Biden’s public lands director named to lead environmental group

Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration who oversaw its contentious efforts to address climate change by curbing drilling and mining on federal lands has been named the next president of a prominent environmental group. The Wilderness Society announced Tuesday that U.S. Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning will become the group’s president in February. The land bureau has jurisdiction over almost a quarter-billion acres of land, primarily in western states. It shifted sharply away from fossil fuel extraction during her tenure and promoted renewable energy development. Republicans have vowed to reverse those moves, including a decision released Tuesday to end new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana.