Wyoming

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. 

With winter on its way, it’s time to talk ozone in the Upper Green

Posted on by John Burrows

The winter of 2019 was a bad season for ozone pollution in the Upper Green River Basin, particularly near Boulder where monitoring stations recorded nine days in which ozone levels exceeded federal standards. 

Winter ozone is not new for this region, but increasing concentrations over the last several years have called into question whether the regulations governing fugitive emissions from oil and gas operations — and our clean air — need tightening. This was the context that led members of the local Pinedale advocacy group Citizens United for Responsible Energy Development and the Wyoming Outdoor Council to tour the Jonah and Pinedale Anticline natural gas fields with Wyoming’s Department of Environmental Quality. Our goal was to better understand current operations — and learn what state regulators are doing in response to last season’s unhealthy ozone conditions.

CURED member Jana Weber looks at the emissions from a combustor through a flare camera. These cameras can cost more than $100,000 and are used to quickly identify emission leaks.

As one might expect, there’s a lot to see in the state’s largest natural gas field. Our group visited facilities owned by the three major energy companies in the area: Pinedale Energy, Ultra Energy, and Jonah Energy. We examined lake tanks, pig launchers, combusters, disposal facilities, production units, and dehydrators with state-of-the-art flare cameras used to detect leaking emissions from a distance. Looking into these cameras is like looking under a microscope where the invisible world of gasses and heat is revealed in ghostly detail. Technological advances like this are essential for quickly identifying leaks and monitoring emissions and are a key component of what’s known as Leak Detection and Repair.

New technologies might make inspections easier and more efficient, but it remains a daunting task over such a large area. Currently, the Upper Green River Basin has more than 8,000 permitted facilities and only two full-time DEQ air quality inspectors. Even with each inspector performing hundreds of inspections annually, the vast majority of these facilities will go uninspected each year. 

Fortunately, DEQ has ways of prioritizing the most important inspections based upon factors like the facility’s previous violations, its potential for emissions, and when it was last inspected. With low compliance rates a lingering concern and priority, it was also refreshing to learn that inspectors took enforcement actions against several operators this summer for permit violations.

Touring the Jonah and Pinedale Anticline fields was a reminder of the good work and intentions of our state’s Department of Environmental Quality in the Upper Green River Basin. But, while we were pleased with what we saw, the bar for whether or not current efforts are enough will be determined by the ozone levels we see in future winters. We’re encouraged that the DEQ seems to be taking last year’s violations seriously and has set ambitious goals for engine monitoring and working to bring on a third air quality inspector in the basin this winter. However, funding for the department’s two current full-time inspectors will need to be added to the DEQ’s budget next year, due to the elimination of the federal contribution for this work. 

We have to make sure that DEQ has the resources it needs to prioritize inspections and improve compliance rates to achieve better air quality in the Upper Green. You can be sure that the Outdoor Council will be advocating for this at the 2020 legislative session in Cheyenne. 

The DEQ’s annual pre-season ozone meeting is slated for November 18 at the Boulder Community Center in Boulder, WY. Outdoor Council staff and CURED members will be in attendance. More information can be found here. 

Announcing: 2020 Calendar Contest Winners!

Posted on by Claire Cella

Our annual calendar contest is one of our staff’s favorite creative projects because it opens a window for us to see Wyoming through the eyes of our members, supporters, and fellow Wyomingites — the people who share the values we advocate for day in and day out.

Every year for ten years, we’ve remained humbled by your interest and participation in the contest. Because of your engagement, we’re able to produce a calendar filled with a diversity of perspectives that capture our state’s big, wild backyard. We’re grateful for your willingness to share these treasured views and momentous scenes with us — from glimpses of one of the last remaining glaciers in the Wind River Range, to nights spent under star-studded skies, to horsepacking trips through the remote wilds of the Thorofare, to the abundance of wildlife that cross our paths. 

If you’re a Wyoming Outdoor Council member, watch your mailbox for the calendar next month. If you’re not, you can still join us! In addition to ensuring you’ll get a calendar in the mail, you’ll also receive the most up-to-date information on our work as we strive to protect what you see in the calendar pages.  

And remember, it’s never too early to start preparing for next year’s contest. We’re always looking for shots that capture the quiet beauty of winter, your family’s spontaneous outdoor adventures, and the everyday, real Wyoming that’s just outside your door.

Sign up for our emails to be the first to know when we begin the search for 2021, and keep your camera close!

THIS YEAR’S WINNERS

Kyle Aiton
Kinley Bollinger
Ken Bryan
Jon Burkholz
Scott Copeland
Cheryl Elliott
Mack Frost
Karinthia Harrison
Beth Holmes
Stacey Jarrett
Rob Joyce
Terry Lane
Sean McKinley
Shane Morrison
Sherry Pincus
Raymond Salani
Ed Sherline
Bill Sincavage
Kyle Spradley
Christopher Thomas
Brandon Ward

This chaotic and rogue legislative interim requires citizen voices!

Posted on by Kristen Gunther
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Over the last several months, we’ve been hearing from many of you who are frustrated that the Legislature has been unusually difficult to keep up with. We hear you. Here at the Wyoming Outdoor Council, we, too, have been struggling to deal with legislative committees’ lack of transparency, last-minute additions to meeting agendas, information gaps, and problematic interventions into other branches of government. We will be advocating for increased transparency and accountability in the coming months.

The chaos of this interim demands, more than usual, a high level of public attention and participation. That means that you’ll be hearing from us frequently in the coming weeks as we work to combat a few very bad ideas with major ramifications for Wyoming.

Here’s an overview of some of the upcoming bad draft bills we need to defeat:

Political interference in wildlife migration corridor management

Over the summer, the Outdoor Council tracked and provided feedback to the governor’s Wildlife Migration Advisory Group. All stakeholders were at the table, including the oil and gas industry. The group’s hard work, collaboration, and good-faith negotiation resulted in full stakeholder consensus on a proposed state-level solution that will protect Wyoming’s most critical wildlife habitat, create balance among uses, and support the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. On the recommendation of this group, the governor will be drafting an executive order concerning migration corridors, an important step for protecting the future of our big game herds.

This should have been the beginning of a new chapter for wildlife migrations, with big game corridor management now guided by a citizen-backed state process designed to meet all needs. 

Instead, seemingly out of the blue, the Select Federal Natural Resource Management committee suddenly decided to take on the topic of big game migration. They’ve now drafted a bill that undermines science, the authority of the Game and Fish, and the entire North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Most importantly, it poses a direct threat to the vital habitat that keeps our big game populations alive. 

Why did this happen? How was a process started by the governor suddenly undercut by the Legislature? The oil and gas industry presented its point of view to the governor’s advisory group multiple times — and received everything it asked for — but apparently, the industry wants more. Specifically, it’s clear that they don’t want to be required to mitigate their impacts to migration corridors. So rather than work in good faith with the rest of the stakeholders, industry voices have ignored recommendations that their representatives agreed to and asked the Legislature to intervene. 

Unfortunately, lawmakers are listening. The resulting bill would let oil and gas call the shots and would undo years of important collaborative work on migration corridor identification and protections. Rather than let science and thoughtful public input guide wildlife management, this disastrous bill would cede wildlife authority to inappropriate agencies (e.g. the Department of Revenue) and undermine the governor’s commitment to sensible, compromise solutions. It’s an egregious overreach, and it’s just plain wrong. 

Simply put, it’s the job of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department — not politicians — to interpret the science and manage our wildlife. We need to let this committee know that. 
If you have an interest in supporting migration corridors, please watch your inbox. The committee will meet on Wednesday, October 23 in Casper, and members of the public are encouraged to attend and comment.

Zombie nuclear waste proposals return to Wyoming

Nuclear waste was another topic not publicly vetted for the interim. But sometimes, bad ideas take on a life of their own (or rise from the dead). If you were surprised to see this issue resurface after being vetoed by Wyomingites repeatedly over the decades…well, we were, too.

As many of you have read, a special subcommittee of the Joint Minerals committee met last month to discuss whether Wyoming should consider storing spent fuel rods (high-level radioactive waste) in our state. This is an idea that has been proposed and shot down more than once; two different Wyoming governors have vetoed it. Storing nuclear waste poses many practical and logistical threats to Wyoming, and wouldn’t even generate the amount of money legislators hoped. We find it unacceptable that the Legislature chose to consider such a controversial topic without proper public vetting. 

For more details, check out our fact sheet on nuclear waste storage — and learn why it’s (still) a terrible idea for Wyoming. The Minerals committee will consider this topic at their upcoming meeting on November 5 in Casper, and we’ll send an alert to our members to remind you of this opportunity for public comment.

Killing off rooftop solar in Wyoming?

Last year, Wyoming’s House of Representatives passed a bill that the Outdoor Council (alongside partner organization Powder River Basin Resource Council) worked to advance, which would have supported expanded opportunities for rooftop solar arrays. Unfortunately, the bill hit a brick wall in the Senate, where it was considered a threat to coal-fired power plants. However, the Legislature decided to take on rooftop solar as an interim topic.

The Corporations committee’s work on this issue took a destructive turn when opponents of small solar used the discussion as an opportunity to make our current laws more hostile toward solar. The committee is now considering two draft bills that would effectively gut solar opportunities in Wyoming — damaging a growing industry, killing jobs, and reducing the ability of consumers to choose how they want to power their homes. 

We’ll be reaching out to you prior to the final Corporations meeting, which is scheduled for November 18–19 in Cheyenne, to let you know how you can speak up for renewable energy choices for Wyoming consumers. 

Final thoughts

These are only three of the many issues that citizens have struggled with during the legislative interim. Overall, many of us have been dismayed at the flood of last-minute decisions and lack of transparency we’ve seen, including left-field attacks on local conservation and community planning efforts, changes in meeting locations and topics, and sometimes late circulation of meeting materials. 

But we’ll continue working hard to bring you the information that you need to stay informed and engaged. The Outdoor Council is committed to advocating that our state legislature work in the public eye and for the public interest of Wyomingites. We believe that together we can achieve important policy victories that secure a strong, conservation-focused future for Wyoming — and defeat bad ideas that threaten our shared heritage and love of the outdoors. 

Thank you for being an important partner in this work, and stay tuned to learn more about opportunities to ensure we can move forward together, instead of doubling down on the bad ideas of the past. 

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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!

Wyoming poised to safeguard big game migrations

Posted on by Kristen Gunther

DECEMBER 2019 UPDATE: We eagerly await the draft of the Governor’s executive order, and we anticipate that it will arrive this month. In the meantime, we’ve continued our advocacy to support the three officially designated mule deer migration corridors in the state (Baggs, Sublette, and Platte Valley), as well as turning our attention to the two corridors next in line for designation (the Sublette pronghorn, or “Path of the Pronghorn,” and the Wyoming Range mule deer). The coming year will hold many opportunities for Wyomingites to get involved in the management of and advocacy for migration corridors, so if you’re interested in mule deer, pronghorn, and/or elk, we’d love to hear from you!

Nobody knows the value of Wyoming’s wildlife more than the people who live here. It was Wyoming residents and leaders — across the spectrum — who initiated the West-wide stakeholder plan to protect the Greater sage-grouse, and now Wyoming is poised to do the same for big game migrations.

This summer, Governor Mark Gordon convened the Wildlife Migration Corridor Advisory Group made up of citizens who represented oil and gas, mining, agriculture, conservation, recreation and hunters, as well as a county commissioner and a Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioner. The Wyoming Outdoor Council contributed extensively to the discussion and made recommendations on behalf of the conservation community.

The Outdoor Council’s recommendations to the advisory group

Among our recommendations, which were grounded in the best-available science and sought to establish balance, we suggested that the group protect corridors through legally-binding oil and gas lease stipulations to guide development on public lands. We also supported efforts to create collaborative, voluntary approaches to conservation for landowners, investments in wildlife-friendly infrastructure, and to reaffirm the independence of the Game and Fish Department as the authority managing wildlife for the people of Wyoming.

Safeguarding our migrating herds requires stronger coordination between public and private stakeholders, among state agencies, and between the state and federal government. We echoed what the Wyoming public overwhelmingly believes: we can have responsible energy development without sacrificing our wildlife.

We echoed what the Wyoming public overwhelmingly believes: we can have responsible energy development without sacrificing our wildlife.

– WYOMING OUTDOOR COUNCIL

The group’s consensus: a state-level solution for development

We were impressed and heartened by the depth of engagement on this committee, and appreciated a frank, ongoing discussion with the citizen stakeholders charged with creating recommendations. While ultimately the group did not choose to recommend oil and gas lease stipulations, the group’s recommendations chart a new path forward to achieve balance. After lengthy negotiations, the group recommended a state-level process that would empower Wyoming decision-makers to shape on-the-ground development, ideally allowing our state to ensure that migrating herds are not harmed by development and other forms of habitat fragmentation. 

The stakeholder consensus was not to manage habitat at the federal level, but to ask Governor Gordon to develop an Executive Order — patterned after the sage-grouse executive order — that gives Wyoming clear legal authority to site development outside of sensitive habitats. In this framework (like the sage-grouse framework), the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission would work with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to manage siting of proposed oil and gas development projects, and ensure they are placed in areas that do not impede corridor functionality or connectivity. 

