-term, it went without a Senate-confirmed director. Trump instead used acting directors who did not have to go before the Senate to advance his policies.