The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposal for managing development and conservation on 3.6 million acres of land near Rock Springs is almost complete.
Gordon has appealed and protested most steps of the BLM’s process to draft a new Rock Springs Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
Most recently, he appealed the BLM’s response to his consistency review of how the agency’s proposed management plan aligns with Wyoming law. Gordon claims that the RMP and EIS are not aligned with state and federal laws and even the BLM’s own management directions.
Last year, state lawmakers tied management priorities in the Rock Springs RMP to the sale of the 640-acre Kelly Parcel, an area renowned for its wildlife habitat and its views of Grand Teton National Park.
The parcel is known as an important migration corridor for hoofed mammals like moose, pronghorn antelope and mule deer.
In 2023, Wyoming leaders considered auctioning the parcel off to the highest bidder. Its appraised value is $62.5 million.
After public resistance, the state Legislature authorized Gordon to sell it to the park for $100 million, but only if the BLM didn’t pick the conservation-oriented management plan known as ‘Alternative B’ for land near Rock Springs.
The BLM initially listed Alternative B as the agency’s preferred alternative among four. It outlined less development and more of an emphasis on wildlife and habitat on the public land. That preference sparked outrage in Wyoming. Local and state elected officials called on the BLM to withdraw the draft plan.
A year later, the BLM released an updated proposal that somewhat backed off the conservation focus and increased the amount of land available for energy development. Gordon and others say there’s still too much area designated off-limits to the natural gas industry. Five state agencies protested it, a type of objection in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning process.
Even as Gordon continues to protest the BLM’s final proposal, he’s still moving forward with the Kelly Parcel deal.
Even though the BLM’s final Record of Decision isn’t out yet, outgoing Rep. Clark Stith (R-Rock Springs) told Wyoming Public Radio that Gordon's signature on the Kelly Parcel sale is valid.
That’s because, according to Stith, Gordon’s sign-off is similar to signing an offer to buy a house.
“If you were buying a house, and as a condition to buying the house, you demanded that a window be repaired before closing – well, you can still sign a purchase agreement to buy the house, but if the window is not fixed with the time the closing rolls around, then the buyer doesn’t have to buy it,” said Stith. “It's the same here.”
Stith said he expects the BLM to issue their final Record of Decision on Rock Springs sometime before the Biden administration leaves office next month.
“The federal government – you can't guarantee that they're going to act quickly, but the indications are that the BLM would move to act quickly,” he said.
But it’s possible that the BLM won’t act quickly, and that the agency will pass the reins off to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. In that scenario, a new U.S. Congress could work with the president-elect to toss the Rock Springs RMP altogether, according to reporting by WyoFile.
“That would be much better for Sweetwater County and for southwest Wyoming,” Stith said. “However, I think that even were that to happen, the governor could still certify that the BLM had not selected ‘Alternative B.’ In other words, you could satisfy the condition to closing of the [Kelly Parcel] sale, even if the Resource Management Plan itself is ultimately rejected by the Trump administration.”
Barring that scenario, the BLM’s submission of its final Record of Decision for the Rock Springs RMP will mark the point at which the Kelly Parcel sale will be complete.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