The recommendation language reflects the group’s understanding of the best available migration science, and the group’s recommendations are very clear that migration corridors—especially the most sensitive portions such as stopover and high use—are vital  habitat. Therefore, the group recommended that the state should operate under the presumption that development will not occur in these particularly critical areas unless sound evidence suggests that development could be accomplished in a manner that will not harm wildlife habitat. 

Other recommendations

The group created a wealth of recommendations about many land use and management challenges distinct from oil and gas development. These include: 

  • Establishment of local working groups to provide insight, feedback, and access to local knowledge associated with identified corridors;
  • More proactive engagement from landowners;
  • A change to Wyoming law requiring commercial-electrical generation solar and wind power projects be reviewed by the Industrial Siting Council to ensure they do not impact the functionality of corridors;
  • Requests for funding for wildlife-friendly infrastructure and habitat work (e.g. invasive species); and
  • Consensus to prevent recreational infrastructure within corridor habitat.

Will this approach work?

Migration routes cross multiple types of landscapes with multiple governing authorities, and therefore cannot be conserved with a single overarching action. Rather, conservation requires ongoing collaboration and dialogue — the kind embodied by the advisory group’s negotiations. We believe the committee’s recommended approach, if executed well, puts Wyoming in the driver’s seat. That means we have the chance to achieve the real balance that Wyomingites overwhelmingly wish to see: protection of migratory herds and vital habitat alongside responsibly-conceived and sited development projects. The future of our big game herds — and our outdoor heritage —  relies on getting this right.

And we think that Wyoming is well-positioned to get this right. But not everyone is on board with the group’s recommendations for a path forward.

Migration legislation: an end-run around citizen consensus?

One legislative committee, prompted by industry interests who are dissatisfied with what the citizen stakeholder group recommended, is currently considering a bill that would hamper science-based wildlife migration corridor management. This committee’s approach seeks to remove the Game and Fish Department’s authority to identify corridors, and could open the door to higher levels of development within corridors, contrary to what the stakeholder group recommended. 

The Outdoor Council is  tracking these efforts and working with partners to oppose this approach. We support the Governor’s citizen advisory group and their recommendation for a sensible, balanced, and science-based approach. In the coming weeks, we will share further information about how to engage with this committee to oppose this bill, which will be considered in late October. 

Finally, it’s important to remember that the solution that the Governor’s group recommended to address oil and gas impacts is implemented at the development stage, after a lease has been sold and a proponent wishes to drill. We think that’s a workable solution to manage habitat, and an executive order should give the state more leverage to ensure that federal management actions will dovetail with our state-level plan. In this time of widespread leasing, however, we will also continue to work at the federal level to fight back against leasing in these habitats in the first place. As Wyomingites, we know that some things simply aren’t for sale. 

If we wish to secure a future that conserves large, intact landscapes and robust migratory big game herds, Wyoming must ensure that development happens on our terms. We believe that it’s not only possible to create a balance between conservation needs and energy development, but that it’s critical. The implementation of this advisory group’s recommendations will be a l turning point, and a key step in defining our state’s future. Once we lose migration corridors, that’s it — they’re gone. We must get this right. 

Stay tuned for more information about opportunities to support conservation of corridors.

We’re shaping legislative policy year-round

Posted on by Steff Kessler
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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.

 

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Announcing: 2019 Calendar Contest Winners!

Posted on by Claire Cella

Our creative team looks forward to running our calendar photo contest every year. It’s always a great opportunity to connect with Outdoor Council members and supporters and see Wyoming through your eyes. This year, we received nearly 1,000 Instagram entries with the hashtag #MyWyoming — a big increase from last year. Your images offered diverse perspectives on our state, its residents and visitors, and our shared values.

Thanks to everyone who participated. With your help, we can feature some truly stunning scenes from across the state — from gushing waterfalls in the Bighorns, to a surging summer thunderstorm in Teton County, to hunters trekking through sage near Lander, to a marmot popping up to say hello. We love to see folks enjoying Wyoming’s public lands as much as we do, and we’re grateful you thought to share some of these gorgeous moments with us.

Watch your mailbox for the calendar next month. And remember, it’s never too early to start snapping photographs for next year’s contest. We’ll be eager to see where you go and what you do! Sign up for our emails to be the first to know when we begin the search for 2020’s photos.

