Formal opposition trickled in this week over a federal proposal for managing millions of acres in southwest Wyoming. The general consensus? Not enough local input and federal overreach.
This follows a year of public outrage since the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) first released its draft Resource Management Plan for the 3.2 million acres in its Rock Springs district. Initially, many were upset that the plan prioritized conservation above other uses for the land. The BLM considered the feedback, and in August, churned out an updated draft plan – called a Final Environmental Impact Statement.
The agency made an attempt at compromise – like, allowing more energy development than it proposed in the initial draft, but still closing some areas over environmental concerns. The release of this updated draft plan kicked off a 30-day protest period. It’s for those who raised issues during the initial public comment period last year and still felt their complaints weren’t addressed in the new draft.
The protest period closed this week. Those who submitted letters included the Sweetwater County of Commissioners and five state agencies – the Department of Environmental Quality, Game and Fish, Department of Agriculture, Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and State Parks and Cultural Resources.
The complaints span more than 200 pages. Most can be lumped into two categories: that the plan itself is federal overreach that doesn’t align with Wyoming law and that the BLM skipped or didn’t properly follow procedural steps when rolling out its draft plan. Sweetwater County Commissioner Mary Thoman said the latter includes listening and incorporating local insight.
“Twenty-five years since I've been sitting at the table and have it sidestepped totally – kind of frustrating,” Thoman said in a recent Commissioners’ meeting.
In the commissioners’ protest letter there are concerns about economic impacts to the area. That’s because about 30 percent of the land will be closed to oil and gas development, a key industry there.
Eric Bingham, county land use director, helped write the letter and told commissioners that he kept it as succinct as possible.
“If we get down the road of an appeal – socioeconomics where you look at it, is what kind of harm will be on the county – that’ll be the appropriate time you bring up actually a little more detail,” said Bingham, hinting at the prospect of a lawsuit if their concerns aren’t addressed in the final plan.
Much of the five state agencies’ complaints echoed similar sentiments. For example, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said it has qualms with the BLM closing some of the area to energy development, partly because of air quality concerns. DEQ said it has primacy over monitoring air quality, and that it deems that development can happen there without compromising air quality.
“Despite this, BLM effectively imposes a de facto ceiling more stringent than the WDEQ’s adequate and leislated measures by limiting the planning area’s ability to develop industry,” the letter reads. “Thus, the BLM’s proposed action is inconsistent with Wyoming Law.”
Another concern from State Parks and Cultural Resources is data used. The agency claims that the BLM relied on outdated visitation and economic impact data.
“Failing to plan for increasing visitation and limiting recreation management across large acreages leaves room for resource degradation, increased user conflicts, diminished visitor experiences, and reduced economic impact for the outdoor recreation economy,” according to the letter.
The BLM Director is required to respond to these protests in the near future. If these issues aren’t addressed in the BLM’s final plan, it’s likely to lead to lawsuits.
In the meantime, the Governor’s consistency review period is open for about another month, which also was initiated when the BLM’s updated draft was released. This is where Gov. Mark Gordon’s office will look for discrepancies between this draft plan and existing state and local laws or other land use plans. Gordon said in a press release that feedback will be submitted later in October.
It’ll be up to the BLM whether to include this feedback in its forthcoming final plan.
