The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to start allowing road construction and industrial development in parts of our national forests that have thus far been protected.
The agency announced last month that they intend to do away with the 2001 Roadless Rule, which prohibits road building on millions of acres of undeveloped land.
Wyoming has more than 3 million acres of “Roadless Areas,” which account for some of the state’s most remote, ecologically valuable lands. Allowing roads to be built in these landscapes could increase wildfire risk, jeopardize wildlife migrations, and make it harder to get away from the hustle and bustle of civilization. Plus, the Forest Service already has a massive backlog of deferred maintenance on existing roads, which would only be exacerbated by new road construction.
Map depicting Wyoming’s roadless areas. The brown shading shows areas that could lose protections if the Roadless Rule is rescinded.Source: The Wilderness Society.
SPEAK UP NOW!
The USDA is accepting public comments on the rule change until Sept. 19. Fill out the form below to weigh in.
We’ve provided a template, but please personalize it as much as you want — the important thing is to share why YOU care about roadless areas.
IN THE LAST YEAR, we’ve heard a lot about Wyoming’s “nuclear renaissance.” With industry’s narrative leading the messaging, it’s hard to tell exactly how much is hype versus reality. But something does feel different about the conversations happening today around nuclear energy.
Things are moving rapidly in a new direction, which will likely have significant impacts on Wyoming. Now is a critical time to be paying attention, asking questions, and advocating for the best interest of our communities and state. It’s important that we slow down and look before we leap headlong into a nuclear future we can’t undo.
A confluence of political, economic, and logistical factors are driving the resurgence of nuclear discussions in Wyoming:
The U.S. is experiencing a significant increase in demand for electricity, driven largely by the expansion of data centers and artificial intelligence. Estimates vary, but in general energy demand is predicted to rise 1.5–2% per year over the next 20 years.
Many of the same companies, industries, and investors that are increasing electricity demand are also seeking ways to reduce emissions.
In June, the Trump administration issued four new executive orders to expedite the testing and permitting process for new nuclear technologies (including the TerraPower nuclear reactor in Kemmerer) and reforming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The recently passed federal budget maintains many important subsidies for nuclear energy development, while repealing subsidies for renewables and other forms of energy generation.
Wyoming has the nation’s largest recoverable uranium ore deposits, along with ample open land, a skilled energy workforce, and a favorable tax environment, making it attractive to industry.
What does this mean for Wyoming, and what do communities need to be thinking about to prepare?
Communities need a clear, accurate understanding of what would happen to radioactive waste generated in Wyoming. If Wyoming develops nuclear energy, Wyoming will have to deal with the by-products — high-level radioactive waste. This is critical to understand because currently the United States has no permanent repository for this waste. Nuclear waste generated in Wyoming will stay here for decades, or longer, as we wait for a federal solution.
New technologies mean new challenges. Demonstration reactors, such as the TerraPower reactor, are first-of-their-kind projects and use different types of fuel and cooling sources than existing commercial nuclear plants. Similarly, small modular reactors pose new and unprecedented transportation, safety, and security risks. These must be thoroughly considered at local and state levels before opening the door to nuclear development.
Decision makers must understand the actual cost of nuclear energy — and not just the financial cost (which is very expensive), but also the environmental and social costs. The implications of introducing this new industry are multi-generational and far-reaching. We must consider long-term impacts and how projects would be decommissioned, bonded, and managed if new start-up companies fail to live up to their hype.
The state, local communities, and tribes should be in the driver’s seat. Wyoming’s decision makers must look beyond the bullish predictions of industry and the federal government, which has sweeping regulatory authority and oversight. New proposals must be evaluated objectively and address the fears and concerns of local communities. Siting should be consent-based, and agreements must prioritize the well-being of the communities that will host these projects for generations.
We must understand and learn from our country’s legacy of nuclear energy. The nuclear industry has made mistakes in the past, and many deep scars remain — not only on our landscapes, but also in the families and communities that have shouldered the burdens and harms of this type of energy production over the years. Humility, thoughtfulness, and trust are needed now. Many Wyomingites are appropriately skeptical of these projects. The burden to prove otherwise should not be on those most vulnerable.
With the pressing need to reduce emissions from electricity production, new nuclear energy projects might very well have a place in our state’s future. But if the terms and conditions of Wyoming communities are not being met, leaders must also have the courage to reject industry’s sales pitch. Now is the time to slow down, ask the right questions, and develop proactive policy to guide development on Wyoming’s terms.
Federal employees are the heartbeat of public lands stewardship. What happens when they’re gone?
A giant downed tree and wreckage of limbs block the trail. Peggie dePasquale considers the obstacle in thoughtful silence, calculating the angles. Finally she nods. “If we cut here, and get a little lucky, we may be able to roll it off the trail — no need for a second cut.” She pauses to wipe the sweat from her forehead. “But we definitely need to get a little lucky.”
My colleague Gabby Yates and I have joined Peggie here in Wyoming’s Gros Ventre Range — an amorphous group of mountains in designated wilderness between the Continental Divide and the Tetons — to see firsthand what’s happening to public lands as the Trump administration culls the federal workforce. For much of the morning we’ve been inching up a forested ridgeline, stopping frequently to clear deadfall.
