The Trump administration is ordering to unleash American energy on public lands. That includes reviewing the recently approved management plan for 3.6 million acres around Rock Springs, as well as other high profile areas in Wyoming.
The seven-page document of orders was released this week by newly confirmed Sec. of the Department of Interior Doug Burgum. It seeks to prop up energy development on the nation’s public lands above all other resources like wildlife, habitat and recreation.
The order has Wyoming lawmakers excited, but conservation groups are saying not so fast.
Late Wednesday night, Rep. JT Larson (R-Rock Springs) went live on Facebook saying, “I have very good news and a good report to give to you, the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan (RMP) that we have spent months fighting against in Rock Springs has been rescinded by the United States Department of Interior Doug Burgum.”
But, Kate Groetzinger, communications manager for the Center for Western Priorities, said that’s not true.
“You can't undo that overnight,” she said. “To legally undo a resource management plan, you have to put a new one in place.”
Groetzinger said that process could take years and likely battles in court.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalized its Rock Springs field office RMP last year after 13 years of work. It was controversial, but attempts to balance conservation of southwest Wyoming’s sprawling sagebrush and wildlife with energy resources.
Burgum’s order seeks to “review and, as appropriate, revise” the Rock Springs RMP, as well as a list of other polarizing land plans, to fall in line with Trump’s ‘unleashing American energy’ directive. This also includes the BLM’s Buffalo field office RMP, which ends new coal mining projects in the Powder River Basin – the nation’s top producing coal region. That plan was finalized last year. Also, the BLM’s Greater-Sage Grouse Rangewide plan that strengthens protections for the bird’s habitat across 11 states, including Wyoming. This plan was not yet adopted, but was in its final stages when former Pres. Biden left office.
Wyoming’s Governor Mark Gordon applauded these efforts.
“It recognizes the state’s priorities, encourages responsible development of our domestic energy resources, and reduces the unilateral regulatory burdens placed on Wyoming’s oil, gas, and coal industries by the previous administration,” Gordon said in a press release.
Burgum’s order includes a review of national monuments that have high mineral resources, which includes Devils Tower. But, Groetzinger said drilling or coal mining at the iconic site is unlikely.
“If Trump tries to shrink Devils Tower or any other national monuments in the West, it will be litigated,” she said. “And we believe that the Antiquities Act is very clear in giving presidents the power to protect public lands and not the power to take those protections away.”
The Burgum order goes beyond Wyoming, essentially applying to all federal land. And the clock is ticking.
It gives staff 15 days to say how they’ll prop up energy development. This means reviewing thousands of hefty documents, which Groetzinger said is a nearly impossible task on that timeline.
“We're talking about 1,000 page documents that they're asking agency employees to go through at the same time that they're issuing a hiring freeze,” she said.
But if revisions or full-on repeals of some of the land plans are eventually successful, state politicians like Rep. Larson (R-Rock Springs) is excited to get to work.
“We finally get a fair shot at deciding how we want to manage public lands in Wyoming, so this is a huge success,” he said in the Facebook live video.
Part of all RMP processes is seeking state and stakeholder input.
