fbpx

public lands

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. 

Field Notes: November updates from the Wyoming Outdoor Council

Posted on by Alan Rogers
[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.6.0″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.0″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.0″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ width=”75%” text_line_height=”1.7em” sticky_enabled=”0″]

TETON COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATES

The Teton County Board of Commissioners and Jackson Town Council voted to approve a number of updates to the county’s comprehensive land use plan. This document, which will guide development over the coming years, was revised to include important water quality protections proposed by the Wyoming Outdoor Council and Protect Our Water Jackson Hole. Chief among them is a directive for the county to develop a wastewater management plan that will address rising levels of nitrates in the Snake River Aquifer, which serves as the county’s only source of drinking water. 

A patchwork of small wastewater plants, independent sewer districts, and private septic systems are serving Jackson Hole’s growing population, and some of these systems are unable to keep up with the demand or otherwise not functioning as intended. The wastewater management plan is expected to lead to improved regulation of treatment facilities and septic systems. 

In the comprehensive plan, the county recognizes the public’s right to clean, affordable drinking water and the importance of the Snake River Aquifer. The plan also commits the county to:

  • Gather baseline data and coordinate with other agencies to monitor water quality.
  • Investigate regulations and ordinances to protect public water systems.
  • Examine new tools to protect water quality, such as an aquifer protection overlay.
  • Encourage public water suppliers to establish or update source water assessments and protection plans.

AETHON INJECTION REQUEST

The Wyoming Oil and Gas Commission voted to allow a company to inject oil and gas wastewater from the Moneta Divide field into the Madison formation, an aquifer protected under the Safe Drinking Water Act. This is unfortunate: More than 100 written comments, as well as public testimony before the commission, were unanimously opposed to this decision.

The company argued the depth of the aquifer at the well site, and levels of benzene in groundwater samples taken from the well, make it an impractical fresh water source. But the benzene may in fact be contamination from drilling mud used to bore the well and the state Department of Environmental Quality previously determined the aquifer was a viable source of drinking water. There’s also evidence that wastewater injected at the site will eventually spread.

In the arid West, faced with the uncertainty of a changing climate, we aren’t willing to sacrifice a source of fresh water that may prove invaluable to future generations. The EPA has final say on whether to approve the Oil and Gas Commission’s action and we’ll continue to defend potential drinking water sources.

 

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Field Notes: October updates from the Wyoming Outdoor Council

Posted on by Alan Rogers
[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.6.0″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.0″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.0″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.0″ _module_preset=”default”]

MONETA DIVIDE

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality recently issued a final wastewater discharge permit for the Moneta Divide oil and gas field. In response to environmental concerns and strong public opposition, the permit rejects Aethon Energy’s request to increase (by almost 400 percent) the amount of contaminated water it discharges into tributaries of Boysen Reservoir, and includes stronger pollution controls. Engaged citizens like you were crucial to guiding this decision: thank you! 

This new permit is still not without flaws, however. It gives Aethon four years to come into compliance with the new standards despite ongoing violations of the previous, more lenient permit. The Outdoor Council will continue to advocate for an accelerated compliance schedule. 

Aethon is now seeking to inject some of its contaminated water into the Madison formation, a drinking water quality aquifer protected under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The Wyoming Oil and Gas Commission will hold a hearing November 10 to consider this proposal. We’re asking Outdoor Council members to contact the commission and ask them to protect our drinking water by denying Aethon’s request.


TETON COUNTY STATE LANDS

During the 2020 session, the Wyoming Legislature passed a bill soliciting proposals for parcels of state land in Teton County. The Outdoor Council has collaborated with several partner organizations to submit recommendations on these parcels to the Office of State Lands and Investments. 

Most of the parcels in question are adjacent to federal public lands — primarily Grand Teton National Park and Bridger-Teton National Forest. We support selling these parcels to the federal agency in question to keep them open to the public and free from development, while also generating revenue for the state. For parcels surrounded by private land we recommended a mix of solutions including conservation easement, transfer to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to manage as wildlife habitat, and private development adhering to the Teton County Comprehensive Plan. 

