The Bureau of Land Management released its Final Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed Resource Management Plan for the Rock Springs Field Office this week, prompting responses from multiple local organizations, including those that participated in a recent press briefing on the topic.
The Wilderness Society offered a statement on the proposed Rock Springs RMP from its Wyoming State Director Julia Stuble of Lander, who also serves as a member of the Lander City Council.
“We are heartened to see that the BLM truly listened to public input over the last year and weighed varied interests with such diligence and care,” Stuble wrote. “The proposed Rock Springs RMP will help safeguard world-renowned wildlife habitats in the Northern Red Desert and Big Sandy Foothills, plus important cultural areas and hunting, fishing and OHV access. It balances local infrastructure and energy needs with our obligation to steward these special lands for future generations and protect our Wyoming way of life.”
TWS still has some concerns with the plan, however, Stuble noted.
For example, she said, “the Rock Springs RMP doesn’t adequately protect stopover and highly used portions of big game migration corridors, and we believe the Red Desert to Hoback corridor deserves greater recognition.”
Plus, she continued, “while the plan would largely disallow oil and gas and mining in the Northern Red Desert and Big Sandy Foothills, the entirety of these landscapes should be off-limits.”
Overall, however, she concluded that “the plan represents a step toward more holistic and thoughtful management of these public lands.”
“We commend the agency’s professionals for their dedication to working through these complex challenges and urge them to carefully consider how the RMP can be strengthened further between now and when the record of decision is issued,” she said.
Andrea Orabona of Lander, a retired Wyoming Game and Fish Department nongame bird biologist and president of the Red Desert Audubon Society, also contributed a statement to the press release from TWS.
“I treasure the serenity and enlightenment I’ve experienced in the Northern Red Desert while conducting annual bird surveys,” Orabona said. “I know I’m not alone in feeling passionate about this wild country and the wildlife who call it home. It’s a relief for many of us to know new drilling won’t be allowed in much this area. …
“Hundreds of wildlife species depend on the sagebrush habitats in the Northern Red Desert and Big Sandy Foothills. To ensure the long-term viability of these populations we must limit disturbances, because typically, once habitat has been altered by development, wildlife loses in the end. It’s up to us to ensure that doesn’t happen here, so I applaud the BLM for proposing to conserve this incredible area.”
Atlantic City journalist Marjane Ambler talked about her time spent in the Northern Red Desert, too.
“I’m frequently out in the Northern Red Desert with friends, family, and out-of-town visitors, and no matter how often we visit, we are stunned by what we see, like abundant wildlife, and what we don’t see, like traffic or many other people,” Ambler said in the press release from TWS. “On a recent trip, we watched dozens of pronghorn with their young bounding over the sagebrush and saw sage grouse and other birds. The wildlife have space to breathe out there, and so do we.
“For years, community members have spoken up in favor of conserving this area, and it’s so satisfying that now the BLM has listened, and everyone who comes after us will be able to experience this iconic Wyoming landscape just like we have: wild and free.”
The Rock Springs RMP covers the Northern Red Desert and Big Sandy Foothills, an area that has been analyzed by a team of “expert geophysicists with extensive experience in the oil and gas plays of western Wyoming,” TWS said in its press release.
The analysis of the potential for oil and gas deposits in the area, which TWS commissioned, “found that known deposits are insignificant and there isn’t much potential for future discoveries” there, TWS said — a finding that is “backed up by the BLM’s own analysis.”
“Under the Rock Springs RMP, about a third of the field office, at just over a million acres, would be closed to new oil and gas leasing – mostly areas without significant potential for producing oil and gas,” TWS said, noting that “a million acres in the planning area are already leased.”
The proposed RMP also increases “protections for cultural sites and lands important to over 30 Tribal nations whose ancestral homelands are in the planning area, including the Eastern Shoshone, Northern Arapaho, Crow, Ute, Southern Ute, Shoshone-Bannock, Cheyenne, Lakota, and others,” TWS said. “The Rock Springs RMP would designate 936,193 acres as areas of critical environmental concern (or ACECs), the BLM’s main designation and protected status for places with important natural or cultural value. These ACECs cover much of the Sand Dunes, the area from Steamboat Mountain to the Oregon Buttes, South Pass Historic Landscape and the Big Sandy Foothills.”
To read the entire press release from TWS, click here.
Wyoming Outdoor Council
Another press release on the proposed Rock Springs RMP came from the Wyoming Outdoor Council, including a statement from WOC Program Director Alec Underwood of Lander.
“We’re pleased to see the BLM incorporated public feedback and input from Gov. Gordon’s task force into a plan that serves local communities, iconic landscapes, and wildlife,” Underwood said. “Among other important agreements, the task force reached consensus on the need to protect gold-standard habitat and other significant natural values in the Big Sandy Foothills and Northern Red Desert, such as Boar’s Tusk. It’s encouraging to see the BLM’s responsiveness, as well as the agency’s efforts to build on the task force’s strong foundation where agreement wasn’t reached, as they did for the Big Sandy Foothills.
“While the plan could be improved — protections for the iconic big game migration corridors in the region, for example, fall short of the mark — we appreciate that the agency worked diligently to ensure that updated management direction will conserve some of our country’s best remaining wildlife habitat, while also maintaining all of the unique recreational opportunities found within the field office.”
The WOC served on the governor’s task force along with the Wyoming Wilderness Association, which contributed to this week’s press release with a statement from WWA BLM Program Manager Lauren Marsh of Lander.
“It is a testament to the dedication of all who love and care for the lands within the Rock Springs Field Office that the proposed plan includes some robust, durable, and reasonable conservation measures for the Northern Red Desert and Big Sandy Foothills,” Marsh said. “We applaud the BLM for making the hard decisions necessary to ensure these wild and working landscapes continue to thrive for future generations to use and enjoy.”
The WWA is, however, “disappointed that some key provisions in the draft RMP were not carried forward in the proposed plan,” Marsh said – “namely, recognizing Lands with Wilderness Characteristics (LWCs) and important protections for the hoodoo-studded wildlands surrounding Adobe Town.”
“Nevertheless, we appreciate the willingness of the BLM to take to heart the concerns of local Wyoming residents as expressed through public comment and recommendations from Governor Gordon’s task force,” she said. “What you see reflected in the plan for the northern portion of the Field Office — and taskforce recommendations — is how much Wyomingites value wildlife and the wildlands that support them, even under the demands of a largely extraction-based economy.”
The governor’s task force also included representatives with interests in oil and gas, grazing, energy production, motorized recreation, sportsmen groups, and the trona industry, as well as elected officials from communities in Sweetwater County, and the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate for the Wyoming Legislature, the press release states.
“The BLM took the task force’s consensus-based comments seriously,” the WOC said. “The proposed Rock Springs RMP reflects task force recommendations including maintaining access for the local trona mining industry, retaining the OHV play area in parts of the Killpecker Sand Dunes, and protecting the unique natural and cultural values of Boar’s Tusk.”
The issuance of the Proposed RMP and Final EIS initiates a 30-day public protest period and 60-day governor’s consistency review, the press release states; the agency will finalize the plan after resolving issues raised in these processes.
To read the entire press release from the WOC, click here.