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Lands

A Wyoming guide to recent Bureau of Land Management rules and land use plans

Posted on by Max Owens

Over the past year, the Bureau of Land Management has been busy with a bevy of rules that, once finalized, will impact public lands across Wyoming and the West. (You might remember hearing from us about the Public Lands Rule, Methane Rule, and Oil and Gas Rule — and you may have even written comments on these proposed rules.) Now, it seems April is the month that all these efforts have begun to bear fruit: With near-weekly announcements of finalized rules, it’s certainly been a busy time for the agency. And, I’ll add, for anyone trying to keep up!

Fortunately, these new rules contain plenty of conservation victories worth celebrating. But we can’t blame you if keeping them straight has led to some serious head-scratching.

To add to the confusion, the publishing of these rules has happened alongside the comment periods for additional BLM land use plan revisions and proposed rules. (With any luck, we’ll have even more to celebrate when the Western Solar Plan, Rock Springs Resource Management Plan, and updates to the rangewide Greater sage-grouse plan are finalized.)

Whether you’ve been closely following the news, are just tuning in, or are one of the many WOC supporters who shared comments with the BLM, this quick guide will help you get a handle on the agency’s recent activity — and what each of these rules and plans means for Wyoming’s public lands and wildlife.

RECENTLY FINALIZED BLM RULES

PUBLIC LANDS RULE

The Public Lands Rule adds conservation to the list of multiple uses allowed on public lands, placing it on equal footing with uses such as grazing, energy development, and recreation. It does not prevent oil and gas drilling, mining, or grazing on public lands — but it does enshrine protection and restoration as necessary components of responsible management. In doing so, our wildlife habitat, areas of cultural importance, water quality, and landscape intactness all stand to benefit.

The BLM manages 18.4 million acres of land across Wyoming — nearly one-third of the state. While drought, wildfires, and decreasing land health threaten these lands, the Public Lands Rule provides a cohesive framework for implementing conservation measures to address these threats and slow negative impacts from climate change — while continuing to manage for the many uses of these lands that allow Wyoming communities to thrive.

OIL AND GAS RULE

The most significant update to oil and gas leasing on federal lands in decades, the Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process Rule directs development away from lands with little to no potential for oil and gas — thereby allowing better management of places with important habitat, recreational values, and cultural resources. It also ensures that companies set aside more money to plug wells after drilling, which is significant considering that previously, required clean-up money would have covered the cost of fewer than one out of 100 wells. These common-sense reforms, that follow in the footsteps of state policy, are a win for the health of Wyoming landscapes and for Wyoming taxpayers, as increased oil and gas royalty rates will result in better returns for Wyomingites and fund vital public services.

METHANE RULE

This rule aims to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from oil and gas operations on public lands. Also known as the Waste Prevention Rule, it updates regulations more than 40 years old by requiring oil and gas operators to take reasonable steps to prevent wasted methane during operations such as venting and flaring. The reduced emissions will benefit Wyoming’s air quality, and conserved methane will be available to power homes and industries. Through additional required royalty payments on natural gas emissions that could have been avoidable, the rule will also ensure Wyoming taxpayers are fairly compensated for natural gas that is unnecessarily wasted during production.


(Note: While similar in aim, this rule is separate from the Environmental Protection Agency’s final methane rule, which was published in December 2023. BLM’s rule curbs wasted methane on federal and Tribal lands and will go into effect this summer, while EPA’s sweeping rule curbs methane emissions on both public and private lands and will take several additional years before it is enforceable.)

RECENT BLM PLANS OF NOTE, YET TO BE FINALIZED

UPDATED WESTERN SOLAR PLAN

This region-wide plan (also known as the Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement) will identify the best locations across 11 Western states for future utility-scale solar development on federal lands, along with areas that should be closed to solar. By proactively screening for wildlife, sensitive habitats, cultural resources, and other values and resources, it aims to reduce foreseeable land use conflicts. Our climate future depends on the addition of renewables to our energy portfolio — and the Western Solar Plan represents an opportunity to ensure solar doesn’t come at the cost of our iconic wildlife and other Wyoming values.


