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Risks must be addressed before “advanced” nuclear reactors come to Wyoming

Posted on by John Rader

Risks must be addressed before “advanced” nuclear reactors come to Wyoming

Wyoming’s energy sector is a critical element of our state’s economy, providing revenue for public services and good-paying jobs that support our communities. Most of the energy we produce is exported and, as such, our energy economy is heavily influenced by the global market, which is rapidly turning towards decarbonization. Nuclear energy is a carbon-neutral power source, one that the federal Department of Energy considers critical for combating climate change. But boondoggles in other states and countries demonstrate that the new, untested technologies supported by the federal government pose economic, environmental, and safety risks that must be thoroughly considered before “advanced” nuclear reactors are constructed in Wyoming. 

Elected officials in Wyoming have voiced support for an experimental nuclear power plant known as the Natrium project, proposed by Rocky Mountain Power and TerraPower, a nuclear design and development firm founded by Bill Gates. 

Gates, Gov. Mark Gordon, and U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm unveiled the proposal to much fanfare this June, touting the potential for diversifying the state’s energy economy and job market while adding zero-emissions power generation to the grid. The reactor is planned to be built on the site of one of several coal-fired power plants that Rocky Mountain Power’s parent company PacifiCorp plans to close in the coming years — in the communities of Kemmerer, Rock Springs, Glenrock, and Gillette. It comes with a $1 billion minimum price tag (capped at a potential $4 billion), half of which will be funded by the federal government, and is a sodium-cooled fast reactor that uses molten metal rather than water as coolant. The developers want to have the plant in service by 2028. 

Some elements of the proposed project are sound. Building the demonstration reactor on the site of an existing coal-fired power plant reduces the need to disturb undeveloped land. Equally important, taking advantage of existing electrical transmission lines will minimize impacts on the surrounding land, simplify the permitting process, and avoid potential conflicts with private landowners. And endeavoring to train and employ local workers could provide a new source of economic stability in coal communities. 

But there are reasons to question the hype around this project. 

Economics

Natrium is not a silver bullet to solve Wyoming’s economic woes. While nuclear plants could fill some gaps in the workforce left by closing coal-fired power plants, they would not replace the mineral royalties that provide the bulk of funding for state services, local governments, and schools. Revenue for the state would come from taxes on the electricity that is generated, and TerraPower and Rocky Mountain Power have already approached the Wyoming Legislature seeking tax cuts. 

Nuclear power is expensive and getting pricier, while other existing, properly-vetted energy technologies are already cheaper than coal and continue to become more affordable. Between 2009 and 2020, the cost of solar power generation went down by 90 percent and the cost of wind energy declined 70 percent. Natural gas also became more affordable. Meanwhile, the cost of electricity from coal stayed largely stable and the cost of nuclear power increased by 33 percent. 

Around the country, other advanced reactor projects have invariably been over budget, years behind schedule, and underperforming — if they work at all.

  • Duke Energy abandoned a recent nuclear energy project with an estimated cost of $5 billion when costs ended up exceeding $22 billion, but not before the Florida Public Service Commission approved passing on $800 million in excess costs to ratepayers for a project that never produced a kilowatt of energy.
  • South Carolina’s Public Service Commission approved a massive nuclear energy project at a cost of $9 billion. The project was ultimately abandoned, never producing energy and leaving ratepayers to pick up the tab.
  • The Vogtle plant in Georgia — currently under construction and six years behind schedule — had an estimated cost of $14 billion but costs have now soared to at least $26 billion. In mid-October that state’s Public Service Commission struck an agreement allowing Vogtle to pass on $2.1 billion in construction costs to ratepayers. 

The seven-year timeline for completing the Natrium project is ambitious in itself. Combined with the many additional hurdles the developers face — scaling up an unproven technology, conducting an environmental review of the yet-unknown location, the potential need for state lawmakers (who have their own concerns) to pass legislation to facilitate the project — delays seem all but inevitable. As we’ve seen, that means higher costs. 

