Fighting the BLM's RMP

Last week, roughly 1,000 Sweetwater County citizens showed up to get information about the Bureau of Land Management's Resource Management Plan (RMP) draft for the Rock Springs Field Office and voice their concerns over the plan.

Both local and state government leaders are also voicing their concerns, to the point of writing letters to the BLM asking for a withdrawal of the plan.

Public outcry

By 3 p.m., when the BLM's open-house style public meeting about the RMP was set to start, a line of people stretched out the doors of the Rock Springs Holiday Inn. The line wound through the lobby and the hallways to the ballroom, where hundreds of people were already inside, looking over maps, talking to BLM Rock Springs Field Office representatives, and writing out public comments.

Nearly 1,000 people were estimated to have shown up to the meeting, County Commissioner Taylor Jones explained during his comments at the Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday. He said that about 700 reportedly signed in, and an estimated 20-30% of attendees wouldn't give any information.

Commission Chairman Keaton West noted that the RMP has "had a huge public outcry and concern from constituents and residents of Sweetwater."

County leaders like commissioners and city council members, as well as state representatives, showed up alongside the citizens at the BLM's event.

The meeting had several stations set up with maps and charts displayed regarding different areas of the plan and local BLM workers on hand to answer questions. The BLM also handed out papers with a "Guide to Good Public Comments," explaining why public comments are important and giving tips for providing helpful and substantive comments that will be taken into consideration.

"Avoid vague statements or concerns. These don't give the BLM something on which to act," the form said. "Comments are not votes for or against a decision. BLM must rely on supporting information, not the number of comments received."

Public comment forms were provided, along with boxes to officially submit them in.

"I think everyone coming out and stomping their feet has been a good first response and I'm proud to witness the amount of concern from the public," Commissioner West said regarding the meeting.

While law enforcement was on hand at the event, some attendees let their frustrations be known clearly in their conversations with BLM representatives.

"Obviously tensions are running high, and understandably so as this document has the ability to destroy Sweetwater County as we know it and destroy our jobs and recreation," Commissioner Jones said. Later he added, "I do ask everyone to keep any and all comments directed towards the document and the process. . . Don't direct your comments at the folks in the office locally and make it personal. That's not going to get us anywhere." 

Withdrawal request

Turning the focus to the document itself is exactly what the Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners hopes to do.

"I think we can all agree for the most part that we don't like the preferred alternative, but the fighting hope lies within the mistakes made within the sudden release of this plan," Chairman West said during the commission meeting. "We'll continue to dissect that and the details in order to respond strategically and factually."

Commissioner Mary Thoman and County Land Use Director Eric Bingham both said that there has been no clear answer from the BLM on whether there will be an extension of the deadline for public comment, despite several leaders and organizations having asked for it, and the extension doesn't seem likely. Currently the public comment period is still set to end on November 16.

With the clock ticking, the commissioners have decided to send a letter to the BLM asking for a withdrawal of the RMP, and to continue to study the draft, focusing on the discrepancies and inconsistencies and prioritizing key areas of focus.

"The document is very flawed and lacking in a tremendous amount of detail that could set the county up for far more loss in both recreation and jobs than is described in the RMP as it's written," Jones said.

The board voted unanimously to approve the letter to the BLM, following Governor Mark Gordon's decision to also ask the BLM to withdraw the RMP draft.

"Over a decade's worth of contributions from local stakeholders, cooperators, counties, and state agencies are either falling on deaf ears or disingenuously being thrown by the wayside with this decision," Governor Gordon stated in his letter.

The commissioners' letter also focused on the BLM's preferred alternative not reflecting the time that Sweetwater County spent in the collaborative process with the BLM, and it's potential impact on the socioeconomics of the county. The letter also states that the notification process for the Areas of Environmental Concern (ACEC) was not in compliance by not including the "resource use limitations," and that other required processes for establishing ACECs were not followed.

"In addition to not following the legal process for cooperator participation, notice, consideration of cooperator plans, establishment of ACEC's provided by the BLM manual, inter alia, the process of reviewing the plan revealed several inconsistencies throughout the plan," the commissioners' letter states. "Sweetwater County points out the procedural failures for the benefit of both the BLM and the public in an effort to rectify the failures and reestablish good faith in the cooperator and public process. Sweetwater County, along with the Governor asks the BLM withdraw the Draft RMP and move forward with comments provided by local stakeholders to create an alternative that will stand up to legal scrutiny and in support of 'multiple uses.'"

While the letter from the county to the BLM points out that it would be easier to fix the errors now than to deal with a Governor's Consistency Review and Cooperator's Protest and Appeal Process in the future, the commissioners discussed the possibility of having to protest the RMP in the future. Commissioner Thoman pointed out that the Coalition of Local Governments has protested and appealed plans before.

"We're not afraid to challenge them on the issues that are legally wrong," Thoman said. "Doesn't mean we always win, but it's for the record that we've done it." 

"We intend to win," Senator John Kolb, who spoke to the commissioners during the public comment portion of the meeting, replied. He noted that the state legislature plans to fund whatever money is necessary to fight the RMP, which will divert money from other things, but he sees it as a justifiable expense. "If we lose, we lose our future."