The Western Solar Plan is currently in draft form, and the period for comments on the plan concluded earlier this month. If you wrote to the BLM in favor of responsibly sited solar in Wyoming, thank you! Read WOC’s Western Solar Plan comments here.

Updated Greater Sage-Grouse Management Plan

Building off the BLM’s 2015 and 2019 plans for Greater sage-grouse, this plan enhances protections for this most-loved of Western birds — a prominent symbol of the threatened and ever-diminishing sagebrush biome. Drawing on ample new data and research, the update covers 77 resource management plans across 10 Western states, including Wyoming. Because the BLM manages the vast majority of Greater sage-grouse habitat on the continent, it is imperative that the agency takes bold action with this plan revision to shore up remaining, quality habitat and stave off further declines. As we dive deeper into the plan’s management alternatives, count on us to keep you informed and keep your eye out for opportunities to speak up for sage-grouse protections. Wyoming is the beating heart of the sagebrush biome and what happens here has outsize implications for the bird’s future, so your participation and local knowledge will be of added benefit to the agency. The plan is currently in draft form, with a public comment period ending June 13.

Rock Springs Resource Management Plan

A plan nearly 12 years in waiting, the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan outlines how much of the northern Red Desert — including the Big Sandy Foothills, Adobe Town, and more — will be managed for the next 15–20 years. The draft plan favors conservation of the Red Desert’s extraordinary habitat, cultural resources, and wide-open spaces while protecting opportunities for recreation. In December, WOC represented conservation on a task force convened by the governor to form consensus recommendations for the BLM alongside livestock, oil and gas, sporting groups, and other interests. Much common ground was found as we defended the Red Desert’s key landscapes from potentially damaging proposals.

There’s a good chance you heard and answered our calls to advocate for the Red Desert’s treasures. The public comment period on the draft RMP ended in January, and we’re confident that your passionate advocacy will result in a strong final plan. Thank you for your many supportive comments.

THANK YOU

As time marches on, it’s essential that we continually revisit, refine, and revise the rules and plans guiding management of our public lands. The items listed above are the finalized and in-progress products of this important process. They represent the modernizing of old policies that often had the effect of undermining conservation interests. They are also significant strides towards more proactive management of our public lands.

Importantly, the true value of these rules and plans lies with the public input that helped to build them. They are valuable because people like you spoke up — people who care for, understand, recreate or work on, live near, and love these public lands. As these frameworks for management move from draft stage to final rule or plan, we can’t thank you enough for your support and advocacy. Wyoming’s public lands are better for it!

Have lingering questions about recent BLM rules and land use revisions? Send us an email or write a comment below.

Meeting the Moment: Planning for a Responsible Energy Future with the Western Solar Plan

Posted on by John Burrows

Attend our virtual Conservation Cafeteria on the Western Solar Plan on Wednesday, April 3 at noon — RSVP here.

If you’ve been following national energy trends, you may have noticed that 2022 was a big year. It was the first year in recent history that renewable energy surpassed coal generation in the U.S. As the cost of renewable energy continues to decline, and numerous state and federal policies continue to encourage decarbonization, it’s clear that renewable energy is here to stay. And that means states like Wyoming need to start preparing for new types of energy infrastructure on their lands. 

For Wyoming, the implications of a transition to low-carbon and renewable energy are difficult to overstate, especially considering the footprint of utility-scale renewable energy and its potential impacts to wildlife, habitats, open spaces, and cultural resources across the state. Fortunately for one key renewable energy resource that Wyoming has in abundance — sunlight — we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure that this development is sited right from the start. That’s where the Western Solar Plan comes in.

The 2012 Western Solar Plan is getting updated — and Wyoming is included!

The Bureau of Land Management is currently proposing to expand and update its 2012 Western Solar Plan, which will help identify the best locations across the West for future utility-scale solar development — in this case, solar facilities that produce 5 megawatts or more on public lands. The plan aims to proactively screen for wildlife, sensitive habitats, cultural resources, and other values and resources that could conflict with solar energy development. Wyoming wasn’t included in the 2012 plan, back when solar energy cost roughly 10 times what it costs today. But the updated plan includes Wyoming and other newcomers, including Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.  