Safety

Sodium-cooled fast reactors are theoretically less prone to meltdown than conventional nuclear reactors because they use liquid metal as coolant, rather than water. Sodium’s boiling point is higher than the reactor temperature, meaning the coolant can never boil or vaporize and the system does not need to be pressurized. But there’s a catch: Liquid sodium catches fire if exposed to air or water. Sodium-cooled reactors in other countries have experienced leaks that have led to fires and shutdowns, including the Monju project in Japan and the Superphénix in France.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is looking to streamline public processes for advanced nuclear projects, including safety and environmental reviews. The agency is considering a “generic” environmental impact statement for all advanced nuclear reactors across the country, rather than reviewing specific sites in detail. We shouldn’t be cutting corners on health and safety to rush through an untested technology, and Wyoming’s harsh climate and seismic activity underscore the need for site-specific reviews. It’s also important to note that the NRC is considering placing advanced reactors in rural areas as an added “safety” measure so fewer people would be harmed in the event of a catastrophe. 

Nuclear power plants must store all their waste on site, encased in concrete casks. Yucca Mountain in Nevada was identified by Congress in 1987 as the nation’s permanent underground nuclear waste repository, but it was never constructed and all progress has been halted for more than a decade. No state in the U.S. is willing to accept long-term or permanent storage of spent nuclear fuel — and the Wyoming Outdoor Council and our members have long opposed legislative proposals that would allow Wyoming to accept and “temporarily” store spent fuel rods. Our advocacy and a multitude of citizen voices resulted in the defeat of the legislature’s most recent storage proposal in 2019. 

Initially, TerraPower suggested that it would implement a “breed and burn” reactor that would effectively recycle its own waste by accepting depleted uranium. The company has since changed plans to a more conventional “once through” approach that would create more waste. And, even if a “breed and burn” reactor was used, it would take hundreds of years to recycle a significant portion of the fuel. 

Questions remain

Generally, the Wyoming Outdoor Council supports diversifying our energy sector and addressing decarbonization, both to combat climate change and shore up our state economy that for too long has been dependent on volatile fossil fuel markets. But we are skeptical of unproven, fast-tracked technologies that rely on taxpayer funding to be economically viable. And we are unwilling to gamble with this level of risk to the environment, public health and safety, and Wyoming’s ratepayers. 

Nuclear power will continue to play a role as U.S. utilities move toward zero-emissions energy, and there is the potential for new, advanced nuclear plants to complement renewables like wind and solar that are rapidly being added to the grid. The Natrium project itself has the potential to help at least one Wyoming community stay strong in the face of a coal plant closure. But there can be no half measures if Natrium is to become a reality. The people of Wyoming must have thorough, site-specific safety and environmental reviews before this experimental project moves forward. Ratepayers need to be protected from runaway construction costs. And all of us, especially our elected officials, need to remember that building a single power plant is not the silver bullet that will diversify Wyoming’s economy and provide a good quality of life for future generations. 

Scenes from Run the Red and Wyoming Public Lands Day 2021

Posted on by Alan Rogers

SCENES FROM RUN THE RED AND WYOMING PUBLIC LANDS DAY 2021

On Wyoming Public Lands Day, we gathered in South Pass City with hundreds of you to cheer on the Run the Red trail race runners and celebrate all our public lands have to offer us. After the 2020 event and many other in-person gatherings were cancelled due to COVID-19, being together in the Northern Red Desert with our community of members, partners, and friends was that much more special. Thank you to all the runners, volunteers, musicians, dancers, and everyone who joined us in the desert!

You can read more about the day in this story from the Casper Star-Tribune.

LET’S CELEBRATE WYOMING PUBLIC LANDS DAY, WHILE REMEMBERING A TROUBLED HISTORY

Posted on by Alan Rogers

LET’S CELEBRATE WYOMING PUBLIC LANDS DAY, WHILE REMEMBERING A TROUBLED HISTORY

This Saturday, Sept. 25, is Wyoming Public Lands Day.

