WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), delivered remarks at a full committee hearing to conduct oversight of the Bureau of Land Management.
The hearing featured testimony from the Honorable Tracy Stone-Manning, Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
For more information on Director Stone-Manning’s testimony click here.
Senator Barrasso’s remarks:
<>“<>Well thanks so much Mr. Chairman.
<>“Thank you for holding this important hearing.
<>“This is the first time that Ms. Stone-Manning has appeared before <>the committee in three years.
<>“The Director of the Bureau of Land Management has a profound impact on the people of my home state <>in Wyoming.
<>“<>I saw and heard about it last weekend in Wyoming as I met with the Wyoming Mining Association, and with the Wyoming Stockgrowers association, our ranchers.
<>“I heard about it again last night on a conference call with each of our Wyoming County Commissioners from each and every one of our twenty-three counties.
<>“And this is because nearly half of the land in Wyoming is owned by the federal government.
<>“And nearly 70 percent of the minerals in Wyoming are owned by the federal government.
<>“<>And the Director manages most of this land.
<>“In Wyoming, the Director’s decisions have a significant effect on people’s jobs,<> on their family budgets, on the quality of public education, and on our entire state’s economy.
<>“That is why I find Ms. Stone-Manning’s record – and her unwillingness to appear before<> us until now – so very troubling.
<>“Since 2021, Ms. Stone-Manning has been busy making decisions which will crush Wyoming’s economy and lay waste to our local communities in the years ahead.
<>“<>And the examples abound.
<>“In August of 2023, the Bureau’s Rock Springs Field Office issued a Resource Management Plan that would devastate communities in southwest Wyoming.
<>“This is <>the home of some of the nation’s largest deposits of natural gas and a mineral called trona.
<>“These resources support tens of thousands of good paying jobs.
<>“Under this plan, the Bureau would lock up over two million acres of federal land from productive use.
<>“It would prohibit future energy and mineral development, <>prohibit grazing, and even recreation.
<>“The Governor, the state legislature, our entire congressional delegation, and <>the county commissioners all strongly oppose the Bureau’s plan.
<>“We know what will happen if th<>e plan goes forward.
<>“The Director is making similar decisions in other parts of <>our state.
<>“Last month, the Buffalo Field Office issued a proposal to end new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin.
<>“Last year, the Powder River Basin supplied 45 percent of all<> of the coal mined in the United States of America.
<>“Wyoming’s coal production is the lifeblood of Gillette and northeast Wyoming.
<>“It supports tens of thousands of jobs, it helps fund K through 12 public education in our state
<>“And there is absolutely no reason to pursue this irresponsible and irrational proposal.
<>“We all know that President Biden wants a carbon-free grid.
<>“As of now, this is a pipedream and according to experts the world over – without an extraordinary technological breakthrough – it will likely never happen.
<>“Never.
<>“In the meantime, we must not block access to the nation’s single richest area of abundant, available, and reliable of energy.
<>“The Bureau is also wreaking havoc in other areas of the state.
<>“In March of this year, the Bureau issued a Resource Management Plan to address the Greater-Sage Grouse.
<>“For over 15 years, the State of Wyoming has been at the forefront of efforts to protect the species and conserve and restore its habitat.
<>“Wyoming has done so while balancing the need for economic development.
<>“The Bureau is now proposing to undo Wyoming’s efforts and block access to millions of acres of federal land.
<>“The list goes on.
<>“In April, the Bureau finalized its so-called ‘Public Lands Rule.’
<>“This rule turns multiple use – the Bureau’s decades-old, bedrock principle of federal land management – turns it on its head.
<>“It allows third parties to lease federal lands in order to block the productive use of the land.
<>“This is land which by law is to be used for grazing, energy, for mineral development, and recreation.
<>“Again – families and communities in Wyoming and throughout the West depend on federal lands for energy and mineral development, for grazing, for forest management, and for recreation.
<>“Multiple-use is enshrined in federal law.
<>“Yet, Ms. Stone-Manning is attempting to repeal it all on her own.
<>“If this weren’t enough, Ms. Stone-Manning is also sabotaging her own Bureau’s oil and gas program.
<>“She has failed to hold quarterly lease sales.
<>“She has nearly tripled timelines for permits.
<>“And she has refused to deliver leases to the winning bidders.
<>“She has issued a series of regulations to make it prohibitively expensive to explore and produce on federal lands.
<>“None of this should surprise us.
<>“I fought her nomination because Ms. Stone-Manning had long shown her hostility to the people of this country who live near and depend on federal lands.
<>“And, I’m glad today that this committee will finally call her to account.
<>“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”