Having Wyoming included in the updated Western Solar Plan is great news! This policy update was a core recommendation of the Renewable Energy Siting Collaborative, a convening of industry, conservation groups, academics and other stakeholders that the Wyoming Outdoor Council helped facilitate in 2021. The large footprint that solar energy needs to produce electricity means that inappropriately sited projects could have devastating consequences for Wyoming’s migrating ungulate herds and fragile habitats. We’ve unfortunately witnessed this firsthand with the Sweetwater Solar Facility, the state’s first utility-scale solar project on public lands. This facility was placed along a pronghorn migration route north of Green River, creating a barrier along the animals’ path that funneled them onto a county highway, creating a dangerous situation for pronghorn and motorists alike. It’s an example that shows the impact these facilities can have on wildlife and just how important it is to site projects in ways that avoid sensitive habitats.

​​Help us achieve the best outcome for Wyoming

From now until April 18, the BLM is seeking comments on five different alternatives for the updated Western Solar Plan through its e-planning website. BLM’s preferred alternative (alternative 3) would leave 2.98 million acres (roughly 17 percent) of BLM land in Wyoming open for solar development applications. Stated simply — we think this is too much.

Wyoming is unique in its open spaces, unfragmented habitats, and iconic seasonal wildlife migrations. Solar development in particular presents an impenetrable barrier for big game that threatens connectivity on these landscapes. This is why we are urging our members to tell the BLM to select an alternative that further narrows where solar projects can exist, while still leaving enough acreage available to help our nation reach important climate goals.

Specifically, we urge our members to support alternative 5, which requires that solar energy development on public lands meet the following criteria: 

  • Be located on previously disturbed lands with diminished integrity
  • Be located within 10 miles of existing or proposed transmission corridors
  • Be located on slopes less than 10 degrees
  • Not conflict with 21 resource-based exclusions that BLM has identified for all alternatives. (A full list of these exclusions can be found starting on page 21 of the draft plan.)  

Even when considering these criteria, alternative 5 still allows for applications for solar development in 1.4 million acres of public lands in Wyoming. This is about 50 times more than the BLM expects will actually get developed by 2045 in their reasonably foreseeable development scenario for Wyoming (below). Alternative 5 also adds an additional safeguard by only considering applications on previously disturbed lands which would help ensure that the loss of unfragmented and healthy habitat is minimized and that future solar development is directed away from these areas.  

Figure 1: BLMS Reasonably Foreseeable Development Scenario. Available here.

Speak up for Wyoming’s wildlife

Finally, we need your help speaking up for Wyoming’s wildlife in the plan. As drafted, the Western Solar Plan excludes solar development from big game migration corridors and winter ranges only where this habitat is identified and explicitly singled out for exclusion in existing land use plans. Unfortunately, most of Wyoming’s resource management plans are severely outdated and provide little to inadequate acknowledgement for big game migrations and winter-range in relation to renewable energy projects. Biologists have collected huge amounts of data in recent years to delineate migratory routes and improve understanding of how animals are using crucial winter range in Wyoming. Very little of this has been included or updated in resource management plans.

If this plan is to be successful for Wyoming and avoid harm to our wildlife, it needs to avail itself of the best available science on migrations and winter ranges. In your comments, tell the BLM that it needs to revise its big game exclusion criterion (criterion 9) to protect identified big game crucial winter range and migration corridors from utility-scale solar development regardless of the direction offered in applicable land use plans. The risks to our ungulate herds are too great to ignore the best available data waiting on land use plan revisions that may take decades. 

Help Us Meet the Moment

It’s not everyday in our work as conservation advocates that we get the chance to raise our voice in support of planning efforts with the potential to have such an impact as the Western Solar Plan. As many of you know, this work is so frequently driven by the need to react to bad ideas and policies that threaten conservation values. This plan is different. It sets the rules that will govern solar development on public land for decades to come. From our vantage point at WOC, we are entering a time when the country’s energy future is at a crossroads — and Wyoming stands to play an important role in choosing which path we take. With an updated Western Solar Plan, we have a rare opportunity to be proactive and reduce many of the resource conflicts that we’ve sadly grown accustomed to on our public lands. We can plan for the development that will be needed to power our country while also meeting our long-term climate goals and protecting the wildlife and the very things that make Wyoming special. 

