FIRST ON FOX: Republican lawmakers are demanding political appointees who have already announced outside roles Environmental organizations next year to withdraw from pending deals, citing “conflict of interest” concerns.
In a letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Tuesday, first shared with Fox News Digital, the Congressional Western Caucus called on the agency to identify people who plan to join an environmental nongovernmental organization (ENGO) and that they withdraw from pending business in their current government role. The caucus, made up almost entirely of Republicans, wants to be a “voice for rural America,” according to its website.
The letter specifically named President Biden’s BLM director, Tracey Stone-Manning, who recently announced that after the administration ends, she will take on the role of president of the Wilderness Society, an environmental group that opposes development like mining and drilling public lands.
“While we are not surprised to learn of this career move, we are deeply concerned about the conflict of interest that has arisen given the competing responsibilities of her current and future jobs,” the letter said.
Tracy Stone-Manning during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in Washington on June 8, 2021. (Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)
The letter argued that her new position presented a conflict with the Wilderness Society’s “goals and practices” since Stone-Manning heads the government agency.
“Over the past four years, the American West has suffered greatly as the BLM has enforced policies directly from the playbook of the BLM director’s future employer,” the lawmakers wrote of the Wilderness Society. “Across the West, those who live near public lands and rely on public lands for their economic livelihoods have suffered from new resource management plans that favor conservation over multiple use.”
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Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, who co-led Tuesday’s letter with Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital in a statement that BLM is not inconsistent with the interests of the public.
Representative Dan Newhouse co-authored the letter with Senator Cynthia Lummis to BLM. (Tom Williams)
“BLM’s role is to fairly manage the multiple-use mandate on America’s public lands, a mission that is at odds with the agenda of extreme environmental groups that want to close down our lands,” Newhouse said in a statement shared with Fox. “For this reason, I have joined my colleagues in demanding that all agency political appointees recuse themselves from conducting official business if they have accepted future positions with ENGOs, as this represents a conflict of interest.”
Other Republicans Co-signers of the letter included Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming, Steve Daines of Montana and Mike Lee of Utah, as well as Western Caucus Vice Chairman Doug LaMalfa of California and Ryan Zinke of Montana.
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Fox News Digital reached out to BLM for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
