Gathering RMP input

Making sure the Bureau of Land Management hears the perspectives and concerns of the public when it comes to the Resource Management Plan (RMP) draft for the Rock Springs Field Office is a priority for many people and organizations, both locally and around the state. To that end, public workshop meetings were held in Sweetwater County last weekend to gather feedback for a task force appointed by Governor Mark Gordon. 

The workshops were facilitated by the University of Wyoming's Ruckelshaus Institute.

"Our role is to be a neutral convener to bring people into conversation with each other around natural resource issues," Melanie Armstrong, the director of the Ruckelshaus Institute, explained. "We're really honored that the governor asked us to facilitate this process in order to gather as many voices [as possible] to provide input on how the governor will respond to the proposed changes to the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan."

Members of the governor's task force were also present at the meeting, including local representatives. The task force includes Chairman Joel Bousman, a retired Sublette County Commissioner; Wyoming Senate President Ogden Driskill; Wyoming House Speaker Albert Sommers; Jim Magagna of Stock Growers Association to represent livestock; Mike McGrady of Sisecam USA to represent mining; Colin McGee of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming to represent oil and gas; Kayla McDonald of the Sweetwater Economic Development Coalition to represent tourism and economic development; Josh Coursey of Muley Fanatics Foundation to represent sportsmen and hunting; Alec Underwood of the Wyoming Outdoor Council to represent conservation; Ron Wild with Rocky Mountain Power to represent renewable energy and utilities; Sweetwater County Commissioner Taylor Jones to represent motorized recreation; and Sweetwater County Commission Chairman Keaton West to represent local government.

"So when you're speaking today, know that the listening ears that are listening to you are primarily members of that task force," Armstrong told the meeting attendees. "They will also be reaching out to you, trying to gather ideas for different groups that they represent, in order to ensure that as many perspectives as possible are informing their work on that task force."

Meeting presentations 

Hundreds of people across the county turned out for the workshop meetings last weekend. The Green River workshop took place Saturday morning at the Western Wyoming Community College Green River Center. Additional meetings took place in Rock Springs on Friday and Farson on Saturday afternoon. 

The meetings were organized by the Ruckelshaus Institute along with the UW College of Agriculture, Life Sciences, and Natural Resources; the UW School of Energy Resources; and the Wyoming County Commissioners Association. Representatives working with these organizations spoke at the beginning of the meeting to go over information for the public to consider and to help the workshop attendees better understand the RMP. 

Nolan Rap, the Natural Resource Policy Advisor with the governor's office, reiterated that those hosting the meeting were not with the BLM, and explained that they wanted to get honest, good-faith input.

"This process really is to inform this task force so that we can give the BLM a package that shows what the people that live work and recreate what for our public lands," he said. 

Rap also pointed out that while the workshop would inform the task force for their comments, it is also still important for individual members of the public to make individual substantive comments to the BLM as well. 

Temple Stoellinger, a faculty member at UW who has worked on land use plans in Wyoming in the past, spoke at the meeting to present context for understanding the governmental processes overseeing things like resource management plans.

Stoellinger noted that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process requires the BLM to review and respond to substantive comments. Responses to comments can be in the form of making changes or modifications to the plan, proposing new alternatives, or giving an explanation of why the comments don't require a specific action in response. 

The importance of comments being substantive in order for the BLM to respond was reiterated by Stoellinger. She pointed out that "postcard campaigns" and numerous comments repeating the same basic message will be responded to collectively, not individually, and that commenting is not a form of voting on an alternative. Substantive comments should be clear, concise, personal, and relevant to the analysis of the proposal.

"It's helpful to be solution-oriented and provide those specific examples rather than just merely opposing," Stoellinger said. "So give them what you would like to see, what you would like to have happen, instead of what you don't want to have happen." 

Understanding the RMP is crucial to being able to make comments in response to it, so Micah Christiansen, the Natural Resource Counsel for the Wyoming County Commissioners Association, spoke about how to understand the plan draft. He admitted that it is huge and said his printer jammed 172 pages into the over 1,300-page document. His recommendation to everyone was to print the first 36 pages of the plan, which include an executive summary, a glossary of terms, and a table of contents. He also recommended treating the document like a book club and finding someone else to look over it with. 

"Unfortunately, you can't learn it through osmosis," Christensen said. "We're going to have to actually read it, and your comments are going to be a lot better for it by reading it." 

Christensen went over the statements of purpose and need, which set the groundwork for the plan, and explained the four alternatives. He also explained that the final draft can be a combination from all of the alternatives. 

"From that range we can take certain pieces from all the alternatives that work and we can work together and we can build something different," he said. 

Workshop concerns 

After hearing this information about the RMP, attendees at the workshop meeting were split into smaller breakout groups of roughly 15 to 20 people in order to have direct discussions and chances to provide comments to be passed on to the task force. 

"What we're looking for is what you think are the priorities that should be in this management plan," Steve Smutko from the UW School of Natural Resources explained. "Not what you don't like, but what you want to see."

One of the breakout rooms included County Commissioners Island Richards and Robb Slaughter, Senator John Kolb, Representatives J.T. Larson and Cody Wylie, management staff from Rocky Mountain Power, and a number of concerned citizens. 

Those in attendance were asked to consider and give answers to the questions: What about these lands is important to you? If you were writing the RMP, what would you prioritize to support the things that are important to you? Given all that, what advice would you give to the Task Force on how to balance the priorities? What other comments would you like to share with the task force?

Some of the major areas of concern that workshop participants identified were economic impact, access, future development of resources, the impact on tax revenues, using local science and data to inform decisions, maintaining multiple use, keeping internal consistency in the RMP, and finding a way to balance priorities. 

One overarching concept discussed by participants was the idea that the RMP draft uses "a broad brush," as Commissioner Slaughter put it, when it may need a scalpel. Slaughter said Wyoming has a history of stewardship and that many of the management practices in place have been working, so rather than trying to change things dramatically, the plan should focus on surgically changing specific things. 

Those who weren't able to attend the workshop meetings are still invited to answer the same questions and submit feedback to the task force online at https://www.uwyo.edu/haub/ruckelshaus-institute/rmp-meetings.html.