Gabby lops off limbs with the Pulaski, a modified axe, while Peggie and I sever branches with handsaws. Then it’s time for the giant log, and the crosscut saw. The tinny rasp of the five-foot saw, commonly used in wilderness areas where mechanized equipment isn’t allowed, rings through the forest. Fifteen minutes of steady, sweaty back-and-forth later, the log finally splits and crashes to the ground.
Until recently, Peggie roamed this area as a wilderness ranger for the Bridger-Teton National Forest, where she not only did trail upkeep but also collected vital data and educated visitors. But in February, she was terminated from her position, joining thousands of other federal employees suddenly out of work. Now, months later, the cost of having fewer people to steward public lands — people who maintain campgrounds and trails, protect wildlife habitat and cultural resources, manage wildfire risk, and respond to emergencies — is becoming clearer and clearer.
Gabby Yates and Peggie dePasquale pause their trail work to enjoy views of the Gros Ventre Range.
Peggie had worked in and around the Bridger-Teton National Forest for more than a decade, first as a field instructor for the Teton Science School and later as an organizer for the Wyoming Wilderness Association. But she was relatively new to the Forest Service, with just two field seasons as a ranger under her belt.
In late January of this year, while spending the off-season in France for her husband’s job, Peggie received the infamous “Fork in the Road” email pressuring federal employees to resign. She had been looking forward to the upcoming season in the Gros Ventre: Her work plan was finalized, and a promotion to crew lead was on the horizon. Leaving her post was the last thing she wanted. She ignored the email.
But on Valentine’s Day, while skiing with friends, she received a text: The district ranger needed to speak with her immediately.
“I found a way to give them a call and received the news that the leadership at the Jackson district of the Bridger-Teton Forest were instructed as of that morning to terminate all probationary staff based on performance,” Peggie tells us. “Leadership had been given a day to make these calls to people who they wanted, more than anything, to keep on their team. Their hand was forced.” The call was followed up with a letter that said that she had not performed up to par and that’s why they were letting her go, despite her excellent performance reviews.
Peggie was among at least 2,400 Forest Service employees with probationary status (which includes new hires and recently transferred or promoted employees) who were fired that weekend. In the weeks and months that followed, chaos within federal agencies reigned, with further mass layoffs and the shuttering of dozens of federal offices. As of June, in the Forest Service alone, the number of employees fired or who took the government’s “deferred resignation,” a buyout designed to downsize the federal workforce, totaled 7,500 — more than 20 percent of the Forest Service’s workforce.
A month after Peggie was fired, a federal judge ruled some of the layoffs unlawful, and Peggie was told she could return to her post. But by that point, she had already accepted another job offer.
She faced a dilemma: Should she stick with the new position, or return to the job she’d been heartbroken to lose? And if she did return, would she lose the job again just as easily? As one current Bridger-Teton National Forest employee (who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation) described, the atmosphere within the agency for those who remain has been turbulent, in large part due to ever-shifting directives. “Sometimes it seems purposefully chaotic, but I think a fair amount of it is sheer ineptitude,” they said. “In the meantime, agency personnel are getting ping-ponged back and forth with no context, no clarity, and no real actionable direction.”
Ultimately, Peggie decided not to return to the Forest Service, opting instead to stay in the role she’d just accepted: National Forest Wildlands Director for the Wyoming Wilderness Association, her previous employer.
We traverse flower-filled meadows bordered by red rock outcroppings and hike higher into the mountains. Peggie literally wears a different hat now — an orange cap emblazoned with WWA’s logo — and the trail work we’re doing with her today is not part of her typical job duties. But she’s the kind of person who can’t visit the forest without pitching in: When Gabby and I asked her to show us around, there was never any question that we’d load up the saws.
As we hike, Peggie points out examples of the work she and her former colleagues did here in past years. Some, like the sturdy bridges that span creeks and streams, are obvious displays of labor. Others, like the drainage ditches dug to mitigate rutted trails, are less obvious. Peggie shares that because of staffing cuts, it’s unlikely that a Forest Service crew will make it to this trail this year — meaning the hard work that keeps trails accessible and safe just won’t happen.
Because of staffing cuts, it’s unlikely that a Forest Service crew will make it to this trail this year — meaning the hard work that keeps trails accessible and safe just won’t happen.
— Peggie dePasquale
Rutted trails and deadfall may seem like a minor inconvenience for many visitors. But for others, like horsepacking outfitters, the impacts can be far greater. “There are people that rely on these trails for their livelihood, and who don’t necessarily have the capacity in the pre-season to spend whole days clearing trail,” my colleague Gabby, who has a background leading horsepacking trips, explains. And with fewer Forest Service staff, the backlog of trails that need clearing will continue to grow.
The impacts of staffing cuts don’t stop with unmaintained trails. Fewer backcountry crews means less data on wilderness visitorship, which forest managers use to make sound management decisions. Cuts have also halted studies of invasive weeds, which Peggie says represent one of the most pressing threats to the Gros Ventre. “At the end of last year, we were working with our GIS specialists to create a survey that would allow us to track infestations,” she shares. From there, managers would work with an invasive species specialist to find a solution. “But now, a program that had so much potential and energy and enthusiasm is just no longer.”