Because these land transfers could take years to implement, we also proposed uses of these lands that could produce revenue for the state in the short term. These include conservation leasing, leases for recreation or tourism, and maintaining existing cattle grazing.

 

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Public Lands Lease Report: Wild Speculation in Wild Places

Posted on by John Rader

While local governments, businesses, and individuals wrestle with the impacts of coronavirus, public lands leasing to the oil and gas industry continues unabated. But this irresponsible federal leasing in Wyoming started well before the pandemic. In recent years, the Bureau of Land Management has drastically ramped up the amount of acreage available for leasing. Hundreds of thousands of acres of public land in Wyoming — including some of our most cherished landscapes and wildlife habitat — have been auctioned for development, with many parcels going for bargain basement prices.

The BLM is required to manage public lands for “multiple use,” balancing a wide range of activities and uses on our public lands — from outdoor recreation to wildlife habitat, preservation of historic and cultural sites, livestock grazing, industrial uses, and more. But today, over a third of all federal public lands in Wyoming are already leased to oil and gas companies for development. At a national level, 90 percent of BLM lands are available for leasing and new federal resource management plans across the West are opening up even more lands to industry, putting recreation and wildlife at risk. 

At the Wyoming Outdoor Council, we wonder where the balance is — and why our exceptional wildlife, outdoor recreation, and historical and cultural resources are being ignored.

That’s why we’re publishing a two-part report on the management of public lands in Wyoming, which includes infographics, photos, and interactive maps so you can better understand what’s at stake. 

Part I, which we’re releasing today, focuses on speculative oil and gas leasing in Wyoming. Specifically, we touch on the scale of leasing in Wyoming, where leases are located, and what resources they are impacting.

Part II, which we’ll publish along with the release of the long-awaited BLM draft resource management plan for the Rock Springs field office, will focus on this plan.- The RMP will dictate the management of millions of acres of public land in Wyoming for decades to come. The region includes treasured places like the Red Desert and irreplaceable wildlife habitat like the Red Desert to Hoback mule deer migration corridor and the Golden Triangle.

READ THE REPORT HERE

Should Energy Companies be Exempt from Environmental Protections During the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Posted on by John Rader

The global outbreak of Covid-19 has upended our lives. Economic activity around the world has slowed at an alarming rate as many of us stop traveling, shutter our businesses, and stay in our homes. In Wyoming, families are feeling the strain, including our energy workforce. Oil prices continue to tumble as demand slows, companies slash spending, and Saudi Arabia and Russia flood the oversupplied markets with cheap crude, furthering a massive oil glut. Across the nation and in Wyoming, major oil and gas companies are already laying off workers.

In these lean times, it’s important to take stock of and be responsible with our resources, support our communities, and plan for a secure economic future. But while individuals and industries across the country are tightening their belts, energy companies are requesting exceptions from basic environmental protections that protect public health — shifting the burden to the public and future generations in a time of crisis. 

Last week, the National Mining Association, the lead lobbyist for the coal industry, requested a temporary reduction or elimination of royalty payments and fees to the Treasury Department. Shortly thereafter, oil and gas companies asked the Environmental Protection Agency for a pass on regulatory requirements, claiming companies can’t afford to pay the employees who are responsible for ensuring compliance. 

On March 26, the EPA issued a sweeping and unprecedented suspension of its enforcement of environmental protections telling companies they do not need to comply with environmental regulations during the outbreak — including protections for water, air, and land quality that prevent pollution and protect public health.. The EPA has not set an end date for this suspension. The new policy would allow companies to both ignore environmental protections and avoid routine monitoring and reporting obligations with no penalty or repercussions for noncompliance. 

At the same time, the Bureau of Land Management is continuing to lease public land to oil and gas companies at unreasonably low prices, and is threatening to open up new lands to development in Resource Management Plans across the West during the pandemic. These actions raise serious fiscal and resource concerns. Should leasing and permitting be allowed to move forward if the energy industry has conceded it will be unable to meet its most basic environmental and public health obligations? Should it get special accommodations while the public faces additional roadblocks to participation? Should the public shoulder additional cleanup and public health costs to prop up an industry beleaguered by global markets?

In response to the pandemic, governors across the country have requested a halt to leasing, RMP revisions, and other federal actions on public lands. This week, conservative and taxpayer groups asked the federal government to suspend public lands leasing, calling it “fiscally reckless” in the current financial market. The financial return to taxpayers from public lands leasing is already far below the market rate, and the current oil glut is depressing returns even further. In BLM’s last Wyoming lease sale, only 61 percent of the acres that were offered actually sold — and 42 percent went for the minimum bid of $2 an acre for a 10 year right to develop. The parcels that weren’t bid on are now available noncompetitively for just $1.50 an acre. Conservation groups have also asked for a halt to leasing, concerned that the public can’t safely convene at meetings or even access important documents. 

Some federal actions, like RMP revisions, can dictate land management for decades. It is critical that local stakeholders can provide input on these plans, understand them, and ask questions of government officials. Based on our concerns about public participation, the Wyoming Outdoor Council and Powder River Basin Resource Council sent a letter to Gov. Mark Gordon on March 26, requesting a pause on public comment periods for state permits and rule changes. The Outdoor Council, along with other conservation and sportsmen’s groups, has also requested a delay of the Rock Springs RMP draft release until public meetings can safely resume. 

In Wyoming, we look out for one another in times of hardship. Many people’s livelihoods are on the line, and people in all lines of work are struggling. But cutting environmental regulations that protect the public’s health and leasing public land at bottom of the barrel prices is not a smart response to this crisis. It’s fiscally irresponsible, shortsighted, and jeopardizes the quality of life and natural resources Wyoming will need for a stable future.

Now is the time to come together and rally around our shared values, work for the well-being of our state, and protect its resources for future generations. That means not loosening the protections Wyoming people depend on for clean air, clean water, and abundant wildlife. In times of crisis, environmental protections are more important than ever. Public participation in government decision making is critical. And fiscal responsibility is even more essential. We should not rush to give away the resources that secure our state’s future — our public lands, our clean air and water, and our outdoor way of life. 

Public lands leasing at bargain basement prices

Posted on by John Rader

For the past nine years, the BLM has been revising its long-term “resource management plan” for more than 3.5 million acres of public lands in southwest Wyoming — including the Red Desert. Once finalized, this plan will dictate which lands are available for oil and gas leasing — and which will be protected because of their wildlife, cultural, scientific, recreational, or other values. And for nine years, the Wyoming Outdoor Council has been advocating strong protections that will safeguard invaluable resources like our big game migration corridors, historic trails, archaeological and scientific resources, and Native American sacred sites. But if similar plans around the West released under this administration’s “energy dominance” policy are any indication, we can expect the upcoming Rock Springs plan both to remove current protections and open even more lands to development. 

Where’s the balance?

Wyomingites walk the talk when it comes to strong ties to the land and natural resources. We recreate outdoors at far above the national average — hunting, fishing, camping, climbing, skiing, you name it — and the vast majority of us support conserving the landscapes we love and the wildlife that rely on them. We recognize that responsible industrial development on our public lands can benefit our communities, but only if it is done right, in places that don’t sacrifice Wyoming’s natural beauty, open spaces, and abundant wildlife. We might choose to develop our resources carefully, but we all tend to agree: our outdoor heritage is not for sale.

