Biden’s plan to lease federal lands to conservationists draws opposition and criticism

FILE - Cattle graze along a section of the Missouri River that includes the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument near Fort Benton, Mont., on Sept. 19, 2011. A Biden administration proposal would allow the sales of conservation leases on federal lands to restore degraded habitat. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

 

The Biden administration is working hard to deflect criticism from Republicans, ranchers and the oil and gas industry who contend a proposal to allow conservationists and others to lease federally owned land to restore it is just another way of excluding oil drilling and livestock grazing.

Under the plan, the same leases that can be bought by oil and gas companies for exploration could also be acquired by groups who want to be on equal footing them the energy industry.

One of those in the Biden administration who defends the plan is a well-known official whose nomination was fought by Republicans in Congress.

Senate Confirms Tracy Stone-Manning As New Head Of The Bureau Of Land  Management | Colorado Public Radio

Tracy Stone-Manning is director of the Bureau of Land Management and told the Associated Press the plan would make conversation an “equal” to grazing, drilling and other uses while not interfering with them.

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