Then of course there’s wildfire: Wilderness crews, like the crew Peggie was on, reduce fire risk by educating visitors about campfire safety, ensuring campfires are properly extinguished, and reporting newly started blazes in the backcountry. Other Forest Service employees play vital roles, too. Without adequate staff for fuels mitigation or trail maintenance, catastrophic burns are more likely, and firefighting personnel may struggle to get where they need to go. Without administrative staff, fire crews face travel delays. And with fewer support staff trained to aid in fires — red card carriers — crews on the frontlines carry a heavier burden.
The Bridger-Teton National Forest,though it encompasses an enormous 3.4 million acres, represents only a fraction of the 30 million acres of federally managed public lands in Wyoming — nearly half the state. I ask Gabby, who is in charge of the public lands program at the Wyoming Outdoor Council, how the impacts from layoffs that we’re seeing here fit into the larger picture of public lands across the state and the West.
She says she’s less worried about unmaintained trails or bathrooms and more concerned with, “What’s going to happen to these ecosystems? We’re talking about wildlife resources. We’re talking about watershed resources. If there’s no one there to manage these issues, the problems we have are just going to be exacerbated.”
Indiscriminate firings of land stewards are a devious part of a much larger effort to transfer public lands to state control, Gabby continues. “With these layoffs, there’s a slippery slope: If we’re not properly staffing these places, we’re not properly managing them, and when that occurs, they become more of a liability than an asset, and there’s more of an excuse to sell them off.”
Although the push for public lands transfer has a long history, it was brought into sharp focus this summer, when Congress tried to include the sale of millions of acres in the federal budget reconciliation bill. If there’s anything to learn from the past, it’s that transfer of public lands to states is a direct pathway to sale and privatization, as states eventually realize they have nowhere near the resources needed to manage lands, let alone turn a profit.
If there’s anything else to be learned, it’s how fervently Americans want to see their public lands protected, not sold off. With the recent sell-off attempts in Congress, for example, the backlash was swift and enormous, and showed just how disconnected many politicians are from the lands they seek to sell off. “Decision makers aren’t seeing places that people care about, or rely on for clean water, or cultural values, or recreation,” Gabby says. “They’re seeing something that you can extract value from.”
Places like the Gros Ventre are ground zero for such attempts: It’s Forest Service land that doesn’t have the recognition of, say, a national park, and therefore means little to distant politicians. Yet for those nearby — people like Peggie, Gabby, and countless others — such places are more than just land. They’re cherished parts of their backyards, places whose true value defies measurement.
Clearing trails is difficult, time-consuming work. With fewer Forest Service employees, the backlog of trails in need of maintenance is growing.
We clear tree after tree as the heat of the afternoon builds. Peggie patiently explains to Gabby how to avoid getting the crosscut saw stuck; she hands me the axe and tells me to enjoy some “wilderness therapy.” The work feels good, and the results are immediately tangible — one of the things Peggie loved most about this work.
On a small scale, there’s no doubt we’re making a difference. And we’re not the only ones, either: From individuals to organizations, there’s no shortage of people stepping up to fill the gaps left over from staffing cuts. The Friends of the Bridger-Teton, for example, recently launched the FBT Forest Corps, an initiative that lends a hand on vital trail infrastructure projects. WWA, Peggie’s organization, helps fund this new initiative, and also regularly trains volunteers to conduct solitude monitoring surveys that would otherwise go undone.
On the other hand, Peggie is clear that our work today is but a drop in the bucket. Nothing, she says, can replace the work done by a full wilderness crew.
“… Our work today is but a drop in the bucket. Nothing can replace the work done by a full wilderness crew.“
— Peggie dePasquale
We stay past our agreed-upon turnaround time to clear one last log. Finally, though, we turn our backs on whatever awaits up the trail and begin the hike down.
Our talk turns to what gives us hope, for the Gros Ventre and places like it. “For me, it’s the community of people who care for wild places,” Peggie says. “Which is interesting — this idea that it’s people who are bringing us to this point of conflict, and it’s also people who give us hope that we’re capable of finding a solution.”
As we pass the wooden sign marking the wilderness boundary, Peggie gives it a pat like it’s an old friend. With it, she seems to say goodbye. And — I’ll be back.
Have you noticed impacts on public lands from federal layoffs? Let us know! Fill out our form at our Federal Layoff Hotline below.
WOC’s 2026 Calendar Contest is live! Join Major and other artists by submitting visual art that illustrates The Lands Between Us — the public lands we all hold in common. To submit your art, tag it with the hashtag #WOCCalendarContest on Instagram, or email it to claire@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org.
Major and Nancy King have beenvisiting the Snowies — the colloquial name for the Snowy Range about 30 miles west of Laramie — almost every year since the 1980s. For them, the mountain range, its numerous lakes and ponds, and the prolific wildflowers, offer the couple a place of respite — to “get away,” they both said repeatedly.
