Statement in support of Tracy Stone-Manning for BLM Director and expressing appreciation for visit by Interior Secretary Haaland.

From the Colorado Farm & Food Alliance, Western Slope Conservation Center, and Valley Organic Growers Association

PAONIA, CO. (July 21, 2021) - For over ten years the Colorado Farm and Food Alliance, Valley Organic Growers Association,  Western Slope Conservation Center and other Delta County agricultural and business leaders have traveled to Washington DC to meet with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management leadership.

We go to support the balanced and conservation-minded management of our public lands and protection for our water supply areas. We want  to make sure authentic local, and not only special interest, voices get heard in the consideration of national policy and its administration.

So, we understand the importance of having agency leadership that will listen to the public being impacted by their decisions, and leaders who will manage our shared resources with an eye toward their long-term health and our sustainable future.  

As Interior Secretary Deb Haaland meets with the communities in Grand Junction and western Colorado this week, we want to thank her for centering these impacted voices in agency decision-making.

We also want to express our support for Tracy Stone-Manning as the National BLM Director. Like Secretary Haaland, Ms. Stone-Manning is a westerner who gets the importance of building community-based conservation strategies and someone who will listen to rural and other front-line voices in getting that done.

Pete Kolbenchlag

Colorado Farm & Food Alliance

Emily Hartnett

Valley Organic Growers Association 

Tanya Henderson

Western Slope Conservation Center

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