Today, the federal government is not respecting the balance Wyomingites have long fought for. Most of the 30 million acres of public lands in Wyoming are managed for “multiple use,” a congressional mandate to balance a wide variety of resources and values — from hunting and fishing, outdoor recreation, and conserving wildlife habitat to livestock grazing, and industrial uses like mining and oil and gas development. In the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Congress instructs the BLM to manage public lands to

protect the quality of the scientific, scenic, historical, ecological, environmental, air and atmospheric, water resource, and archaeological values … preserve and protect certain public lands in their natural condition … provide food and habitat for fish and wildlife and domestic animals; and … provide for outdoor recreation and human occupancy and use.

This congressional act also directs the agency to prioritize designating and protecting “areas of critical environmental concern” — places with extraordinary historic, scenic, cultural, and wildlife values. In the Rock Springs Field Office, this designation protects some of our most treasured public resources including the Steamboat Mountain desert elk herd, Historic South Pass, the Killpecker Sand Dunes, and the Oregon and Mormon national historic trails.

Today, the federal government is not managing for multiple use or prioritizing our most treasured landscapes. That’s bad for Wyoming. Across the West, the BLM is leasing millions of acres of public lands for oil and gas development in places with low oil and gas potential potential, while risking other values, such as wildlife and recreation. 

Since 2018, the federal government has leased about 2 million acres of public land in Wyoming — an area the size of Yellowstone National Park — to oil and gas. Much of this leasing has occurred in sensitive wildlife habitat. In fact, in the past two years, the BLM has leased about 55,000 acres within Wyoming’s prized mule deer migration corridors, while roughly half of all leases since 2018 have been in core greater sage grouse habitat, undermining the collaborative West-wide effort that has so far prevented an Endangered Species Act listing for the bird.

The BLM’s forthcoming Rock Springs plan will reassess which lands are available for oil and gas development — including those currently designated as “areas of critical environmental concern” due to their outstanding wildlife, historic, or scenic values. Our hope is that these special places will retain these strong protections, but what we’re seeing in other plans across the West doesn’t bode well for Wyoming: the BLM has consistently removed  “areas of critical environmental concern” designations, ignored public demand for conservation and access, and opened up sensitive wildlife habitat to industrial development. 

In Montana’s Lewistown draft RMP, the BLM proposed removing almost 23,000 acres of ACECs. In a draft plan in Alaska last year, the BLM proposed removing almost 2 million acres of protections from the prior plan. We’ve seen the same story play out in Idaho, Colorado, and Oregon. And Wyoming is next in line. 

But here’s the thing. Despite its “multiple use” mandate, 90 percent of BLM lands nationwide are already available for development. These recent land-use plan revisions put even more public lands on the auction block every quarter, in the very places that need the most protection.

Selling our public lands for the price of a cup of coffee

It’s disheartening to see the BLM locking up our public lands for one industry’s use and jeopardizing our wildlife for dirt cheap. Under this administration, we’re seeing rampant speculative leasing in Wyoming, with oil and gas companies leasing many parcels for the minimum bid of $2 an acre. For the price of a cup of coffee, companies have purchased the right to develop within the longest recorded mule deer migration corridor and in the Golden Triangle, some of the world’s best sage grouse habitat. To add insult to injury, many of these parcels aren’t even bid on, and are sold after auction for as little as $1.50 an acre. And almost half of the leases in Wyoming are sitting idle — tying up our public lands without producing a drop of oil and gas. 

This is a serious policy failure. The “energy dominance” mandate coming from today’s White House, which prioritizes a single use of our public lands over all others, is a top-down policy that doesn’t respect local priorities or multiple use. It locks up lands for potential industrial development even when there is low oil and gas potential potential — and risks the very resources that make Wyoming special.

We’ll need your help to Protect the Red Desert

The BLM’s widely anticipated Rock Springs resource management plan, which will direct the management of more than 3.5 million acres in Southwest Wyoming, including the Northern Red Desert, could open up even more public lands to development when it’s released in early 2020. If past is prologue, this new plan will remove key protections that Wyomingites have worked for for generations, and make more land available for oil and gas leasing. That’s shortsighted, and it’s not good for Wyoming’s future.