Major was a winner of 2025 Calendar Contest, and his photo, an aerial of his wife reading amid their camp, captures what they mean when they talk about the history they’ve shared with the area over the years.
On the afternoon the winning photograph was taken, the couple had just returned to their site in the Nash Fork Campground after a hike. They had started a fire, and Nancy had sat down to relax and read. “That’s what I like to do,” she said, “while Major, he likes to fly.”
By flying, she means drones. Photography has always been a hobby and profession for Major, a retired video journalist, most recently at Channel 7 out of Denver. But lately, he’s been particularly taken with drone photography.
“I started flying drones the year the Federal Aviation Administration came out with their regulations to make them legal,” he said. That was in 2016, and he’s been flying commercially and recreationally ever since.
“It not only gives you a sense of freedom, but a chance to see the world from a vantage point that most people don’t get,” he said. “And I love sharing that with people.”
Image: Major King
There’s a more somber side to Major’s photography — and the couple’s excursions to the Snowies — though. Back in the day, their beloved Nash Fork campground was wrapped in the dark timber of a heavy, healthy forest. But over the years, they watched as the trees died. This was due to a devastating infestation of bark beetles — which lay eggs under the bark of many Western pine species, killing the trees. The bark beetle epidemic wiped out most of the mature lodgepole pines in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming in the early 2000s, turning the forests gray and causing the closure of campgrounds and recreation sites across the region, including Nash Fork.
Nash Fork in particular was hard hit, sitting at the confluence of two types of trees — lodgepole and spruce — as well as two invading beetles — the spruce and the mountain pine. The Forest Service had to close Nash Fork for nearly 10 years due to the amount of deadfall caused by beetle kill and the potential hazards the dead trees posed for campers and visitors.
The Forest Service and a local nonprofit called Common Outdoor Ground teamed up to make the campground habitable again in July 2021 after years of clearing trees from the sites to ensure safety for future campers — the Kings, included.
When the Kings were able to return to Nash Fork, they were elated. On this afternoon in 2023, they did what they had done so often there over the years — Nancy pulled out a book, while Major took to the sky to immerse himself in the aerial perspective of a place he’s grown to love.
“It was a somewhat crowded weekend at the campground,” he remembers. “I could see our neighbors, but I was also able to capture Nancy experiencing a moment of solitude from above. In a nutshell, that photo tells the story of why we keep coming back here: the solitude, the chance for reflection.”
Long before the Kings made their first visit to the Medicine Bow Routt National Forest, which is home to the Snowies, the area was known as a place for Tribal gathering and medicine making, according to the Forest Service. The name Medicine Bow comes from the Indigenous tribes (including the Eastern Shoshoni, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Oceti Sakowin, and Crow) who inhabited southeastern Wyoming. In the lush mountain valleys, the tribes harvested quality mountain mahogany to make bows and would gather in the area to hold cultural celebrations and assemble bows together. This became known as “medicine making” and “making bow” to the early settlers, and thus the forest was later named.
The way Major and Nancy talk about this area in southcentral Wyoming, it seems to offer the couple a bit of medicine, too. They talked about the wonder of the mother moose who frequently wanders through their campsites, the carpets of flowers that extend to the horizon, the mirrored surface of the lakes, the wide open feeling as the land continues on as if forever, the night skies so clear you can see not only myriad clusters of stars, but the distant glow of Wyoming’s small cities, and the blue agate, shell fossils and quartz they find at their feet.
“Wyoming just has such stunning beauty everywhere,” Major said. “The raw beauty is just amazing, that’s what I love about it. You can still get lost in Wyoming, figuratively and literally.”
Lost in a book, lost in the view through a camera lens, lost in the best kind of way, in peace and beauty.
The long road toward a new plan for the beloved Bridger-Teton is finally underway. Add your voice today to ensure the process gets off to a good start!
A few weeks ago, the Bridger-Teton National Forest released its draft assessment report. Though not a decision-making document, this report spells out the forest’s current social, ecological, cultural, and economic conditions.
This is the first of many steps toward a plan that will guide management of the Bridger-Teton for decades to come — so it’s critical we start with a comprehensive assessment. (Forest planning is a little like cooking dinner: You wouldn’t plan what to make without first seeing what ingredients you have in your pantry, right?)
As our team has parsed through the draft assessment, we’ve noticed some gaps that we think the Forest Service needs to address. We’ve laid those out in detail below.
Will you speak up for the future of the Bridger-Teton?
Writing a public comment is easy and only takes a few minutes. We’ve included a few suggested talking points below, but please personalize your comment and share any important corrections you think the draft assessment needs.
Suggested talking points:
Ungulate Migrations: The Assessment does not include a full inventory of big game migration data, including for the iconic Wyoming Range mule deer herd. Although it includes the three state-recognized migration corridors that overlap the Forest, it fails to recognize all the peer-reviewed research for elk, mule deer, pronghorn, and moose migrations. The Forest should include all big game migration data in the Final Assessment, including all the migration data published by USGS.