Help shape the future of public lands in Wyoming

Posted on by Alec Underwood

WOC is looking for a public lands program manager to join our growing team.

In Wyoming, we’re fortunate to be surrounded by beautiful landscapes, abundant wildlife, and diverse opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. Whether you like to hike, bike, hunt, fish, or birdwatch, there is no doubt that the connections we’ve formed with these special places remains a primary reason many of us live — and travel — here. While enjoying everything Wyoming has to offer is essential to our quality of life, it’s even more essential that we work to protect it for future generations. 

With many competing interests on public lands, growing recreational use, and increased stressors like drought and wildfires, it’s no easy task to ensure that clean water, clean air, wildlife, and the habitats they depend on are protected. Here at the Wyoming Outdoor Council, we are rising to the challenge to keep Wyoming intact and communities thriving for generations to come. 

Through the diligent work of WOC staff, we are helping craft solutions for public lands issues by working with the public and a variety of stakeholders. Excitingly, we’re working to expand our work on public lands as we grow our program team, and are seeking a motivated conservation professional to join us as our Public Lands Program Manager. 

It’s both an exciting and critical time for the future of Wyoming’s lands, waters, and wildlife. Among other duties, you’ll work with our program team to help develop strategies for public lands campaigns and maintain relationships with partners, members, and agency officials to further our conservation goals. In addition to helping shape the future of public lands in Wyoming, you’ll enjoy working with a collaborative team and for an organization that is committed to a healthy work-life balance.

If you have relevant experience and a passion for conservation, come join our energetic team at the Outdoor Council. The deadline to apply is May 10. If you have any questions after reading through the job description below, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

PUBLIC LANDS MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION

A wildlife legacy to uphold

Posted on by Meghan Riley

IMAGINE THIS: It’s spring in Wyoming’s Red Desert, and daybreak unfolds around you. As the sun crests the horizon and illuminates mile upon mile of open sagebrush country, the songbirds’ dawn chorus reaches its crescendo. Sage thrashers and Brewer’s sparrows sing their hearts out. At intervals, the resonant “wups” of displaying Greater sage-grouse join in. Far in the distance, bands of mule deer amble along a well-worn game trail, browsing their way towards summer pasture as the snows recede. A pair of ferruginous hawks wheel overhead in the brightening sky.

Image: ©Scott Copeland Images

It’s a scene that has played out largely unchanged for millenia. Whether today, 100 years ago, or 10,000 years ago, people have experienced the vastness and natural bounty of the Red Desert. These days, as wildlife and the lands they rely on are increasingly whittled into the margins, fewer and fewer places on Earth can offer the same. The Red Desert’s immense territory of sagebrush is a precious thing, supporting groups of species you can’t find many places in North America anymore. It is worth our time and toil to keep it whole and healthy for those who come after us.

Thankfully, we have a brief opportunity to make a big impact. With the revision of the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan by the Bureau of Land Management, the managers who oversee land use in the Red Desert are reassessing everything. The agency will carefully weigh public comments as it decides how best to manage these lands for decades to come. If we want to uphold the Red Desert’s extraordinary wildlife legacy, now is the time to speak up in favor of management directives that will help conserve the area’s exceptional natural resources.

Image: Ken Driese

The BLM is choosing between management actions that will make a real difference to the wildlife that depend on these lands for their survival. Whether you want to see the world’s longest mule deer migration persist, provide desert elk with safe birthing grounds, ensure better nest success for hawks and eagles, or see the most densely populated Greater sage-grouse habitat on the planet protected, your input during this process is critical. With foresight and careful management, generations of people and animals yet to come will be able to experience the Red Desert much the same as those who came before. The opportunity to make that careful, balanced management a reality is here — and it is up to us to speak to the values we hold dear on this landscape.

The Bureau of Land Management is accepting public comment on the Rock Springs draft Resource Management Plan through January 17. To make a comment, visit our Red Desert action page. To learn more about provisions in the plan relating to wildlife, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via email.

Q&A: An Eagle-Eye View of the Red Desert

Posted on by Max Owens

In Wyoming’s Red Desert, the necessity of truly big-picture, holistic thinking around conservation advocacy is on full display. For one, it’s home to big game herds that require intact habitat throughout the length of migration corridors that span hundreds of miles. For another, it’s a place that has been stewarded by people for millennia, whose descendents are still here — and whose voices are critical for any conversations about how this land should be managed.