Beginning in 2016, the Keep it Public, Wyoming coalition pushed back against attempts in the Wyoming Legislature to facilitate the transfer of federal public lands to the state. Were such a scheme successful, Wyoming would have needed to sell off the bulk of these lands to afford to manage the rest. In response to these efforts, the coalition decided to push for legislation that would instead celebrate public lands in Wyoming and their many values. In 2019, a bill sponsored by Rep. Andy Schwartz passed the legislature to create Wyoming Public Lands Day.

As we approach this state holiday, we’re also acutely aware that public lands are ancestral lands. Indigenous people called these lands home for millennia, until the U.S. government forcibly removed them. The Northern Red Desert — where the Wyoming Outdoor Council will be co-hosting the Run the Red trail races on Saturday — was used by Tribes including the Ute, Goshute, Paiute, Bannock, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Lakota, and Crow, and in particular was home to the Eastern Shoshone and Bannock people for at least 13,000 years. The first Fort Bridger Treaty recognized 44 million acres as those of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, but within five years, due to the discovery of gold and other minerals and the settling of immigrants, the U.S. government reduced the boundaries to roughly 2 million acres — what is now the Wind River Reservation. In 1878 the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone people were forced to live on the reservation together after the U.S. government broke its promise to the Northern Arapaho Tribe that it would have its own reservation. Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho people — as well as citizens from numerous other tribes including the Shoshone Bannock, Ute, Mountain Ute, Southern Ute, and Paiute — retain strong ties to the Red Desert.

Today, our public lands offer an array of experiences: from ceremonial to recreational. Even if you don’t have the opportunity to get out and enjoy our public lands on Saturday, we hope you’ll take a moment to appreciate how fortunate we are to have these lands at our doorstep — and the shared responsibility to care for them now and for future generations.

Most of the Wyoming Outdoor Council staff will be spending the day at the Wyoming Public Lands Day celebration in South Pass City. If you’re in the neighborhood, we hope you’ll stop through to enjoy some great food, live music, the Wind River Dancers and Big Wind Singers, and fellowship with folks who love public lands — and this special corner of Wyoming in particular.

SEE THE EVENTS SCHEDULE

Run the Red to Celebrate Wyoming Public Lands Day with Community Events in South Pass City

Posted on by John Burrows

Hundreds of runners from across the nation and their families, members of the public, speakers, and Tribal members will kick off the Wyoming Public Lands celebration on September 25 in South Pass City. This holiday recognizes the millions of acres of public lands in Wyoming that belong to everyone. The celebration coincides with Run the Red, where runners race across the desert, competing in half marathon, 50K, and 100K distances.

Gov. Mark Gordon in March 2019 signed legislation that recognized the fourth Saturday of each September as a day to celebrate the public lands that are central to Wyoming’s quality of life, economy and heritage. Wyoming was the third state in the country to declare a state public land’s day.  The public is encouraged to attend or simply get outside to enjoy a national forest, national monument, wildlife refuge, or any public land. 

Run the Red began in 2014 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the 30th anniversary of the Wyoming Wilderness Act. In 2019 the race was also coordinated to celebrate the inaugural Wyoming Public Lands Day. The event has grown over the years, starting with just 30 runners and growing to over 200 with multiple courses. Last fall, a short film from Patagonia further elevated the race to a national profile. Run the Red begins in the former gold mining community of South Pass City and takes runners through the Northern Red Desert — a maze of buttes, canyons, badlands, wilderness study areas, and miles of open country. Parts of the course even traverse the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails where some 500,000 emigrants traveled in search of new beginnings in the 1800s. 

In addition to the races, a series of tours, speakers, music, and food is planned for the day. Beginning at 6:30 a.m., a pancake breakfast will be served for volunteers and members of the public and numerous nonprofit organizations will be tabling including the Equality State Policy Center, Citizens for the Red Desert, Red Desert Audubon, and others. The bulk of the family and community events begin around 9:30 a.m., which include tours of the Carissa Mine and the Flood & Hindle Trails, a nature hike lead by ethnobotanist John Mionczynski, and an Oregon Trail presentation by Randy Weiss. Kids will also be able to enjoy gold panning, and a kids fun run will be held around 10:30 a.m. Two local food trucks — Hungry Buddha from Rock Springs and Monahooboo Hut from Wind River — will provide food options for the public and beer will be served by Square State Brewing from Rock Springs.