Wild and Scenic Rivers and Wilderness: The Assessment should include current trends regarding the successes and challenges of managing Designated and Eligible Wild and Scenic River Segments and Wilderness to help inform future management. The Forest should likewise work to finish the Wild and Scenic Rivers Eligibility, and Wilderness Inventory and Evaluation promptly and provide meaningful opportunities for the public to weigh in on the analyses and relevant recommendations that might be incorporated into the draft forest plan.
Tribal Engagement & Areas of Tribal Importance: The Forest should continue formal consultations with tribes who maintain connections to the BTNF as their ancestral homeland and migratory territories, and provide intentional opportunities for tribal communities and individual voices to be heard.
Recreation: Recreation on the Bridger-Teton has increased dramatically since 1990. The Forest should include any and all relevant data and information on recreational use, to ensure that a new forest plan appropriately mitigates wildlife conflicts and ensures sustainable recreation management. or shared our open citizens sign-on letter.
Potential Species of Conservation Concern: The common loon, Yellowstone cutthroat trout, and Bonneville cutthroat trout should be included on the list of potential species of conservation concern, given their unique populations and ongoing threats to their persistence.lp protect the best things about Wyoming.
The Bridger-Teton is one of Wyoming’s most cherished places. Now is the time to speak up to ensure the forest planning process starts with the most complete information possible.
Thank you for supporting Wyoming’s largest forest. If you’d like to learn more and speak directly with Forest Staff, consider attending an open house near you!
August 12 — Wilson, Old Wilson Schoolhouse, 5–7 p.m. August 19 — Cokeville, Cokeville Town Hall, 5–6:30 p.m. August 20 — Bondurant, St. Hubert the Hunter Church, 5–6:30 p.m. August 21 — Alpine, Alpine Civic Center, 5–7 p.m.
In Wyoming and across the U.S., tribes and tribal lands bear scars from the country’s nuclear programs. From abandoned radioactive waste to land seizures to the cancer-causing debris of weapons testing, tribal communities have been disproportionately impacted by nuclear development and its lasting consequences. Unfortunately, in the critical discussions surrounding nuclear projects, the voices of nearby tribal communities have often been sidelined or altogether ignored.
The Susquehanna-Western uranium mill, near Wyoming’s Gas Hills, was established during the mid-century uranium boom on tribal lands sold under duress. When it closed in 1963, nearly 1.8 million cubic yards of radioactive waste were left behind — and the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes are still dealing with the consequences.
Now, as the discussion around storing the nation’s high-level radioactive waste in Wyoming heats up, it’s more important than ever to learn from Susquehanna and other historical and ongoing injustices.
Below, Big Wind Carpenter and Jennifer Fienhold, WOC’s tribal conservation advocates, detail the fallout from the Susquehanna mill. They also share how, despite marginalization of tribal voices, advocates continue to demand justice for their communities and their land. As Jennifer puts it, “You will never read about the tribes being the unsung heroes of these tales, which is the biggest injustice of all.”
Big Wind Carpenter: A uranium mill’s toxic legacy
For many, the uranium boom of the 1950s was a sign of progress for the country, but for the people of Arapahoe, it resulted in a toxic legacy. When uranium mining began in the Gas Hills, a local milling site was required to process the uranium ore. The land chosen for the mill site was on the Wind River Reservation and belonged to members of my family. The Bureau of Indian Affairs came to our families to buy the land for the federally funded project. When they refused, BIA coerced some into signing documents, promising payments that never arrived. Those who resisted were threatened with arrest and forced off their own land. The mill site was then constructed and operational within a year’s time.
Although the project was brief, its impact lingers today. The Susquehanna plant operated for only five years before closing, but when it shut down, it left behind a 70-acre unlined impoundment of tailings — approximately 1.8 million cubic yards of low-level radioactive waste.
The Department of Energy removed the tailings in the late 1980s, claiming the danger was eliminated. This was a false promise. Over time, rain and snowmelt washed radioactive materials deep into the ground, polluting the water supply. This created an underground uranium plume — a silent threat that continues to grow, expanding from 20 to 27 acres in recent years and inching closer to the Big Wind River. This experience has left a deep scar on our community. We have seen loved ones suffer and even lose their lives from illnesses linked to radiation exposure from using tainted well water.
Jennifer Fienhold: The story’s unsung tribal heroes
You can find a full Department of Energy report detailing the remedial efforts around the Chemtrade mill (formerly the Susquehanna mill) online. However, what you will not find in this report is the fight brought to the federal government, the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency by the tribes.
Both the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes monitored the impacts of this waste. After years of the surrounding community of Arapahoe being exposed, cancer levels began to rise. These consequences could also be seen in local wildlife, which began to show telling signs of radioactive exposure, but perhaps what was most alarming, a plume had formed under the plant and contaminated the local water sources. It would take an eight-year battle, diligence, and advocacy for basic human rights, but in 1988, the Tribes finally made headway. The Department of Environmental Quality alongside the EPA were forced to initiate remedial efforts to assist in addressing the long-standing contamination taking place as a result of negligent handling of nuclear waste.
In the end, it was decided to move the waste to Gas Hills, the original location of the uranium mining. The rationale behind this decision: take it back to where it came from. However, there had been other conversations. Within the same remedial report was also the proposal for other sites, 18 of them. Of these, three were seriously considered, and one was on the reservation.