While obstacles to this kind of big-picture thinking are many, the sheer scale of the landscape presents a unique challenge: At more than a half-million acres, how do you wrap your mind around an area the size of the Red Desert?

Recently, Tribal Engagement Coordinator Big Wind Carpenter worked with EcoFlight, a Colorado-based organization, to share a bigger-picture perspective of the desert … from high above, in a small 6-seater propeller plane!

During the flights, Big Wind narrated a loop over the Red Desert for Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho elders, pointing out many of the cultural resources that hold special significance for more than a dozen Tribes with connections to the land. We sat down with Big Wind to hear about their work with EcoFlight and to learn what insights might be gained from taking to the skies.

[Interview edited for length and clarity.]

Images: EcoFlight

You’ve been sharing the values of the Red Desert with others for years now, but primarily with vehicle tours. How does EcoFlight fit into the work you’ve been doing there?

You could spend your entire life exploring the Red Desert — it’s that big of a landscape. When we leave Lander on a vehicle tour, whether we’re taking elected officials, Tribal people, WOC members, or donors, we know that it’s going to be an all-day trip, because a lot of these areas have long distances between them.

For people who don’t have that time or that mobility, I think it’s important that we try to work out a different tour for them. The intention for this year’s flight was to get some Tribal elders out there. We were able to get Reba Teran, an Eastern Shoshone elder and language teacher, and Mary Headley, a Northern Arapaho elder who teaches at the Arapaho Immersion School, to join us. And then they also brought their helpers with them because they have mobility issues. We’re trying to make sure that people who have mobility issues are still able to see these places, and have these discussions.

Tell us a little about your flight path — which parts of the Red Desert did you get to see?

We did two flights that morning, and we kind of did a loop of everything north of I-80. We left the Lander airport early that morning, flew over Red Canyon, flew to where the Great Divide Basin starts over by the Oregon Buttes and the Honeycomb Buttes. Then we moved down to the Killpecker Sand Dunes and Boar’s Tusk. From there, we flew over the White Mountain petroglyphs, checked out Steamboat Mountain, and came back up through the Wind River Range.

For someone like you, who has spent so much time out in the Red Desert, what’s it like to see it from the air?

I think the Red Desert is such a special place, because it has all of these different microhabitats within the area that it covers. You have the south side of the Winds, and the sand dunes, and areas of sagebrush. The plains, the desert, and the mountains meet in this area, but you don’t understand completely until you’re thousands of feet above it. I think the EcoFlight is a very powerful tool to be able to visualize how interconnected these habitats are to one another. It’s such a beautiful thing.

Could you share some of the highlights of the flight?

Being able to see the sand dunes moving in real time was a highlight. The Killpecker Sand Dunes are the largest living sand dune field in North America. When you’re on the ground, there’s always a steady wind, and you can kind of see the sand moving. But when you have a bird’s eye, you can actually see where they’re traveling across the landscape.

Also, there were also some pretty good migrations of antelope coming down off the mountains. Especially knowing how diminished those populations are after last winter, it was amazing to see just how resilient these animals are to be migrating across the land.

What was it like to share an aerial view of the Red Desert with the elders who joined you? And with other, younger Tribal members?

For both Reba and Mary, especially as culture and language teachers, I think it was important for them to be able to tell us the names of these places, and what those names meant, and why they were named a certain way. As an Arapaho person myself, being in a situation where Mary was educating other Arapahos who didn’t know those areas was really impactful. I have Shoshone family (although I’m not a Shoshone Tribal member), so being out there with Reba and hearing their stories, hearing their names, and why they’re named those things felt very impactful to me, too.

Over a dozen Tribes have relations with that landscape: The Shoshone, the Crow, the Cheyenne, and many others have stories about that land and their connection to that landscape. Some of those Tribes, their stories go back thousands of years. So I think it’s really important that not only are those stories told, but that those stories are shared with the next generation. Not only did we have the elders, but we had young people on both of those flights who were able to hear from the elders, and I think that made this very significant.

