by Mark Chesnut - Tuesday, October 12, 2021
In another disgraceful cabinet-level appointment and confirmation, rabid environmentalist and eco-terrorist collaborator Tracy Stone-Manning is now the head of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages about 12 percent of U.S. lands.
While applauded by many Democrats as the best choice for the job, Stone-Manning is probably best known for her part in an incident back in 1989 when eco-terrorists spiked trees in the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho to try and stop logging there. In that case, Stone-Manning accepted legal immunity for testifying as a co-conspirator in the plot. Such spikes in trees were very dangerous to loggers cutting down trees and to firefighters, who could still be endangered today when fighting forest fires because of Stone-Manning’s actions.
Tree spiking was the preferred tactic of eco-terrorists to stop logging projects. It involves hammering a long metal spike in a tree’s trunk. When hit by a saw blade, it can ruin the blade and turn the spike into a dangerous, fast-moving projectile that can seriously injure a logger or anyone else nearby. Tree spiking has been a felony crime since 1988, a year before the incident in which Stone-Manning was involved.
Many Senate Republicans vehemently fought Stone-Manning’s nomination because of her past participation in eco-terrorism crimes. Sen. John Barrasso, (R-Wyo.) was one of her most outspoken critics.
“It’s hard to believe, but she has colluded with eco-terrorists, plain and simple,” Barrasso said during a speech on the Senate floor. “She stonewalled a criminal investigation for years. She lied to the Senate. And she still holds radically dangerous views and yet she is still the nominee of the president of the United States for this very important post. It is outrageous.”
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) even went so far as to call on President Joe Biden to rescind Stone-Manning’s nomination back in mid-September.
“The new information that we learned about Stone-Manning’s involvement in an eco-terrorist crime has even resulted in Obama’s former BLM director to say her nomination must be opposed,” Daines said at the time. “She should not be leading the BLM, so we are hoping that President Biden will pull the nomination like he did David Chipman.”
Earlier, 75 Republican House Members also wrote a letter to President Biden opposing the nomination and asking him to withdraw the nomination and find someone more suitable for the job.
“Since her nomination, Ms. Stone-Manning’s ties to eco-terrorism have given us grave concerns over her ability and qualifications to serve as BLM Director,” the congressmen wrote. “These concerns have only multiplied as more information about Ms. Stone-Manning’s extremist activities came to light and some of her supporters rescinded their endorsement, including former Obama administration BLM Director Bob Abbey.”
During her testimony before the Senate, Stone-Manning denied being involved in spiking trees, even though her part in the plot is public record. That prompted some Senate Republicans to send a letter to President Biden saying that his nominee had lied while under oath.
In the end, however, the Senate confirmed Stone-Manning by a vote of 50-45, split along party lines, prompting her to release a statement saying, “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.”
About the Author
Freelance writer Mark Chesnut is the owner/editorial director at Red Setter Communications LLC in Jenks, Okla. An avid hunter, shooter and field-trialer, he has been covering Second Amendment issues and politics on a near-daily basis for over 20 years, previously serving as editor of the NRA’s America’s First Freedom.