WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) issued the following statement in response to receiving a letter from the retired special agent who was in charge of investigating the spiking of trees that were part of the Post Office Timber Sale in the Clearwater National Forest in 1989.

In the letter, the retired special agent criminal investigator for the Forest Service provided the facts of the entire case. He made clear that Tracy Stone-Manning, President Biden’s nominee to be director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), was a target of the investigation, did not cooperate with investigators until she received immunity, and helped plan the 1989 tree spiking. Read the investigator’s full letter to the committee here. 

Barrasso is ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR). 

“I am grateful to the lead investigator for providing the committee with all of the facts of the case,” said Barrasso. “Not only did Tracy Stone-Manning collaborate with eco-terrorists, she also helped plan the tree spiking in Clearwater National Forest. She has been covering up these actions for decades, including on her sworn affidavit to the committee. This new information confirms that Tracy Stone-Manning lied to the committee that she was never a target of an investigation. The nominee has no business leading the Bureau of Land Management. President Biden must withdraw her nomination and if he does not, the Senate must vote it down.” 

Background Information: 

On her committee questionnaire, a sworn affidavit, Stone-Manning said she was never the subject of a criminal investigation and that the case was an “alleged” tree spiking. In court testimony obtained by the committee, Stone-Manning admitted she edited, retyped, and sent a threatening letter to the US Forest Service on behalf of the eco-terrorists. Years later, she received immunity in order to testify against the individuals who had spiked the trees. The court documents also confirm that hundreds of trees were spiked. Some of these trees remain a danger to loggers, Forest Service employees, and fire fighters. 

The BLM manages almost 65 million acres of forests.

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