Big Wind Singers, a traditional drum group, and dancing by the Wind River Dancers will kick off the main celebration at noon. Following the cultural celebration, members of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes will speak about the cultural significance of the Red Desert and the meaning of their dance and song. Elected officials and state leaders have been invited to speak about the importance of public lands to all people. Music by Ten Cent Stranger begins at 2 p.m. and an old time piano and accordion performance by John Mionczynski will wrap up the celebration in the evening. The festivities are open to all. To see the full schedule of events, go to www.runthereddesert.com

The public lands lease system is broken. Let’s fix it.

Posted on by John Rader

THE PUBLIC LANDS LEASE SYSTEM IS BROKEN. LET’S FIX IT.

The federal oil and gas leasing program is deeply flawed. Outdated laws and policies have led to a wave of speculative leasing on public lands, threatening wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation, and sacred cultural sites important to Indigenous peoples. Millions of acres across the West and in Wyoming are tied up in leases, but over half are sitting idle, without producing a drop of oil and gas. Thousands of leases have sold for rock bottom prices, short changing taxpayers. Sovereign Native American tribes have been routinely ignored, and opportunities for the public to weigh in on leasing have been inconsistent. 

Our May 2020 lease report detailed many of these concerns. Now, with the program under federal review, we consider several solutions in our 2021 report: Public Lands Lease Reform.

It’s time to update our antiquated leasing program, for the benefit of Wyoming and the American public. Check out this new report to find out how modernizing our century old oil and gas leasing program can generate more revenue for taxpayers, protect other important public resources, and ensure transparency and accountability in the leasing process.

See the full report below, or click to open it in a new window

Field Notes: February updates from the Wyoming Outdoor Council

Posted on by Alan Rogers
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NITRATE RULE SETBACK

In a disappointing move, the Teton District Board of Health declined to adopt a proposed rule that would alert residents when increasing levels of harmful nitrates are detected in drinking water. The rule, drafted by the Wyoming Outdoor Council and Protect Our Water Jackson Hole, would have required the county health department to notify the public when elevated levels of nitrates are detected in any of the county’s 114 public water systems and investigate the source of the pollution.

While this is an unfortunate delay, the residents of Teton County have made it clear that clean, safe drinking water should be a priority in their community. Together with our partners, the Outdoor Council will continue working with county officials to enact this important safeguard. 

OIL AND GAS LEASING

In late January, the Biden administration announced an executive order pausing new oil and gas leasing on public lands so the Department of the Interior can conduct a “rigorous review of all existing leasing and permitting practices related to fossil fuel development on public lands and waters.” 

The oil and gas industry is an important part of Wyoming’s economy and, when done properly, development has a place on our public lands. However, the federal leasing program is decades out of date. We’ll continue to push for common-sense leasing reforms that will place the many other uses and values of our public lands (like wildlife habitat, historic cultural sites, and outdoor recreation) on equal footing with development, while also ensuring a fair return for taxpayers. Importantly, we want to see an end to noncompetitive “over-the-counter” leases as well as leasing of lands with low potential for producing oil and gas.

 

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A dream for the Red Desert

Posted on by Alan Rogers

It’s the heart of winter in Wyoming and, for many of us, it’s a favorite time of year. The days are short and the nights are cold, but the snow brings a quiet, peaceful stillness and lends a special beauty to everyday life. For some, that means skiing, snowmobiling or ice fishing. For others, hunkering down with a hot drink and good book or movie is the best way to enjoy the season. 

The midwinter weeks are also a time to take stock of the past year and plan for the one ahead. These days, a lot of us at the Wyoming Outdoor Council have been daydreaming about the Red Desert. 

The Red Desert is commonly described as the largest unfenced area in the Lower 48. While its size and remote nature are impressive in themselves, this doesn’t paint the full picture. The desert is truly unique, with sweeping views, thriving wildlife, and mind-bending geological features. The ruts of the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails crisscross land that has been used by Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. The few nondescript county roads meander to the horizon.