THIS YEAR’S WINNERS

Sam Cook
Susan Marsh
Joel Luzmoor
Jon Burkholz
Carl Oksanen
Juan David
Randy Quarles
Ashton Hooker
David Rule
Leslie Eglseder
Beth Holmes
Patrick Amole
Terry Lane
Alyssa Wesner
Jennifer Hansen
Jessica Jacquay
Tammy Neufeld
Kristi Pucci
Cheryl Elliott
Landon Blanchard
Stacey Jarrett
Ross Thompson
Debbie Tubridy
Jeremy Blazek

 

Launching the 2019 Calendar Photo Contest!

Posted on by Claire Cella

If you’ve spent any time in Wyoming’s wide open-spaces, you know how it excites the senses: the song of a meadowlark darting over mountain wildflowers in summer; the smell of sagebrush freshly washed by an afternoon rain in spring; the shifting shadows on a distant snow-laced hilltop in winter.

If you’re like us, these moments probably compelled you to snap a photo — or a few dozen — including that one shot you keep returning to and remember fondly. We want to see these glimpses of your Wyoming and learn how your experiences in Wyoming’s open spaces helped define your past year? Was it a nighttime shot of stars draped over a mountain skyline, or a moment with your best friend on a hike? Share these Wyoming images and stories with us in our annual calendar contest. After reviewing all of the submissions in the fall, we’ll choose our favorites for the Wyoming Outdoor Council calendar.

HOW TO ENTER

This year, we’ll again offer you the chance to enter your photos through 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 #MyWyoming.

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

TERMS & CONDITIONS

Entries must be submitted between July 15, 2018, and before midnight on September 15, 2018, either via email (claire@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org) or Instagram, using the hashtag #MyWyoming. By entering, all contestants agree to release their photo to the Wyoming Outdoor Council for publication purposes. The Wyoming Outdoor Council will select the winning photos, which will then be used in the Outdoor Council’s 2019 calendar. All submitted photos are subject to use.

Your entry to the contest constitutes your agreement to allow your entered photographs, as well as your name and the place the photograph was taken, to be published in the Wyoming Outdoor Council’s 2019 calendar and on the Wyoming Outdoor Council’s website to promote the annual photo contest.

Photograph entries constitute permission to use the images in this manner with credit to the photographer without monetary compensation. Contest entrants retain ownership and all other rights to future use of the photographs they enter. Use of the entered photos in any other fashion or in any other publications will only occur with permission from the entrant.

 

Wyoming shouldn’t put a price tag on civic engagement

Posted on by Dustin Bleizeffer

A big part of our work at the Outdoor Council involves tracking the actions our representative government makes on behalf of its citizens. Often, that includes asking for public records not readily available or published for broad public access.

Citizens have the right to know about activities that affect public health, including the water we use and air we breathe, as well as the myriad decisions that affect land and wildlife management in Wyoming. That’s why we’re taking a stand against an ill-conceived state policy to charge fees for public records requests.

The fee structure, created and promoted by the Wyoming Department of Information and Administration (A&I), misses the intent of a state law passed in 2014 to “streamline” responses to records requests. We believe that providing public records and governing transparently is not an “add-on” to the job of the government that citizens should have to pay for. It is a core duty of our state government. We already cover the cost to produce public records with our taxpayer dollars dedicated to support state agencies.

Understanding that a fee-for-access policy only serves to deter citizens from taking part in civic matters, we have joined with dozens of partners to push back against A&I’s flawed policy. At the same time, we are encouraging a broader discussion to find solutions that can help state agencies more efficiently respond to records requests.

To begin the discussion, the Outdoor Council published this op-ed in local media outlets.

We are encouraged that the legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee has agreed to take on the topic this year, and we will keep you up-to-date as the discussion progresses.

Wyoming’s fee-for-access scheme is not the only policy being pursued to distance citizens from our government’s actions. Rep. Liz Cheney has introduced a bill to slap fees on citizens who participate in BLM’s oil and gas leasing decision-making processes on public lands. An effort continues at the Wyoming Legislature to criminalize protests against so-called “critical infrastructure,” and tactics to transfer the ownership and/or management of public lands continues. These are part of a broader trend to extract citizens from our public lands heritage and to insert the Trump administration’s mandate for “energy dominance” in the West.

But we don’t have to — and must not — cede our democratic institutions and values to realize robust economies. The Wyoming-led sage grouse management plan for the West (now also under attack) is proof that bipartisan, multi-stakeholder efforts can help sustain energy, agriculture and our wildlife heritage far into the future regardless of politics. Efforts to derail robust citizen participation will fail — but only with your help.

Thank you for your continued work to help protect Wyoming’s world-class wildlife, our open spaces, clean air and water, and for joining us in demanding a government responsive to its citizens.