Lands

“The president stole your land.” That’s the stark message today over at patagonia.com.

We join Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and the vast majority of our fellow citizens to express our deep disapproval of President Trump’s recent decision to shrink the boundaries of two national monuments. His unprecedented move reduces Bears Ears National Monument by more than 1 million acres—or 85 percent, and it removes 900,000 acres from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument—effectively halving it.

These monuments are in Utah, but make no mistake: they belong to all of us. They are part of the proud legacy of public land ownership all Americans enjoy.  

Wyoming is home to our nation’s first national monument, Devils Tower. It’s also home to our first national forest and national park—the Shoshone and Yellowstone. At the Outdoor Council, we believe public lands are worth fighting for. They are essential to our quality of life today, and they’re a vital legacy to pass on to our kids and grandkids tomorrow.

At our 50th anniversary celebration in Lander this past September, we honored Yvon Chouinard with the Tom Bell Legacy Award. This award celebrated Yvon’s lifelong commitment to public lands, wildlife, and clean air and water. With that award, and now, we want to express our deep gratitude for Yvon’s and Patagonia’s unwavering support of grassroots conservation groups like ours—and the public lands we’re all working to protect.

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Last week, we sent a letter to Representative Liz Cheney opposing draft legislation that would transfer management authority for oil and gas permitting on federal lands to the states while allowing energy developers to circumvent our nation’s bedrock environmental policy law.

The so-called ONSHORE Act (Opportunities for the Nation and State to Harness Onshore Resources Act) is now before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. If adopted, it would remove essential checks—including public input—that help create a balance between development and conservation on public lands.

Behind the ONSHORE Act is the complaint by some lawmakers that the permitting process for oil and gas development on federal land takes more time than on state or private land. But there’s good reason for this: these are lands owned by all Americans (not energy companies or other private entities) and they are managed for more than one use. Overseeing and analyzing the potential environmental harms of energy development on public health and important shared resources is going, by necessity, to take time.

Even so, there are ways of making the federal leasing and permitting process more efficient without abandoning our collective responsibility to protect the environment, as the ONSHORE Act would do.

In Wyoming and in the United States, we value our public lands for family outings, hunting, fishing, and camping. We also treasure wildlife, clean air, and clean water. Far from being at odds with economic development, these are values that attract and retain workers and greatly enhance our quality of life. People want to live and work in Wyoming and other places with accessible public lands because they know they and their children will breathe clear air, drink clean water, and experience unparalleled opportunities for recreation and exploration.

As we shared with Representative Cheney, the Wyoming Outdoor Council unequivocally opposes the ONSHORE Act because giving management authority to the states would eliminate essential public involvement—including Wyoming voices—in the process of issuing drilling permits. It would also allow states to make these decisions without first considering the potential environmental harms of oil and gas development on public health, wildlife, and other important shared resources.

Please contact Representative Cheney and tell her you oppose the ONSHORE Act.

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I’ve been lucky to be able to spend several days this summer in the northern Red Desert, sharing this phenomenal place with representatives of state and federal agencies, local governments, and Sweetwater County residents. We admired the desert’s remarkable views together, had rich discussions, and saw plenty of big game—including desert elk, trophy mule deer, and pronghorn bucks. No matter how many times I visit, I can’t say it enough: the northern Red Desert is a spectacular place.

To help you get out into this landscape and experience its wonders, we’ve created this newly released travel guide, which is flying off the shelves. It explains how to get into the Wilderness Study Areas for Honeycomb Buttes, Oregon Buttes, and Whitehorse Creek. If you don’t have one, be in touch and we’ll mail one to you! It’ll fit right in your glovebox and features travel tips and detailed driving directions for each of these three spots, all of which are an easy drive from Lander, Rock Springs, or Pinedale.

This summer we picnicked beneath the aspens, kicked around in the dunes, and gazed across the Great Divide Basin with government and agency officials who are working closely with the Bureau of Land Management on its land-use plan revision for this area. Most of the northern Red Desert is off-limits to oil and gas development, and we want to keep it that way—because just some places are appropriate for development, other places, like the northern Red Desert, should simply never be developed because of their incredible wildlife, ecological, and recreational values. We also want to ensure other industrial activities, like big wind farms, don’t damage this landscape. Getting out of the office so we could shoot the breeze with these officials has facilitated constructive dialogue and everyone has learned from each other while enjoying the outdoors. The better we understand each other’s points of view, the more hope we have for a durable and balanced plan.

We hosted our final summer field tour on September 9, but keep an eye out next spring for more guided trips to the northern Red Desert badlands, buttes, and dunes. We hear every day from people who want to take another tour, who think fondly of those they’ve been on, and who have returned to the desert on their own to find elk, fossils, adventure, and solitude. There’s nothing like discussing the ecology, geology, and history of the desert while exploring it. If you can’t wait until the spring, check out our online, interactive map, which discusses all the remarkable areas of the desert and includes stunning images that will inspire you to explore.

As we finished our tour last Saturday, we saw a few bow-hunters—recreation and hunting in the desert is a major boost for local economies, as a recent report has revealed. For the first time, researchers have quantified the economic impact of “quiet” recreation on public lands around Rock Springs and Green River. This new report, which was commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts, found that “in 2015, more than 483,000 visitors used these landscapes for non-motorized recreational activities, contributing $22 million to the local economy.” It also concluded that this quiet recreation adds 285 jobs to the region, which is great news in a time when economic diversification will be key for Wyoming’s future. We were excited, too, to help connect local business owners, like State Senator Liisa Anselmi-Dalton and Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce CEO Dave Hanks, with media outlets covering this story.

Beyond our field tours, we continue to help citizens in the area understand how to be involved in the decisions federal land management agencies make—and we advocate the Wyoming Outdoor Council’s mission tirelessly. Along with this area’s land-use plan revision, we are tracking a number of other public land issues happening in Sweetwater County, such as the Fontenelle Dam Project, Bitter Creek Watershed Study, and the Ashley National Forest plan revision (which includes the Flaming Gorge). These are all important to the people here in southwest Wyoming, and to others who come from elsewhere to enjoy these landscapes. We will let you know when the time comes to speak up on these things as well. Until then, happy fall and keep enjoying your public lands!

It’s been a busy end of the summer for the Keep it Public, Wyoming coalition. Events in Laramie and Jackson together brought out some 600 people—a testament to how important public lands are to our quality of life and economy in Wyoming. These events and another upcoming one in Sheridan on September 30 are working.

We are not likely to see legislative attempts at the wholesale transfer of our public lands anytime soon. Thanks to engaged citizens like you, these lawmakers have gotten the message loud and clear. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other equally bad ideas. One, the Federal Lands Freedom Act H.R 3565, co-sponsored by our own Rep. Liz Cheney would turn over decisions about oil and gas leasing and permitting on BLM and national forest lands to the states. Bills like this one would be disastrous for recreation, wildlife, and balanced multiple uses of our public lands. The states could override the current multiple use mandate on our public lands in favor of drilling and other industrial uses. We will continue to track bad bills like this and offer ways for you to voice your opposition.

The Keep it Public, Wyoming coalition has drafted state-level legislation that we hope will find sponsors and pass this session. The bill states that “efforts to transfer large tracts of the federal public lands in this State into private or state control are contrary to the wishes of Wyoming people and the democratic values of freedom and access that define our Equality State.” It would also dedicate a new Wyoming state holiday: Public Lands Day to highlight the importance of public lands to the state, encourage volunteer stewardship activities and encourage schools to participate with a day off as a hunting and outdoor recreation day for our state’s school-age children.

Ever been curious about what was happening on the other side of the lens at the moment a particularly gorgeous shot was snapped? So have we, because we know that simply looking at a picture only tells part of its story. For this picture, the story begins in the northern Red Desert.

If you’ve ever taken part in our annual Run the Red trail race, you’ve left your own footprints behind in the sand of this vast, scenic landscape. If you’ve never been to this area of Wyoming, we assure you it’s an experience you’ll never forget—especially if you get to hear the Killpecker sand dunes sing.

The science behind their song is simple—the round, highly polished grains of sand are stimulated by movement, such as footfalls or wind, and their “voice” is created as a result—but the effect is nothing short of magical.

It was in the midst of this majestic landscape that Colorado-based conservation photographer Dave Showalter snapped the striking shot above.

(You may remember seeing it as a featured image in our 2014 “Celebrating the Red Desert” calendar.)

On the morning he captured this image, Dave had headed out into the Killpecker dune fields in search of seasonal “dunal ponds,” which are naturally formed in the spring when embedded ice crystals in the sand begin to melt.

Going into the shoot, Dave had hoped to get a few shots of high-desert wildlife quenching their thirst at one such pond; although he didn’t find quite what he was looking for, he found something just as captivating.

