[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 171 (Thursday, September 30, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6820-S6821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning

  Mr. ROMNEY. Mr. President, from Utah's red rock canyons to our alpine 
meadows, from the sprawling salt flats to the towering mountain peaks, 
it is hard to overstate the beauty of Utah's majestic landscapes.
  So much about being a Utahn is our connection to and care for our 
land. These values have been engrained in our culture since the 
pioneers found refuge here in 1847. We take great pride in the fact 
that folks from all over the country and all over the world travel to 
our State to experience these rich and diverse landscapes.
  Utah has nearly the highest percentage of its land owned by the 
Federal Government--nearly two-thirds of our 52 million acres. And of 
that Federal land, more than 23 million acres is managed by the Bureau 
of Land Management.
  This land has been cared for and used by Utahns for generations--
recreationists and sportsmen who take advantage of the access to hike, 
hunt, mountain bike, ATV, and camp; the ranchers who graze their 
livestock to provide our food and fiber; the communities that rely on 
the oil and gas development in the Basin or the coal mines and 
powerplants to provide more than 70 percent of our electricity; 
individuals interested in exploring the cultural anthropology of our 
land; and simply the residents who look to our open spaces for 
solitude.
  Utahns deserve and demand that our public lands be managed by someone 
they can trust. It is quite obvious that the President's nominee for 
the Director of Bureau of Land Management, Tracy Stone-Manning, is not 
worthy of our trust.
  Ms. Stone-Manning's history of aiding ecoterrorism is extremely 
troubling and alone should be disqualifying for the position to which 
she has been nominated. It would be like nominating Bernie Madoff to 
serve as Treasury Secretary.
  For those who aren't familiar with tree spiking--an action with which 
Ms. Stone-Manning has been associated--let me offer a brief synopsis. 
Tree spiking involves hammering a metal or ceramic rod into a tree 
trunk. Loggers could be seriously harmed or even killed when they cut 
into the trunk of a tree that has been spiked. And the same goes for 
sawmill operators who are processing the log in the mill. Ecoterrorists 
who engage in tree spiking are willing to cause the gruesome injury or 
death of hard-working Americans who are simply trying to provide for 
their families.
  But it is not only her efforts assisting ecoterrorists that are of 
concern. Ms. Stone-Manning's blatant dishonesty about being 
investigated over a tree-spiking incident to the Senate should 
disqualify her serving as BLM Director.
  I take my constitutional duty to provide advice and consent with 
regard to Presidential nominees very seriously, as we all do. And with 
limited exception, I believe Presidents, regardless of party, should be 
able to put into place qualified individuals to lead their team. I have 
supported several of President Biden's nominees even though I have 
disagreed with them on particular policy issues because I believe they 
were basically qualified for the position to which they had been 
nominated.
  Simply put, however, Tracy Stone-Manning's past involvement in 
ecoterrorism and her attempt to conceal that participation before the 
Senate make her unfit to serve as Director of the Bureau of Land 
Management.
  I will be opposing her nomination and urge my Democratic friends--
especially those who represent States with large amounts of Federal 
land--to oppose her nomination as well.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, back in 1987, a 23-year-old mill worker named 
George Alexander struck a tree spike--a tree spike like this one--in 
the log that he was processing. His sawblade shattered, and it caused a 
wound

[[Page S6821]]

stretching from his eye all the way down to his chin. His teeth were 
smashed, and his jaw was brutally dashed in half. The incident made 
national news.
  Just 2 years later, Tracy Stone-Manning rented a typewriter to 
disguise her identity. She then typed and sent a letter to the U.S. 
Forest Service on behalf of an ecoterrorist group. She conspired to 
spike trees with spikes just like this one--hundreds and hundreds of 
pounds of spikes just like this one. In so doing, endangered the lives 
of foresters, of loggers, and of firefighters. She ended the letter 
with the following words:

       You bastards go in there anyway and a lot of people could 
     get hurt.

  Unfortunately, it wasn't until after her nomination hearing that we 
learned of her work with the ecoterrorist organization EarthFirst!. It 
wasn't until after her hearing that we learned that she had been issued 
a target letter by a Federal grand jury and had hired an attorney to 
negotiate an immunity deal prior to testifying in the tree-spiking 
case.
  It wasn't until after her hearing that we read her words in a 
newspaper saying that she ``could have been charged with conspiracy 
were it not for her agreement with the U.S. attorney.'' It wasn't until 
after her hearing that we learned that she was compelled by that same 
Federal grand jury to submit fingerprints, writing samples, and hair 
samples.
  Now, beyond her involvement with the ecoterrorist group, since her 
hearing, we learned of public statements she made just months ago 
calling for homes to burn in forest fires. We learned of statements she 
made saying grazing is destroying the West and calling for population 
control measures and even labeling children as environmental hazards.
  After all of this, a White House official called her nomination a 
``massive vetting failure.'' It was that, but it is so much worse than 
that. She was and is a radical. She supported a criminal conspiracy to 
engage in ecoterrorism.
  Our committee asked her if she had ever been the subject of a 
criminal investigation. She, in a sworn statement, lied. Our committee 
never had the opportunity to ask her about these shameful acts. Her 
past actions, her positions, her statements, and her goals would each, 
individually, disqualify her from service. But combined, they make her 
a, frankly, offensive candidate to the countless people in Utah and 
throughout the West and beyond who rely on Bureau of Land Management 
cooperation for their livelihoods and for their way of life.
  Now, inexplicably, President Biden has not withdrawn this nomination, 
though Ms. Stone-Manning has seemingly gone into hiding. She has left 
unanswered dozens of questions formally posed to her by me and by my 
colleagues. If confirmed, she will lack the credibility with 
constituents throughout the Nation that she would otherwise need to 
perform this job. She just won't have it. And any accomplishments made 
by the Biden administration to steward our lands will be overshadowed 
by her specter of deceit.
  The Bureau of Land Management controls 42 percent of the land in 
Utah. In fact, the BLM controls more land in Utah than Utahns do--a lot 
more.
  So I speak for a lot of people back home today, people who are 
insulted by President Biden's nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning to run 
the Bureau of Land Management. Her confirmation would be bad for Utah, 
bad for the Bureau of Land Management, and bad for honesty and 
accountability in government.
  Needless to say, she will not receive my vote. It defies logic, 
reason, and the greatest traditions of this body to think that we would 
confirm her today. I urge my colleagues to reject this nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.