I think that’s interesting, because you’re in a role where you’re the tour guide. But you’re also learning from your elders, too.

Yeah. I think that’s a part of our culture, as Indigenous people. We look to our elders for guidance, we look to our elders to be able to tell stories. There’s places like the Birthing Rock, and the White Mountain petroglyphs, and all these other sacred sites that are found in the Red Desert. If we don’t relay this information, it will be lost. So it’s important to ensure that our elders are able to have the space to pass on these stories to young people.

Rock Springs RMP: An extraordinary opportunity to protect the Red Desert

Posted on by Alec Underwood

FOR OVER A DECADE, we’ve been eagerly anticipating — and preparing for — the release of the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan. The RMP, issued by the Bureau of Land Management, would have enormous implications for the future of the world-renowned and beloved Red Desert, the largest unfenced area in Wyoming and home to some of our state’s most iconic wildlife.

We’re thrilled to say that after 12 years of waiting, the moment has finally arrived! On the morning of August 16 (while Wyoming Outdoor Council staff gathered around a conference table for a regular program meeting, in fact), we learned that the draft RMP had just been published.

Not only is the draft plan extremely favorable to conservation, but it aligns closely with the Red Desert values WOC has worked so hard to connect people with over the last several years.

Images: Joe Riis

With its strong protections for wildlife, cultural values, wide-open spaces, and recreation, there’s a lot to be excited about in the draft RMP. The draft includes four management alternatives, and the BLM’s preferred alternative affords the highest levels of protection. This conservation-focused alternative will:

  • Protect high-quality habitat for Greater sage-grouse and all our treasured wildlife species.
  • Maintain and expand closures for oil and gas development to fully protect winter range and migration corridors for mule deer, pronghorn, and elk herds.
  • Preserve significant cultural and historical resources and protect Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge.
  • Ensure unparalleled opportunities for hiking, camping, hunting, biking, and other recreational activities now and for generations to come.

Supporting the draft plan’s preferred alternative is the best opportunity we’ve ever had to secure lasting protections for the Red Desert. 

Images: Josh Milek, Ken Driese, ©Scott Copeland Images

This is an exciting moment, but our work is far from done. Since the RMP’s release, we’ve entered into the BLM’s 90-day public comment period. Now is the time to speak up for this cherished landscape. Every voice matters. Together, we can ensure the Red Desert may be enjoyed now and well into the future.

From now until mid-November when the public comment period closes, WOC will be working with its partners, members, and other Wyomingites to support a strong final plan. We need your help, too: Over the next several months, we’ll keep you up-to-date with information on public meetings, letter-writing parties, and other events. (If you haven’t signed up to receive our emails, now is the time — we’ll be sharing how you can use your voice to make a difference!) And, of course, we’ll continue to celebrate the Red Desert, its significant cultural values, world-famous wildlife and migration corridors, and its unparalleled recreation opportunities and wide-open spaces.

Stay up to date with the latest news, events, and opportunities to show your support for the Red Desert when you sign up to receive emails from the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

Creating easy passage for wildlife: volunteers modify fences during Stewardship Day

Posted on by Kyle Elmquist

IN A FUN EFFORT TO HELP LOCAL WILDLIFE HABITAT, the Wyoming Outdoor Council teamed up with the Wyoming Wilderness Association and the Bureau of Land Management to host a volunteer stewardship day to improve over a mile and a half of fencing in the Big Sandy foothills outside Boulder, Wyoming. This fence modification project, led by BLM sage-grouse specialist Nate Fronk, offers critical changes to traditional fencing so that pronghorn, mule deer, and Greater sage-grouse can safely pass unharmed. Alongside staff from WOC, WWA, and BLM, six Wyomingites volunteered their Saturday to make this landscape a better place.

Traditional fencing across Wyoming is composed of four barb-wire rows, with the top line at 50 inches and the bottom at 12 inches. Studies show that sage-grouse fly at 50 inches on average, and often collide with the top fence wire, which is a significant contributor to sage-grouse fatalities in the area. Mule deer also have a difficult time jumping over fencing at that height, and pronghorn struggle to duck underneath the bottom line.