“Well into the dune field, I realized the ponds had dried for the season and I turned to see my tracks leading from the Boar’s Tusk. It’s a different take on an iconic and sacred Wyoming landmark in an ecologically sensitive place, with tracks lending a feeling of being there.

One learns to expect surprises and take what nature gives you in such a dynamic landscape. On a windless night, with just a few distant songbirds breaking the silence, I lingered until the light had long faded—one of the most gorgeous evenings I’ve ever spent in the outdoors.”

The Red Desert has always held a special place in the Wyoming Outdoor Council’s heart; in fact, we’ve been working to protect it since our inception in 1967. It’s the landscape where Wyoming native Tom Bell—decorated World War II veteran and this organization’s founder—experienced solace after the war when his plane was shot down; he lost an eye, and nearly lost his life as well.

It was in Wyoming’s wild landscapes that Tom found spiritual and psychological healing, and his life-changing experience in the Red Desert inspired him to create the Outdoor Council to protect the Desert and similar places for future generations.

Photographers like Dave help us to continue this work in Tom’s memory by ensuring that some of our state’s most stunning moments and places are captured forever and illustrated for the world to see—and it’s thanks to passionate members like you that these sacred Wyoming landscapes will be protected for future generations to enjoy.

In an unprecedented action, the Trump administration released more details today about its move to to undo National Monument designations throughout the West, including one monument dating back to 1924.

In a previous statement, President Donald Trump referred to National Monuments as “abuses” and vowed to “return control [of these lands] to the people.” The Wyoming Outdoor Council finds this statement both uninformed and misguided because these lands already do belong to all Americansand due to their monument designations, they are now properly protected.

This afternoon, the Department of the Interior announced it will hold its first-ever comment period for the public to provide input on monument designations throughout the West, including Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho, and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado, among many others.

The comment period is not yet open—it will open after May 12—you’ll hear from us again with details on how you can participate.

National Monuments are public lands and they are among our most precious national treasures. The National Monument designation is one of our nation’s core conservation tools, and it has helped make the United States’ public lands the envy of the world.

Our nation’s first National Monument was Devils Tower in Wyoming, designated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. The Antiquities Act of 1906 created the National Monument designation for public lands and gave the power to the President of the United States to designate these monuments.

While Wyoming’s monuments are not included, we believe this action cuts to the heart of what public lands mean to us, our members, and our country—and this action is part of a larger ideological assault on our nation’s public lands.

Our primary goal is to ensure that public lands remain in public hands.

We’ll be in touch with more information for how you can take action.

As you may know, Johnson County is home to two rugged, wild landscapes nestled in the southeastern flanks of the Bighorn Mountains: North Fork and Gardner Mountain. We’re sending this email to residents of Johnson and surrounding counties since you may hunt, fish, or recreate in these wild areas and be invested in keeping them that way.

Johnson County is one of 12 counties participating in the statewide Wyoming Public Lands Initiative (WPLI), which is a multi-year collaborative to recommend future management options for the BLM Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) in our state, like North Fork and Gardner Mountain.

The recommendations created through the WPLI could be included in a legislative package presented to Congress. Success in this process is contingent on win-win management recommendations developed through a fair and transparent public stakeholder process.

Johnson County has appointed a citizen advisory committee to study the North Fork and Gardner Mountain WSAs. This committee may be leaning towards a proposal to make decisions by a supermajority, instead of striving for consensus among all stakeholders. We believe a decision-making process that allows a majority or supermajority to advance recommendations over the objections of a minority will leave behind key stakeholders whose support is critical to the Initiative. To date, every other committee in the state that has finalized their process has adopted consensus-based decision-making.

Please help us advocate for a fair process for the Johnson County WSAs that includes consensus-based decision-making. The WPLI will only be successful if committees base their recommendations on common ground developed among all stakeholders. No one can be left behind for the future legislative package to be successful in Congress.

The next Johnson County WPLI citizen advisory committee meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday night in Kaycee.

Tuesday, April 18 at 6 p.m.
Powder River Fire Hall
538 Sussex Road (SR 192)
Kaycee, WY

Please consider attending to advocate for consensus during the public comment period. If you can’t attend, please reach out individually to the committee members.

You can read more about the WPLI process and find committee member contact information at the Johnson County WPLI website, and for further talking points about the importance of consensus-based decisions in public lands collaboration, check out this fact sheet.

Thank you for your participation in this important public process! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.