Even in Wyoming, it can be hard to believe a place this rugged still exists. But there is life here. Wildlife abounds, including elk, mule deer, and Greater sage-grouse. Ranchers run cattle, and many hunters, hikers, mountain bikers, and off-road enthusiasts consider the desert their best-kept secret. From the sand dunes, buttes, and badlands to the aspen oases and expanses of sagebrush, the Red Desert is as diverse as the people who care for it. 

For generations the Red Desert has sustained a way of life that is undeniably Western and provided opportunities for work, play, and quiet contemplation to anyone who seeks it. There is a balance that works, and we as Wyomingites have the power to uphold it. That’s why the Outdoor Council has spent years working to keep the desert the way it is — a working landscape rich with wildlife, history, and open space. 

In 2020, we joined together with like-minded people from all walks of life in Citizens for the Red Desert, a coalition of Wyoming citizens and organizations who love the desert. We also hired a new staff member, Shaleas Harrison, to coordinate the effort. The people in this group all have different reasons for taking part, but they recognize that there is a common ground when seeking to preserve all the diverse values and uses of the desert. 

While Citizens for the Red Desert is relatively new, the passion for the Red Desert is anything but. Wyoming residents first proposed that a portion of the desert be permanently protected as a winter game preserve in 1898, and in the century that followed, a host of other conservation efforts were considered. 

These public lands have seen relatively little new development in recent years. A patchwork of agency-level protections helps sustain the Red Desert elk herd, the White Mountain Petroglyphs, the sand dunes, and other values. But it is a tenuous balance that could easily unravel. Increasingly, dramatic shifts in federal land management priorities add an additional layer of uncertainty about the future. 

As Wyomingites, the Red Desert helps tell our story. Now, we want to tell the story of the desert. 

In the coming year the Outdoor Council will be working with citizen and tribal partners to chart the course to permanent protection of this special place — based on the existing framework that respects the full range of opportunities this land provides. For more than 130 years, Wyomingites have shown their support. An enduring, Wyoming-grown solution can make that dream a reality and keep the special values of the Red Desert intact for generations to come. 

Playing the long game for conservation policies that endure

Posted on by Lisa McGee

A change in federal administrations — and the policies that follow — is cause for either excitement or anxiety depending on how you voted. And for good reason: Elections have consequences. National policies affect our health, our economy, and our environment. And in Wyoming, where nearly half of the land is managed by the federal government, national policies have a disproportionate impact. 

Members of the Wyoming Outdoor Council fall all along the political spectrum. We agree to disagree on many issues, but find common ground when it comes to conservation. Conservation is not — and should not be — a partisan issue. 

From the standpoint of conservation and environmental justice, the legacy of the outgoing administration is dire. From climate change denial and the loosening of air and water quality safeguards to oil and gas leasing in areas important to Indigenous people and in crucial wildlife habitats, there have been more than 100 documented rollbacks to existing protections or short-sighted policies that threaten public health and our air, water, wildlife, and lands. 

Many of the administrative wins we celebrated over the last decade were among those rolled back. The fate of others — like the Bureau of Land Management’s methane waste prevention rule — remains uncertain as challenges are still working their way through the courts. And while there are some rules that the incoming administration will be able to restore and it will certainly abandon some public land policies like “energy dominance,” we’ve lost important ground. 

To be sure, the Outdoor Council looks forward to an incoming administration that is less hostile to our mission. At the same time, we are wary of ambitious campaign goals that don’t take Wyoming values into account. For example, in the urgency to transition away from fossil fuels, proposals for industrial-scale wind and solar development on public lands in Wyoming shouldn’t be rushed. Development should be encouraged in already disturbed areas so that, in our effort to mitigate climate impacts, we don’t harm intact habitat and our most cherished open spaces and public lands. 

And we’ll be careful not to rely too heavily on federal policy for solutions to the specific challenges we face in Wyoming. We don’t relish what has come to feel like a game of administrative ping-pong. 

Instead, what we strive for — regardless of who occupies the White House — are common-sense conservation initiatives and environmental policies that endure. Although incremental progress isn’t as newsworthy as sweeping change, we’re playing a long game. We’d much rather build on measured steps forward than have fleeting successes that can’t withstand the next election. 