Luckily, a few simple alterations can turn this cumbersome barrier into an easy passage. The bottom barb-wire line is replaced with a smooth wire and raised to 18 inches, allowing pronghorn to duck underneath without injury. The top wire is lowered to 40 inches, which dramatically reduces sage grouse fatalities and makes it easier for mule deer to jump over it. While these minor modifications have a huge benefit to local wildlife, it does not compromise any functionality in keeping cattle and livestock where they’re supposed to be.

This is a great example of simple solutions that have a huge impact, making our ecosystems healthier while still serving the needs of our livestock and grazing industries. Thanks to the good work of volunteers, this stretch of fence will no longer endanger our beloved wildlife.

The Wyoming Outdoor Council is always looking for volunteers to help improve our public lands and wildlife habitat. If you’re interested in helping out on a stewardship day or other project, please sign up to receive updates to learn about how you can help maintain Wyoming’s environment and quality of life for future generations.

Bringing oil and gas leasing policies into the 21st century

Posted on by Meghan Riley

THE YEAR 1988 FEELS LIKE A LIFETIME AGO. At the time, the Berlin Wall was still standing, over a million acres in the Greater Yellowstone burned to the ground, and the legal drinking age in Wyoming was 19. It was also the last time the Bureau of Land Management updated the rules that govern its oil and gas leasing program. That’s 35 years without major revisions — which has resulted in an outdated program that threatens the agency’s ability to manage public lands in a way that protects all the uses, including conservation and wildlife values. Thankfully, in July 2023, the BLM took the first steps to change that, publishing a new draft rule to bring its oil and gas leasing program into the 21st century. The rule includes timely improvements that will benefit our public lands and the people of Wyoming in several ways.

The first change is an issue that is close to my heart as the Outdoor Council’s wildlife and public lands advocate. The draft rule takes strides to steer leasing away from lands with little to no potential for oil and gas so that places with important habitat and recreational values can be better managed for those resources. Here in Wyoming, we are blessed with some of the greatest wildlife habitat, blue ribbon fisheries, and untrammeled open spaces in the lower 48. Many of us who live here rely on this surrounding bounty and wouldn’t have it any other way. Unfortunately, when parcels of public lands are proposed for leasing without taking their actual energy potential into account, it allows land speculators to tie up these lands for years, making it difficult for the BLM to manage for other uses, including habitat conservation and recreation. 

For example, areas surrounding Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge and much of the Red Desert are beset with leases on lands with little to no potential for oil and gas development. Both places have phenomenal value for wildlife and recreationists alike, supporting large herds of ungulates, dense populations of Greater sage-grouse, and opportunities for solitude undreamed of in most of the country. By using new criteria that favor leasing land close to existing development and deprioritizing land with important natural and cultural resources, the new rule better equips the BLM to protect the qualities that make Seedskadee, the Red Desert, and other public lands exceptional.

By using new criteria that favor leasing land close to existing development and deprioritizing land with important natural and cultural resources, the new rule better equips the BLM to protect the qualities that make Seedskadee, the Red Desert, and other public lands exceptional.

In parts of Wyoming where oil and gas leasing and drilling does occur, the new rule would better protect taxpayers and ensure companies pay to clean up after themselves when operations cease. Importantly, the new rule raises federal bonding rates for the first time in decades. At current rates, it’s cheaper for companies to walk away and forfeit the money they put down on a bond rather than plug and reclaim wells. Updated bond rates in the new rule would help quash the orphaned well crisis, protecting the public and promoting landscape health. Moreover, the new rates set forth match those Wyoming has had in place for years to drill on state-owned lands, demonstrating that oil and gas companies can afford to pony up adequate funds for clean-up as part of the cost of doing business.

The new rule would also help Wyoming taxpayers receive a fair return on development taking place on our public lands by modernizing royalty rates, rental rates, and filing fees to reflect the economic realities of today. A 2019 analysis conducted by Taxpayers for Common Sense found that taxpayers lost an estimated $120 million in rental revenue between FY2010 and FY2019 from oil and gas leasing on federal lands in Wyoming, due to previously outdated rental rates. If companies are going to reap the rewards of drilling for oil and gas on public lands, they should be compensating the public properly. The new rule, with provisions to increase royalty rates from 12.5% to 16.67%, will ensure just that.