Please stay tuned in the coming months to learn how you can weigh in and help us advocate for a plan that respects balance and protects our most important resources. 

Run the Red 2019 was the biggest on record, and it’s not over yet

Posted on by John Burrows

DECEMBER 2019 UPDATE: In early 2020, the Bureau of Land Management anticipates releasing the long-awaited draft land use plan for the Red Desert and surrounding areas. The plan will determine which resources are protected and which areas are open to industrial development. This means that important wildlife, cultural, scenic, and archeological resources — like Steamboat Mountain and its resident desert elk herd, the Red Desert to Hoback mule deer migration corridor, Native American petroglyphs and sacred sites, and historic trails like the Oregon and Mormon trails — could be at risk. Stay tuned for updates on the draft and for opportunities to tell BLM and Governor Gordon to stand up for balanced use and to protect the Red Desert. 

The Red Desert is a land of extremes and poetic contrasts. Depending on the time of year, you could find yourself panting for breath in oppressive heat, stuck axle deep in the mud, or shivering despite being bundled in every layer you own. These challenges — and the chance to test one’s mettle against them — are what make the rugged Red Desert the perfect place to host Run the Red, one of Wyoming’s emerging endurance races.

Run the Red is Wyoming’s only ultramarathon designed to raise awareness and advocacy for the Red Desert. This year’s race was held on the state’s first Wyoming Public Lands Day on September 28, with a newly designed course that started and finished at historic South Pass City. Two new distances were also added — a 45K and 90K — so that participants could experience the best of the Northern Red Desert:  imposing views of Continental Peak, the towering Oregon Buttes, and undulating high desert bisected by the Sweetwater River. Despite the challenging weather, which shifted from snow to rain to wind to sun, this year’s race was the most successful on record, bringing 155 runners from all over Wyoming and as far away as Texas and Oregon. 

“Wyoming people are tough,” said Shaleas Harrison of the Wyoming Wilderness Association. She organized this year’s race and the Wyoming Public Lands Day events that followed at South Pass City, along with partners from NOLS and the Wyoming Outdoor Council. The day was full of wet, smiling runners, laughs from hardy aid station volunteers, memories made around drum circles and banjos, and, most importantly, a deeper appreciation for a wild place many Wyomingites hold dear. 

Following the race, runners and locals from Lander and Rock Springs enjoyed a series of events  to celebrate the newly created Wyoming Public Lands Day. A range of speakers — including representatives from the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes, state legislators, Red Desert experts, and sponsored athletes shared their perspectives about the importance of landscapes like the Red Desert in maintaining Wyoming’s quality of life, wildlife, and rich outdoor heritage. 

Although the race has changed over the years, the goal of Run the Red — to build a connection to a wild landscape — has remained the same. Jonathan Williams, Environmental Stewardship Coordinator for NOLS, couldn’t have said it better:

“The great thing about Run the Red is that it gives people the opportunity to create a deep sense of place for themselves and then carry that forward as advocates for the desert.” 

– Jonathan Williams,
Environmental Stewardship Coordinator for NOLS

In coming months, the Bureau of Land Management, will release its revised land-use plan for much of the Red Desert. There’s a lot at stake. Our hope is that all the runners, volunteers, and participants — along with anyone who cares about this wild landscape — will weigh in and urge the BLM to protect what makes this place so unique. Stay tuned … the race isn’t over yet!

Southwest Wyoming: A working landscape worth protecting

Posted on by Dustin Bleizeffer

Southwest Wyoming and the northern Red Desert are known for iconic geologic features and breathtaking landscapes that look much the same today as they did millennia ago: Adobe Town, the Killpecker Sand Dunes, Boars Tusk, White Mountain. The Golden Triangle at the base of the Wind River Mountains is one of the most important Greater sage-grouse habitats on earth, and the ancient Red Desert-to-Hoback mule deer migration — the longest in the world — is anchored here.

