Denver, Colorado — April 15, 2021 — Mountain States Legal Foundation President and CEO Cristen Wohlgemuth today released the following statement in response to President Joe Biden’s nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning to head the Bureau of Land Management:
“It is hard to see how the Bureau of Land Management can serve as an honest broker in the West’s often-contentious public lands disputes, or how it can wisely balance the needs of various stakeholder groups, if it is led by someone who obviously opposes multiple-use-management and is so clearly aligned with green lobbyists outside the agency walls. Senators will do the country a disservice if they rubber-stamp a nominee who deserves more than the normal amount of scrutiny. Having an extremist at the helm of this key public lands agency will have economic consequences for all Americans, not just Westerners. If Americans consume energy, eat meat, use economically important minerals, or just want to see their public lands managed in a way that sensibly promotes environmental and economic values, they will feel the detrimental effects of this nominee’s extreme positions on public lands issues. ”