A trio of consensus-minded conservationists are under consideration for key posts in the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Contacts:
- Chris Wood, president and CEO, Trout Unlimited, cwood@tu.org
- Steve Moyer, VP for Government Affairs, Trout Unlimited, smoyer@tu.org
ARLINGTON, Va.—The Biden administration has nominated three outstanding conservationists for key posts in federal natural resource agencies:
- Tanya Trujillo as Assistant Secretary of Water and Science in the Department of the Interior;
- Tracy Stone-Manning as Director of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM); and
- Mike Connor as Assistant Secretary of the Army Corps of Engineers for Civil Works.
TU has worked extensively with each of these appointees over the past 15 years and we urge the Senate to give their qualifications strong consideration.
Trujillo would fill a key position that oversees the Bureau of Reclamation and United States Geological Service (USGS). Trujillo is a native of New Mexico and one of the nation’s top Western water experts. TU has worked with her in her roles as counsel to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, Interior staffer, and conservation consultant on the Colorado River Sustainability Coalition. She is an excellent partner, a good listener, and a creative problem-solver.
Stone-Manning would direct Interior’s biggest land management agency, the BLM, which oversees management of 245 million acres of America’s public lands. She has served as director of Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality and a staffer for Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and TU partnered with her during her time at the National Wildlife Federation and the Montana-based Clark Fork Coalition. She would be a strong leader who will place great value on hunting and fishing values and will ensure that energy development and other extraction uses are balanced with fish and wildlife conservation. She will seek to build consensus and listen to all voices who have a stake in the future of our public lands.
Connor would manage the Army Corps dams across the nation, as well as oversee the agency’s implementation of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, which protects our streams, rivers and wetlands. He is a New Mexico native with a lifetime of experience on water conservation issues. He too has built a solid reputation for solving difficult problems, building consensus, and working collaboratively in his previous roles as Senate ENR staffer, Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, and Deputy Secretary in Interior.
“Trout Unlimited has found that strong, cooperative partnerships are key to developing solutions to our complex water and land management challenges,” said Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited. “We are pleased to see these outstanding partners nominated, and we urge the Senate to give them strong and fair consideration.”
###
Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North America’s trout and salmon and their watersheds. Across the country, TU brings to bear local, regional and national grassroots organizing, durable partnerships, science-backed policy muscle, and legal firepower on behalf of trout and salmon fisheries, healthy waters and vibrant communities.