Wyoming residents have worked together for decades to find ways to protect these special places while enjoying a landscape that, at 3.6 million acres, is big enough to also support motorized use, grazing, and energy development. But now the U.S. Interior’s Bureau of Land Management is poised to strip the hard-fought protections that allow for multiple use in favor just one: oil and gas development.

“This is a landscape that can accommodate many uses,” Wyoming Outdoor Council Conservation Advocate John Rader said. “We have vast open spaces where families can recreate, where we can celebrate our outdoor heritage. There are also places where development is permitted right now. So we’re striking a balance. We have a working landscape that really applies the multiple use approach. We don’t want to sell that out for a single use.”

Local voices lost

Every twenty years or so, the BLM revises its “resource management plans,” which guide how the agency prioritizes uses and protections for particular places. The current plan, in effect since 1997, protects unique places like Steamboat Mountain, the South Pass Historic Landscape, and National Historic Trails, while allowing development in other areas. A revision has been underway for nearly 10 years, and the last time the public was allowed to weigh in was 2011.

 Unfortunately, amid continuous delays and changing administrations, the voices and values of Wyoming residents have been lost in the revision effort. Now, under a directive straight from Washington, D.C., the BLM has indicated it will throw out most of the existing multiple-use protections — which were developed in cooperation with Wyomingites over decades — to prioritize energy development alone. That means hunting, recreation, conserving vital wildlife habitats, and preserving cultural and historic sites will all take a back seat to energy development.

If you hunt those herds, if you hike out in those badlands, if you fish those streams, it’s going to affect you personally.”

— JOHN RADER, WYOMING OUTDOOR COUNCIL

 “Here we are almost a decade later, and we’ve got an administration that wants to strip all the protections for the whole area,” Rader said. The people of Wyoming have agreed that there are some places, some values, that are more important. We recognize the importance of energy development here, absolutely. But there are other values at stake. There’s our way of life.”

Tell local officials: top-down doesn’t work for Wyoming

Despite the slow, muddled revision process, the Outdoor Council continues to work with conservation partners, counties, and others to urge the BLM to honor our shared values in Wyoming. Your voice is crucial, too.

Right now, as the BLM prepares a final draft of the far-reaching plan that will guide how 3.6 million acres of Wyoming’s most special places are managed for the next 20 years, local governments and elected officials in southwest Wyoming have a seat at the table.

And they need to hear from you.

 If you live in southwest Wyoming, please contact your city officials, your county commissioners, and your conservation districts. Tell them that Wyomingites care deeply about the special places in this corner of the state, and that our livelihoods and our way of life here will be undermined by a major overhaul in favor of a single use. Ask them to let southwest Wyoming continue to be a working landscape that balances a full spectrum of uses. And if you live anywhere in Wyoming, consider sending Gov. Mark Gordon the same message.

“We like it the way it is,” Rader said. “We like being able to go out into the Red Desert and explore and hunt, we like being able to hike in the Big Sandy Foothills. And we don’t want a top-down approach from D.C. to come in and take those things away from us.”

To find out how to contact your local officials who can urge the BLM to maintain your outdoor heritage in southwest Wyoming, visit our Public Lands page.

Member Profile: Kathy Jenkins

Posted on by Stefani Farris

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.74″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”]

One of the first things Kathy Jenkins did after retiring from her position as a staff attorney for a Wyoming Supreme Court justice was reach out to a Wyoming Outdoor Council board member to ask about volunteer opportunities. After a career in which she’d felt limited in her ability to get involved in advocacy and nonprofit work, Kathy was ready to roll up her sleeves to protect a place she loved.

That was back in 2016. Now Kathy serves on the executive committee of the Outdoor Council’s board of directors and has hosted two successful outreach events in her Cheyenne home with her husband, Mike Shonsey.

She has also become one of the Council’s staunchest supporters.