Even two warring tribes, who could be found in tumultuous disagreements in the best of times, united to send the clear message that they did not want radioactive and nuclear waste stored on their lands, and made it clear they were not to continue to be tasked with environmental consequences that had already been forced upon them.
Excerpted from an unpublished account of Jennifer’s recent trip to Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Yucca Mountain was once the proposed repository for the nation’s nuclear waste, until the Western Shoshone, whose treaty land includes the site, successfully opposed the project. Stay tuned for the full account.
Image: A Susquehanna-Western uranium mill in Karnes County, Texas.
Update: The House of Representatives passed the budget bill and President Trump signed it into law on July 4.
Late Tuesday morning the Senate narrowly passed its budget reconciliation bill in a 51–50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie. The bill is now back in the House, where representatives have to resolve differences with the Senate version, which they hope to do before the 4th of July.
Public land sales were removed from the Senate bill after immense public outcry, which is a huge win. Thank you to all that raised your voice and championed these shared landscapes.
But the legislation would still have horrific impacts on many Wyoming Outdoor Council priorities, including public lands, tribal conservation, and energy and climate. Here are a few of the most troubling provisions.
Oil and Gas Free-For-All
The Senate bill would cut the public out of having a say in oil and gas leasing on our public lands. It would also cost Wyoming a lot of money in lost royalties.
Royalty rates for oil and gas drilling had been raised during the Biden administration. This bill would lower them back down to 12.5% — the rate they had been since 1920 — which by some estimates cost Wyoming up to $3.6 billion in lost revenue between 2013 and 2022.
The bill also strips the Bureau of Land Management of its discretion to say no to proposed oil and gas lease sales. It doesn’t matter if local communities, hunters, anglers, or ranchers have concerns; the BLM would be required to lease any eligible parcel of public land nominated by industry — an outright affront to multiple use.
Clean Energy Tax Credits Axed
The good news: The Senate bill removed a harmful excise tax that would have unfairly targeted solar and wind projects.
The bad news: Both the House and the Senate have opted to eliminate home energy efficiency tax credits for projects that go into service after the end of 2025. As a result, rooftop solar, residential heat pumps, and home insulation or weatherization upgrades will cost everyday Wyomingites up to 30% more than they would have otherwise.
Businesses, nonprofits, communities, and tribes would have a little more time to take advantage of existing tax credits: they would have to begin construction within a year after the bill’s passage. Still, both the House and Senate versions of the bill include a rapid phase-down of these tax credits, which would drastically harm the clean energy industry and eliminate good paying jobs.
Tribal FUNDING GUTTED
The bill cuts over $700 million from the Bureau of Indian Affairs — basically one-quarter of BIA’s budget — including programs for economic development and land consolidation. This is a flagrant disrespect of treaty rights and tribal sovereignty, and the impacts for tribal members will be massive.
“These cuts are being carried out without any tribal consultation whatsoever, in plain violation of our trust and treaty responsibilities. This is not just a moral question of what we owe Native people — it is also a question of the law.”
– Senator Brian Schatz
For decades, tribal communities were made promises in exchange for the land that created states like Wyoming — including that they would receive housing, health care, and infrastructure development services, as well as access to safe drinking water. With this bill, the federal government would be reneging on those promises.
Locally, the BIA’s Wind River Agency in Fort Washakie manages 2.2 million acres of land, including mountain ranges, river and stream corridors, and a vast landscape of sagebrush within the Wind River Indian Reservation. This is an already underfunded agency, which handles everything from oil and gas permitting to Environmental Policy Act analysis to water on tribal lands. Losing that capacity at BIA would effectively stymie vital projects in tribal communities.
The bill would also cut $617 million from the Indian Land Consolidation Program, which was developed to help right historical wrongs surrounding land ownership. The program has made it possible to return millions of acres of lands to tribal ownership. With the proposed budget bill, Congress would be unilaterally deciding that the program would end — absent tribal consultation or understanding of the implications it poses for tribes and their communities.
Tribal Energy and Water Programs Slashed
The budget bill cuts funding from multiple loan programs that were aimed at financing energy infrastructure projects in tribal communities, including solar. The Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program in particular has been crucial for advancing energy self-determination and creating economic opportunities in Indian Country. Without these programs, tribes will find it substantially more difficult to develop their energy resources, improve grid reliability, and transition to cleaner, more affordable energy.
The Senate bill would also cut a drastic 90% of funding from a program that helps states and tribal communities access safe drinking water. The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund provides funding for water infrastructure and safety projects. Tribal nations would go from receiving $22.5 million collectively in the current fiscal year to a mere $2 million next year.
This catastrophic reduction would jeopardize the ability of each tribe’s water departments to provide safe and clean drinking water. With significantly constrained resources, critical functions like well water testing and maintaining drinking water facilities in communities like Fort Washakie, Ethete, and Arapahoe would be impacted. The proposed cuts could lead to layoffs of essential workers responsible for water quality oversight, jeopardizing public health and the long-term sustainability of water infrastructure on tribal lands.