What we strive for — regardless of who occupies the White House — are common-sense conservation initiatives and environmental policies that endure.

Assuming they work as promised, we support state-level initiatives. Past examples include  rules for detecting and fixing methane leaks in new and modified oil and gas fields and requiring baseline water testing before oil and gas drilling. We’ve also supported executive orders for sage-grouse conservation and big game migration corridors, although we continue to scrutinize their implementation.

And when we advocate for big policy solutions with the power to deliver conservation wins, we also champion strong public processes. We’re dedicated to empowering citizens in local communities to help craft lasting solutions. In the coming year we’ll build on the groundwork we laid in 2020 to seek consensus recommendations for large-scale renewable energy siting, support community-led climate change resolutions like the one recently adopted in Lander, and work with Tribal partners and other citizens toward permanent protection for parts of the incredible Northern Red Desert. 

Our approach to conservation keeps us grounded in Wyoming. This doesn’t mean that we are always successful. There are frequent setbacks, but it’s this approach that accounts for the conservation gains we’ve celebrated over the last 54 years. With your support, I’m confident we’ll continue this progress — not just in the coming year or coming four years, but for the long haul. 

Story behind the photo: “Thorofare” by Karinthia Harrison

Posted on by Claire Cella

You may not know it, but the image featured for the month of July in our 2020 calendar is a well-known view in these parts. The mule and two horses graze in the foreground of the most iconic views in Wyoming — Deer Creek Pass in the Thorofare, one of the truly last wild places in the lower 48. A few miles away from this point, at the southeastern edge of Yellowstone National Park, is the furthest you can get from any road, 20 miles. 

And this is the place that Karinthia Harrison feels most at peace, a place where “you can look out and just see endless country,” she said.

“And then,” she laughed, “I have to get to the other side.”

And she has, many, many times in some of the other wild, remote corners Wyoming has to offer — Buttercup Basin, Nipple Mesa, the top of Dead Indian Peak. Growing up on a ranch with her parents in Powell, Wyoming, Karinthia’s childhood was full of adventure — thanks to a father, Rick, who appreciated taking his children out into the mountains.

“Even just growing up on a farm,” Karinthia said, “you’re already connected to the land, the sunrises and sunsets. You work with your hands and you get used to manual labor. And then my dad always took us to do these rather extreme activities — we’d climb mountains, play in the rivers, we were always out hiking.”

And it stuck. Now, working as a nurse in the ER and ICU at West Park Hospital in Cody, Karinthia tries to do at least a long day trip into the wilderness every weekend, if not an overnighter.

These trips are often, if not always, aided by and shared with the quick-witted, strong company of mules and horses. After a lifetime of riding, she has a strong connection to them, even if “you sometimes need to cuss at them,” she admitted.

“But then you just have to laugh at them,” she followed. “They are my companions out there. They take care of me on the ride, and then when we get to camp, you take care of them. That was something I was taught by my dad: ‘You don’t get to eat or drink a beer until they’re taken care of.’”

She also loves the personality they bring to the trail, watching them figure out their way, whether that’s the route they take or the order they’ll stand in. And what they make possible. “I love that I can go out for six or seven days, and I can eat steak and salmon, and drink wine and beer. I am in the mountains, yes, but sometimes it’s nice to have a little luxury out there.”

On the particular trip when Karinthia snapped the photo on her exit from the Thorofare, she, her then-fiancee, now-husband Phil and four friends packed up a collection of 13 horses and mules and started on the trail at Ishawooa Creek, which lies up the South Fork near Cody and in the Shoshone National Forest. They traveled over 60 miles in six days, swam in rivers, spent a layover day in Silvertip, crossed mountain passes and descended dramatic creek basins, spotted cranes and wolves and a host of other wildlife, and came back out through the Washakie Wilderness on Deer Creek Trail.

Along with mules and horses, Karinthia also loves to share the mountain experience with friends and was grateful for the opportunity to bring the group back into this awe-inspiring landscape. “I want them to experience what I love experiencing, to get that appreciation,” she says. “But, I always let them know how hard it’s going to be, that we’re going to get very sore in the saddle, we’re going to have to walk, that we’ll take our only baths in rivers, that we’ll need to wake up and prep our animals every morning.”

