比林斯，蒙特。周四，美国参议院一个严重分裂的小组在乔·拜登总统选择监督西部大片政府所有土地的问题上陷入僵局，因为民主党人团结在一名提名人背后，这名提名人的可信度因她与1989年一起环境破坏案件的联系而受到共和党人的攻击。
参议院能源和自然资源委员会以10比10的比分对特雷西·斯通-曼宁的提名进行了全院投票。需要每个参议院共和党人加上至少一名民主党议员才能在平分秋色的众议院阻止她的确认。
利害攸关的是内政部土地管理局的领导，该局负责监督主要位于西部的近25亿英亩公共土地上的能源生产、放牧、采矿、娱乐和其他活动。
斯通-曼宁是前蒙大拿州民主党州长史蒂夫·布洛克和参议员乔恩·特斯特的高级助手，最近在国家野生动物联合会担任副主席。她对土地保护的主张与前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)领导下的土地局的优先事项形成鲜明对比，特朗普加快了石油和天然气钻探，并寻求开辟新的土地进行开发。
华盛顿州民主党参议员玛丽亚·坎特威尔说，共和党人对斯通·曼宁的强烈反对源于她可能给该机构带来的变化。
“这超出了最大的反对力量，”坎特威尔说。“这里真正考验的是美国公共土地的未来...石油、天然气、煤炭、矿产开采。”
共和党议员嘲笑斯通·曼宁与1989年破坏爱达荷州清水国家森林木材销售有关，称她是“生态恐怖分子”，不适合监管土地局。当时，她是蒙大拿大学23岁的环境研究研究生。
斯通-曼宁的两个朋友后来被判有罪，罪名是在树上插入金属钉，这使得它们切割起来很危险，可以用来阻止伐木。
她获得了检察官的豁免，作证指控这两个人，从未被指控犯有任何罪行。
斯通-曼宁承认代表其中一名被定罪的人重新打字并发送了一封信，警告当局不要登录被破坏的区域。直到几年后刑事案件被起诉，她才站出来，并表示她害怕其中一名被告。
A美国林务局前调查员迈克尔·默克莱(Michael Merkley)上周声称，斯通-曼宁是刑事调查的目标，并帮助策划了砍树。包括首席检察官在内的其他涉案人员对这一描述提出质疑。
犹他州共和党参议员李政颖说:“这不是一次她合谋的轻微犯罪。“人们被这种行为伤害和杀害。”
能源委员会主席乔·曼钦说，他仔细审查了这个案件，没有发现斯通·曼宁直接参与或犯罪的证据。这位西弗吉尼亚州的民主党人说，她在公共服务和环境倡导工作中度过的几十年使斯通-曼宁成为该局的一个好选择。
“我认为特雷西·斯通-曼宁是一个年轻的环境同情者，”曼钦说，他作为温和派的名声使他的投票受到密切关注。“没有证据表明她对我们一直在谈论的这些事情有罪。”
共和党议员试图在周四的听证会上通过举起类似于1989年使用的金属尖刺来突出斯通-曼宁与这起破坏案件的联系。
爱达荷州共和党参议员詹姆斯·里施(James Risch)称她为“谋杀未遂者”，因为钉子有可能伤害伐木工人。这句话遭到了新墨西哥州民主党参议员马丁·海因里希的严厉指责，他说，他对共和党的“谎言”和诋毁斯通-曼宁的企图感到厌恶。
斯通-曼宁没有参加听证会。6月初，当她作为确认过程的一部分出现在参议院小组作证时，共和党议员没有提到“树桩”，尽管她与此案的关系已经为人所知。
多数党领袖查克·舒默周四表示，他将把提名提交给全体参议院，届时副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯可能会打破僵局进行确认。
怀俄明州参议员约翰·巴拉索在票数持平后表示，共和党人将继续试图破坏提名。但是参议院的主要民主党计票人，伊利诺伊州的迪克·德宾告诉记者，他认为将有足够的票数推动它通过。
内政部长黛比·哈兰德——斯通·曼宁的上司，如果她被证实的话——否认了她与共和党人合作的能力问题。
“我认为她已经建立了很多可信度，”哈兰德在丹佛的一次露面中说。
在特朗普的领导下，该局连续四年没有一个得到确认的局长。他依靠代理董事来推进他的议程，增加美国联邦土地上的能源生产，而这些代理董事不必去参议院。
Democrats back Biden US lands pick assailed by Republicans
BILLINGS, Mont. -- A bitterly divided U.S. Senate panel deadlocked Thursday on President Joe Biden’s pick to oversee vast government-owned lands in the West, as Democrats united behind a nominee whose credibility was assailed by Republicans over her links to a 1989 environmental sabotage case.
