NE Wyoming News

On August 22, 2024, Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Representative Harriet Hageman (WY-AL), Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Senate Western Caucus Chair Emeritus John Barrasso (R-WY) issued statements regarding the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed Rock Springs Field Office resource management plan (RMP) and final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The proposed RMP covers nearly 3.6 million acres of surface land and 3.7 million acres of mineral estate in southwestern Wyoming.

“Today’s proposal from Tracy Stone-Manning and the BLM will have consequential effects on our ability to be energy independent from our adversaries while inflicting harm on the livestock community,” said Chairman Newhouse. “By limiting oil and gas operations and mining on resource-rich Federal lands, our supply chains will become more reliant on foreign sources, exacerbating price increases for consumers. The devastating effects on federal grazing permittees will be felt for years to come and economic opportunity in western Wyoming will be stifled. Once again, the BLM has egregiously violated the multiple-use mandate of our public lands and this proposal should be withdrawn immediately.”

“The BLM's most recent RMP and preferred alternative does not address the concerns previously identified, and will substantially reduce economically productive and environmentally safe land uses such as grazing, energy production, mining, recreation, and other important activities on nearly a million acres in our state. It is essentially a land lockout, converting thousands of acres of federal land in Wyoming from being managed for multiple-use into being set aside for non-use and non-access. This is exactly what the radical environmentalists have been demanding and this administration has been implementing all across the West," said Representative Hageman. “It is impossible to overestimate the level of harm this will cause to our local communities, our State and our country as a whole due to the impact on our mining, livestock, recreation, and energy industries – all because bureaucrats in Washington, DC are choosing to follow the 'climate change' marching orders of the Biden-Harris administration instead of science and fact. While the BLM has addressed some of the concerns voiced last year, it continues to pursue a reckless policy that simply cannot be let to stand.”

“The Biden-Harris administration has made it abundantly clear that it is far more focused on appealing to radical environmentalists than supporting western communities,” said Chair Lummis. “The BLM’s recently announced Rock Springs Resource Management Plan is only the latest in a series of land grabs that punishes Wyoming and the entire west. Locking up lands in southwestern Wyoming will deliver a seismic blow to Wyoming’s economy, devastating our communities and further emboldening unelected bureaucrats in Washington to prioritize political pandering over the economic and environmental stability of the region. In brazenly bypassing over a decade’s worth of knowledge from local experts and stakeholders, this administration not only punishes the state of Wyoming but jeopardizes America’s energy independence and our national security.”

“The Biden-Harris administration is pushing Wyoming off an economic cliff with nothing more than a tattered parachute,” said Senator Barrasso. “The Rock Springs Resource Management Plan strangles responsible natural resource development. This plan isn’t designed to manage Wyoming’s natural resources; it is designed to suffocate them. While I’m grateful for the efforts of those on the ground in Wyoming who worked to improve the original proposal, the plan unveiled today directly jeopardizes Wyoming’s economy and our way of life.”

Background information indicates that on August 18, 2023, BLM published a Notice of Availability releasing Draft RMP/EIS documents initiating a 90-day public comment period extended by 62 days following requests from Western Caucus Members among others.

A new Notice of Availability will be published on August 23, 2024 beginning a 30-day protest period with an expected record decision anticipated by November 2024.

The proposed RMP text outlines designations including:

- 935,135 acres as new Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs)

- 1,076,039 acres closed to fluid mineral extraction

- 766,880 acres closed to coal leasing

- 569,554 acres closed to trona leasing

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