Assault on the Land and Water Conservation Fund
The Great American Outdoors Act, passed in 2020, allocated $900 million annually to increase public access and protect the nation’s public lands. Congress is now seeking to divert roughly 43% of that money away from conservation, recreation, and sportspeople access and towards deferred maintenance of infrastructure instead, even though other federal funds have been allocated for deferred maintenance.
In a Nutshell
Although some of the provisions in the Senate bill dampen some of the worst impacts of the earlier House version, we anticipate that the bill’s overall impact will increase energy costs for Wyomigites, make diversification of our energy sector more challenging, and increase the emissions that science is clearly telling us need to go down in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
What the heck even is reconciliation — and how it could impact the things we care about?
It’s hard to get legislation through the U.S. Senate because of the filibuster: Senators can literally kill bills by talking them to death. To get around this, Congress often relies on something called “reconciliation,” which lets budget-related bills pass with a simple majority.
In recent years, we’ve seen the process of reconciliation used more and more frequently due to congressional gridlock and polarization in the Senate. Congress is in the midst of the budget reconciliation process right now, and the resulting legislation could have major impacts on Wyoming’s landscapes and communities.
The House of Representatives fiercely debated various spending changes, including investments in clean energy, energy efficiency, and the sale of public lands to help fund the cost of tax cuts. As the Senate develops its version of the bill, we’ll be keeping a watchful eye on what transpires. We are here to keep you informed on what’s happening and how it may impact our lands, water, wildlife and communities here in Wyoming.
Public lands sell-off narrowly avoided … for now
Throughout this spring, Congress toyed with the idea of selling public lands in order to help pay for tax cuts. This threat was taken seriously by several public lands champions in the Senate, who introduced an amendment in early April that would have prevented the sale of public lands from being included in the budget reconciliation process. This amendment unfortunately failed (both Wyoming senators voted against it) and shortly afterward the House Natural Resources Committee added the sale of roughly a half million acres in Nevada and Utah to the House reconciliation bill.
Though this sale dealt with neighboring states, Congress could have just as easily included the sale of hundreds of thousands of acres in Wyoming. The use of the budget reconciliation process to sell off public lands is unprecedented. It disallows public input and testimony, the cash from the sale would not go to conservation (as typically occurs with land sales), and it sets an ugly precedent for selling our national public lands to pay for the whims of politicians.
Outraged public lands enthusiasts from across the country spoke up and demanded Congress not use this means for balancing the budget. Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Montana), Rep. Ryan Vasquez (D-New Mexico), and other representatives from outside our state drew a hard red line and were able to have these sales removed.
Land management plans in the crosshairs
The Bureau of Land Management’s Rock Springs Resource Management Plan, which would provide significant protections for important areas of the Northern Red Desert, has been in the crosshairs of some lawmakers as of late. Fortunately, a provision that would block its implementation was stripped out of the House reconciliation bill. Although it’s unlikely that the provision will be included again in the Senate version, we expect to see ongoing efforts to scale back the protections in the plan through administrative processes.
Clean energy tax credits on the chopping block
Longstanding clean energy tax credits that make solar, wind, and battery storage more affordable were removed in the House reconciliation bill. These incentives have driven investments in technologies like carbon capture and clean hydrogen and have helped Wyoming businesses and families afford rooftop solar and energy efficiency upgrades. The House bill would eliminate many of these credits with significant consequences to Wyoming communities and tribes.
If enacted, clean energy projects could become 30–40 percent more expensive. The bill also targeted residential energy efficiency tax credits that were established in 2005 under the Bush Administration. These credits have helped Wyoming homeowners afford energy efficiency upgrades like insulation, windows, and HVAC systems.
The timing for these cuts couldn’t be worse. Utilities in Wyoming are already proposing double-digit rate hikes while warning of rising demand and grid challenges. Cutting these credits now will increase costs for families, make it more difficult to invest in local clean energy projects like rooftop solar, and weaken Wyoming’s energy resilience.
While the future of many federally funded programs that promote clean energy and energy efficiency remains uncertain, several key initiatives the Wyoming Outdoor Council has been monitoring appear to be making progress. For example, some programs funded through the Inflation Reduction Act have had their funds “obligated,” making them much harder to eliminate entirely. Although certain funds have been temporarily frozen — causing frustration — they now seem to be becoming more accessible.
Help protect Wyoming’s clean energy future: Send a message to our senators and tell them to maintain clean energy and energy efficiency tax credits.
The nuclear energy industry would continue to qualify for production tax credits under the House reconciliation bill. It would also make the nuclear industry the only energy sector to maintain the “transferability” of tax credits — a benefit that gives project developers the ability to sell their tax credits to others. For those tracking the active discussion around nuclear energy in Wyoming, it’s clear that this industry is emerging as a favorite for the Trump Administration as a way to meet new energy demand and remain competitive with other countries developing new kinds of reactors. We’ll be carefully watching these developments to better understand how these incentives translate into more proposals around nuclear energy in Wyoming.
What’s next for WOC’s public lands and clean energy priorities?
The removal of public land sales from the House reconciliation bill was a big sigh of relief for public lands users. However, bad public lands provisions could still be included in the Senate version of the bill. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who heads the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has long advocated for the privatization of public lands.