The 10-10 tie in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee sets up a floor vote on the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning. It would take every Senate Republican plus at least one Democratic lawmaker to block her confirmation in the evenly divided chamber.
At stake is the leadership of the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management, which oversees energy production, grazing, mining, recreation and other activities across almost a quarter-billion acres of public lands, primarily in the West.
Stone-Manning was a top aide to former Montana Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock and Sen. Jon Tester and most recently worked as a vice president at the National Wildlife Federation. Her advocacy for land preservation contrasts sharply with the land bureau's priorities under former President Donald Trump, who sped up oil and gas drilling and sought to open new lands to development.
Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state said the fierce opposition to Stone-Manning among Republicans was rooted in the change she could bring to the agency.
“This is over the top opposition," Cantwell said. "What is really on trial here is the future of America's public lands ... oil, gas, coal, mineral extraction."
Republican lawmakers derided Stone-Manning over her link to the 1989 sabotage of a timber sale on Idaho's Clearwater National Forest, calling her an “eco-terrorist” unfit to oversee the land bureau. At the time, she was a 23-year-old environmental studies graduate student at the University of Montana.
Two of Stone-Manning’s friends were later convicted of inserting metal spikes into trees, which makes them dangerous to cut and can be used to block logging.
She received immunity from prosecutors, testified against the two men and was never charged with any crimes.
Stone-Manning acknowledged retyping and sending a letter on behalf of one of the men convicted that warned authorities not to log in the sabotaged area. She didn't come forward until the criminal case was prosecuted several years later, and has said she was fearful of one of the defendants.
Aformer investigator for the U.S. Forest Service, Michael Merkley, alleged last week that Stone-Manning was a target of the criminal investigation and helped plan the tree spiking. Others involved in the case including the lead prosecutor have disputed that characterization.
“This wasn’t a mild offense in which she conspired,” said Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee. “People are hurt and killed by this kind of behavior.”
Energy committee Chairman Joe Manchin said he closely reviewed the case and found no evidence Stone-Manning was directly involved or committed a crime. The West Virginia Democrat said the decades she spent in public service and environmental advocacy work made Stone-Manning a good choice for the bureau.
“I think of Tracy Stone-Manning being a youthful sympathizer for the environment,” said Manchin, whose reputation as a moderate made his vote closely watched. “There's no proof that she's guilty of any of these things we've been talking about.”
Republican lawmakers sought to dramatize Stone-Manning’s ties to the sabotage case during Thursday’s hearing, by holding up metal spikes similar to the ones that were used in 1989.
Idaho Republican Sen. James Risch referred to her as an “attempted murderer” because of the potential for the spikes to harm loggers. The remark drew a sharp rebuke from New Mexico Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich, who said he was disgusted by Republican “lies” and the attempt to besmirch Stone-Manning.
Stone-Manning did not participate in the hearing. When she appeared before the Senate panel to testify as part of the confirmation process in early June, Republican lawmakers did not bring up the tree spiking although her ties to the case were already known.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday he would bring the nomination before the full Senate, where Vice President Kamala Harris could a break a tie for confirmation.
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso said after the tied vote that Republicans would continue trying to derail the nomination. But the chief Democratic vote-counter in the Senate, Dick Durbin of Illinois, told reporters he thinks there will be enough votes to push it through.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland — Stone-Manning's boss if she's confirmed — dismissed questions about her ability to work with Republicans going forward.
“I think she's built a lot of credibility already,” Haaland said during an appearance in Denver.
The bureau went four years without a confirmed director under Trump. He relied on acting directors who did not have to go before the Senate to advance his agenda to increase U.S. energy production from federal lands.