“The energy at WOC these days is palpable,” Kathy said. “Lisa McGee has pulled together a highly skilled, energetic, and committed staff and it’s exciting to watch them do their work at the legislature and in other public arenas around the state.”

Born and raised in Casper, Kathy’s passion for conservation stems from a lifelong connection to Wyoming first forged by her parents, who moved here in 1948 so her father could pursue a master’s degree in geology. Despite their different backgrounds — Kathy’s mother grew up in a comfortable home in Oakland, Calif., and her father on a small farm in the Appalachian Mountains with no indoor plumbing or electricity — they both embraced Wyoming’s wild places.

It was a shared love they passed down to their daughter. “Thanks to my father, I grew up learning about the unrivaled geology in Wyoming. And thanks to both my parents, I grew up camping, hiking, and fishing all over the state.”

Those firsthand experiences with Wyoming’s rugged backyard nurtured Kathy as a child, and they continue to nurture her today. An avid hiker, backpacker, and cross-country skier, Kathy understands the importance of preserving Wyoming’s special public lands, wildlife, and clean air and water — not only for her own enjoyment, but for the benefit of generations to come.  

She also understands just how much is at stake right now.

New policies out of Washington, D.C., that prioritize fossil fuel extraction over other uses of public lands have put millions of acres of wild lands and sensitive habitat — the heart of our state’s outdoor heritage — in the crosshairs. The same policies also threaten Wyoming’s clean air and water, and exacerbate conditions that cause climate change.

“These are perilous times for our environment,” Kathy said. “It’s urgent that we do all we can to protect what makes Wyoming unique.”

For Kathy, doing all she can to protect Wyoming means donating not only her time, energy, and experience to the Outdoor Council, but giving her financial support as well.

She understands the importance of ensuring that Wyoming’s homegrown statewide conservation group has the necessary resources — year after year — to advocate effectively for the issues she cares so deeply about. And she urges others who share her concern for Wyoming’s wild places to join her in making a meaningful gift to the Council.

“Do it,” she said. “Give as much as you can.”

“Every dollar you give will be thoughtfully, strategically, and carefully spent to protect the things you love most about Wyoming.”

— KATHY JENKINS, BOARD MEMBER

WOC is doing incredible work right now,” she added. “It’s great to be a part of that.”

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

We’re shaping legislative policy year-round

Posted on by Steff Kessler
[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22.3″][et_pb_row custom_margin=”0px|0px|0px|0px” _builder_version=”3.22.6″ width=”75%” module_alignment=”center”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.19.17″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.22.6″ text_font=”||||||||”]

Thanks to your quick action, the Joint Minerals Committee backed off from a proposal for the State of Wyoming to take over the federal process of evaluating and making recommendations for oil and gas developments and other industrial projects on public lands in Wyoming. Thank you!

Nearly 100 of you answered our call to write to members of the committee asking them to oppose the idea of the state taking primacy over implementation of the federal National Environmental Policy Act. This is the kind of positive influence we can have when citizens take part in the legislature’s formative “interim” period (the legislative work that happens between winter sessions).

To learn more about why NEPA primacy should remain with the federal government, read this fact sheet.

So far this month we’ve covered the Joint Revenue Committee in Lander, Joint Corporations in Casper, and Joint Minerals in Gillette. We’ll travel to Sheridan to cover the Joint Agriculture Committee next.

Stay tuned!

The legislature holds dozens of “joint” (House and Senate) committees throughout the year, around Wyoming. These meetings are open to the public, and they offer an opportunity for citizens to address the committee and to speak with legislators individually during breaks.

Check the legislature’s calendar for upcoming meetings and meeting agendas. You can also livestream meetings as they happen. To watch videos of past legislative meetings, go to the Wyoming Legislature’s website, click on the committee you’re interested in, and click on the “audio/video” tab.

We’ll have more detailed updates on the issues we’re tracking in our June newsletter.

 

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]