We all know that oil and gas development plays an important role in Wyoming’s economy and is one of the many uses the BLM manages for on our public lands. Given that, it is gratifying to see the agency moving forward with common-sense reforms that better serve the public and the lands it manages. We have a lot to protect in Wyoming — this draft rule helps us take another step in the right direction.

When it comes to the BLM’s oil and gas program, it’s high time we leave the 1980s behind.

Show your support for the new rule by submitting a public comment to the agency ahead of the September 22 deadline.

“Last of the Wild” premieres April 22 in Riverton

Posted on by Kyle Elmquist

Even if you’ve never visited, Wyoming’s Red Desert has a story to tell.

Now, Last of the Wild brings the Red Desert to the big screen.

The public is invited to the premiere of this short documentary 5 p.m. Saturday, April 22, at the Central Wyoming College Robert A. Peck Arts Center. The event is free and includes a brief panel discussion and a reception with food, drinks, and music.

Last of the Wild examines the Indigenous cultural and historic significance of the Red Desert, highlights the need for us to be responsible stewards of these lands and the wildlife they support, and makes it clear that this iconic landscape is a national treasure.

Through the unique perspectives of tribal members, wildlife experts, outdoor enthusiasts, and others who are deeply connected to the desert, this film is a visually stunning journey that weaves together the connection between people and the land. While exploring these relationships — and showcasing the vast beauty of the Red Desert — Last of the Wild offers a path to safeguard these lands for future generations.

LAST OF THE WILD premiere

5 p.m. Saturday, April 22
Central Wyoming College Robert A. Peck Arts Center
2660 Peck Ave., Riverton, WY 82501

Reception to follow
Free and open to the public!

RSVP

Last of the Wild is directed by Lander filmmaker Kirk Rasmussen and produced by the Wyoming Outdoor Council, Indigenous Land Alliance of Wyoming, and Topographic Media.

The April 22 premiere is made possible by a grant from Wyoming Humanities. Yufna Soldier Wolf will moderate a panel discussion with Jason Baldes, Mary Headley, and Wes Martel.

For the complete schedule of film screenings happening around Wyoming, visit www.wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org/last-of-the-wild.

It’s time to enact the oil and gas leasing reforms called for by Congress

Posted on by Meghan Riley

On Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, the Wyoming Outdoor Council joined a number of organizations in calling on the Secretary of the Interior to enact long-overdue oil and gas leasing reforms that were put forward by Congress as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Finalizing these reforms will protect taxpayers from footing the bill for cleaning up drilling sites, protect wildlife habitat and areas with cultural and historic value, and stop “over-the-counter” noncompetitive lease sales at bargain basement rates.

Pay your way

Bond amounts required to cover clean-up costs for drilling on federal land have not been updated in more than 60 years. The Office of Government Accountability reported in 2019 that 84% of bonds, representing 99.5% of wells on Bureau of Land Management lands, would be insufficient to cover the cost of reclamation even in low-cost scenarios. Oil and gas companies can afford to pay the full costs of properly plugging and reclaiming wells sites and owe it to taxpayers to do so.

No ad hoc nominations

At present, the BLM’s “informal” nomination process allows any company to put forward any parcel of public land for leasing, regardless of the land’s potential to produce oil and gas or how valuable the land is for cultural resources and wildlife. Shifting to a “formal” nomination process could require strategic identification of which lands to make available for nomination ahead of time, upholding the agency’s charge to manage for multiple uses and protecting parcels with high cultural and conservation values.

Identify conflicts ASAP

Under a “formal” nomination process, there could be screens to identify conflicts with other uses, resources, and potential returns to taxpayers. Setting up routine screening with nationwide and state-specific criteria at the outset of the lease sale process would help the BLM identify which lands to lease.

No freebies

The Inflation Reduction Act did away with noncompetitive leasing, which for decades had allowed companies to pay rock bottom prices to lease public lands that did not receive bids at auction. Despite this, the recent Draft Environmental Assessment for the BLM Wyoming Second Quarter 2023 Federal Oil and Gas Lease Sale included a provision stating noncompetitive leasing would be allowed. Formal revisions to BLM regulations would put a clear end to noncompetitive leasing and create consistency among BLM offices and projects.