On the clean energy side, now is the time to let our senators know that you support clean energy and longstanding common-sense programs designed to encourage energy conservation and efficiency like the residential energy efficiency tax credits.
As the reconciliation process continues through the summer, we’ll be keeping a watchful eye on the Senate. Wyoming has an important role to play. As one of the largest energy exporters in the country, the Cowboy State will find itself in the crosshairs. We will continue to keep you updated as we have more news.
For Wyomingites, it can be hard to picture the hustle and bustle that occurs in Washington D.C., the seat of our nation’s government, where all our laws and policies are formed. Even more difficult can be tracking these intricate workings as Congress works to pass laws that will support their current political agenda.
Politics and processes aside, most Wyomingites can agree that our vast public lands are the reason that many of us live here (and not in D.C.) — and that any efforts to threaten future access are an affront to our way of life. Last week, I had the privilege of traveling to our nation’s capital to advocate for protecting our public lands from these threats to defund and dismantle our public lands.
In February, we witnessed major staffing cuts to the federal agencies tasked with managing our public lands, forests, and national parks. In the face of a growing recreation and tourism industry, and decades of budget cuts to several vital agencies, these short-sighted reductions in force have many of us wondering just how our public lands will be appropriately managed.
Luckily, Wyomingites of all walks of life spoke up and I was proud to hand-deliver a printed letter to Wyoming’s Congressional delegation that over 1,200 citizens signed, opposing these mass federal agency layoffs. The message was well received, but our work to see our public lands stewarded for future generations is far from over.
In addition to the risks caused by our land management agencies being under-staffed and under-funded, a larger threat looms in the form of some members of Congress being dead set on selling our federal public lands, calling the sale of public lands a “great idea.”
In response to the threat, U.S. Senators voted on an amendment brought by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) late on Friday, April 4, that would have prevented the sell-off of lands from being included in Congress’ upcoming budget reconciliation.
Our lawmakers had the opportunity to protect our public lands from being sold off to pay for future tax cuts — and, unfortunately, they failed to do so. The amendment died on a 48–52 vote, leaving the threat of land sell-off on the table. Even more unfortunate was the fact that both Wyoming Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis voted against the amendment.
To put it bluntly, the threats to our public lands have never been greater. With the potential sale of federal lands being included in this upcoming budget package and more federal agency layoffs right around the corner, we need Wyomingites to keep speaking up on these issues so that our delegation hears them. Now more than ever, those of us who love our public lands need to fight to ensure they remain and are well stewarded.
If you haven’t signed or shared our open citizens sign-on letter defending our public lands stewards, please sign below, or consider contacting your Congressional representatives today to let them know that you value our public lands far too much for them to be sold off. Some things just aren’t for sale. As always, thanks for speaking up and stay tuned for more ways that you can help protect the best things about Wyoming.
The public lands that define Wyoming and contribute significantly to our quality of life are under unprecedented and nuanced attacks. State legislative efforts to transfer our public lands to the state compounded by federal efforts to sell them off to seed a sovereign wealth fund are suddenly on the table. Of course, there have been thoughtless and drastic cuts to the federal workforce that will affect wildfire response, road and campground openings, trail work and delay important landscape health and public access projects. The Wyoming Outdoor Council is shocked and dismayed by the firings of so many public servants, and these losses will have very real consequences for the land, water, air, and wildlife we were founded to protect. Beyond these impacts, we are very concerned about how these losses will affect our fellow Wyomingites. It’s easy to paint with a broad brush the federal worker, but it is important to note that these civil servants are our neighbors, the parents of our kids’ friends, the people we talk to at the grocery store. We find it particularly abhorrent to celebrate how these people’s lives have been impacted.
There’s no question that there are inefficiencies and disagreements between people, organizations, businesses, tribes, and governments (to name a few) about how the government functions. But as an organization, we work to separate those differences in policy, management, funding, and decision-making from the individual persons tasked with those duties. To be clear, firing the federal workforce does little, if anything, to address concerns of fraud, waste, and abuse. With approximately 350 million people living in this country, there’s certainly a lot that differentiates us: hopes, dreams, and the lived experiences that form who we are as we all try to do the best we can with what we have and for who is in our orbit. At WOC, we believe our land, air, water, wildlife, and grappling with the realities of climate, unite us. Some of our best memories with family, friends, or by our lonesome took place in the Wyoming landscape.
It is for these values and every person in Wyoming that the WOC team shows up every day, works to engage agencies, leaders, and the people of Wyoming in pursuit of doing and being better. We care about your jobs, about your hardships, about the obstacles and opportunities life presents you with — it doesn’t matter if it is in the public or private sector, or what that job or passion is. In our efforts to understand, we help the rest of Wyoming understand, too. The WOC community, our staff, board, members, partners, and volunteers are not a monolith —nor are federal, state, or industry workers. When divergent ideas and experiences come together, we see it as a strength, not a weakness — and it is hard work and we’re here for it. Join or engage with us to build our collective strength for what truly matters in Wyoming.
Stay tuned for important updates and actions on this and many other matters. Thank you for your attention, compassion, and support – onward!