“But, it’s so rewarding. It’s like what my dad used to tell me on the top of a mountain, he’d say, ‘You know what Tink [his nickname for her], just think, you’ve been to places, to mountaintops, that other people have never experienced.’”

She loves that wildness about Wyoming, and always has. That’s why she moved back to Cody after living and working for a couple of years in Alaska — which, while beautiful and rugged, was too inaccessible for her, requiring a plane or a boat to get to some locations.

“And I think Wyoming is the most beautiful state,” she said. “Really. You have such a diversity of ecosystems — the desert, the mountains, the wilderness.”

And she’s recently become more involved in helping to keep Wyoming this way.

“My dad, with his farming schedule, didn’t have time to be a part of committees or conversation groups, but now, I see these groups as being so important to Wyoming and keeping the state rooted in this way of life. And just because of how I was raised, and what we did, I can’t help but want to try to protect it, to keep it pure, natural, and full of wildlife.”

Karinthia said she contributes to the Wyoming Wilderness Association (where her sister Shaleas formerly worked as a community organizer), Wyoming Wildlife Federation, Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation, and Wyoming Outdoor Council. She was also part of the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative, representing Park County on behalf of the local citizens, was recently elected to be on the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission’s chronic wasting disease working group, and has applied to be a part of the Cody conservation district. It’s hard to fit it all in with her full-time nursing schedule, but she recognizes how important it is. 

“I might not have had a choice in it when I was younger and with my dad,” she laughed, “but now, it’s just become part of who I am and what I love.”

Join Karinthia and other photographers by submitting your own shot of Wyoming for the Outdoor Council’s 2021 Calendar Contest. You can enter your photos via Instagram or email. To submit your photo(s) via Instagram, you must have a public Instagram account so that we’re able to view your submission. Upload your photo(s) and add the hashtag #OurWyoming.

To submit your photo(s) via email, send your photo(s) to claire@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org.

For more information about the contest, visit our calendar contest page.

A federal land use plan may have drastic impacts on southwest Wyoming. Here’s how to prepare.

Posted on by John Rader

For almost 10 years, we’ve been waiting for the release of the Bureau of Land Management’s draft Rock Springs Resource Management Plan. The release is imminent, the field office announced earlier this summer, but we’ve come to expect delays.

So why is this plan so important? Because it will determine how 3.6 million acres of public lands in southwestern Wyoming are managed for decades to come. This includes the Northern Red Desert, Greater Little Mountain, South Pass and parts of the Oregon Trail, Adobe Town, Devil’s Playground, and the Golden Triangle, as well as the southern portion of the Red Desert to Hoback mule deer migration corridor. Based on recent land use decisions from across the West, we anticipate the Rock Springs plan will sacrifice the hunting and fishing, recreation, wildlife, and cultural values of these lands to facilitate more oil and gas leasing. 

The Wyoming Outdoor Council requested the BLM postpone the plan’s release until the COVID-19 pandemic no longer posed a roadblock to public participation. Other groups made similar requests, including the Sweetwater County Board of Commissioners, but the agency appears to be proceeding. 

So what can you do?

  • WATCH FOR UPDATES FROM US. We’ll let you know how and when to take action. If you don’t already receive our email alerts, now is a great time to sign up. We’ll also share information on our social media channels.
  • SUBMIT PUBLIC COMMENT WHEN THE TIME COMES. Wyoming citizens who know and love these areas — not just appointed federal officials — should have a say in how they’re managed. The 90-day public comment period is your opportunity. We’ll offer you suggestions on how to craft an informative, personal message.
  • SPREAD THE WORD. Effecting changes to the draft will require the full support of all the people who care for this vast and varied part of Wyoming. Not everyone who hunts, hikes, horse packs, or off-roads in these areas will know what is at stake. Forward our emails to friends and family, encourage others to submit a public comment, write a letter to the editor or to the governor, or talk to your county commissioner.