BLM updates RMP plans

By HANNAH ROMERO

Editor

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently released its updated version of plans for the Rock Springs Field Office Resource Management Plan (RMP), which has been the subject of debate for the past year. While the BLM presented the plan as a balance between conservation and development, many Wyoming leaders still aren't satisfied with the changes and have concerns over the plan's details.

The RMP draft was initially released Aug. 18, 2023, after decades of discussion, and met with strong backlash from both politicians and the public. The RMP is designed to provide a framework for managing the more than 3.6 million acres of public land and 3.5 million acres of public subsurface minerals in southwestern Wyoming, according to the BLM. The draft plan presented multiple alternatives, but the BLM chose Alternative B, which focused heavily on conservation, as the "preferred alternative."

"During the comment period, the BLM held three in-person public meetings and received more than 35,000 comments," a press release from the BLM explained.

After going through the comments and feedback, the BLM released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Proposed Resource Management Plan last Thursday, Aug. 22. Rather than using any of the original alternatives, the FEIS presents a new alternative that the BLM said is designed to present a balance between developing resources and conserving the area's cultural, scenic, and natural heritage.

"The Proposed RMP reflects components of alternates in the Draft EIS and the adoption of recommendations and input from the public, organizations such as the Greater Little Mountain Coalition, and the Governor's task force," the BLM said in a press release. "The Proposed RMP provides for the continued multiple uses of public lands in the Rock Springs field office while addressing growing pressures from increased visitation and a changing climate."

The Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners has been heavily engaged in the RMP process, including Commission Chairman Keaton West and Commissioner Taylor Jones, both of whom also served on Governor Gordon's Task Force regarding the RMP. This week the commissioners said they are now working through the FEIS, but they still have concerns about the BLM's plans.

"We are still making our way through the hundreds of pages, but although there is improvement in some areas, the problematic concern is still the amount of acreage with special designation classifications," Chairman West said.

One hotly debated topic in the RMP is Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs). West pointed out that the new plan raises the existing 10 ACECs covering 286,470 acres to 12 ACECs covering 936,193 acres.

"That is a reduction from the originally proposed Alternative B that came with 16 ACECs totaling 1,605,660 acres, but still raises significant concern, particularly for our energy and mining powerhouses, and especially for the fluid mineral industries (oil and gas) who are looking at 30% closures, up from their existing 15%," West explained.

Commissioner Taylor Jones agreed that ACECs remain a topic of concern, largely because they create the possibility of the BLM stacking even more management actions on top of the ACEC itself, which could restrict public use and access. Jones also acknowledges the FEIS's impact on the oil and gas industry as heavy-handed.

"They did remove most of the language around travel management, so that was good," Commissioner Jones said of the new proposed RMP. However, he added that the new plan still has unclear language regarding "designated" roads and trails, which he wants to see clarified, since "the real test is going to come with travel management as to whether or not we all have access."

Chairman West also noted that right-of-way exclusion and avoidance areas are "still a sticking point" that raise concerns about access and restrictions.

The commissioners did acknowledge some of the positives in the plan, including Jones pointing out that the trona and coal industries look good, and West adding that "almost all the special designation areas listed within the checkerboard have been removed, due to the difficulty in managing those areas, so our voices were heard there."

Still, both commissioners said they still have "lots of concerns" about the FEIS and proposed RMP.

"They addressed a few things, but overall it's certainly not what the people of Sweetwater County spoke about," Jones said.

"While there is improvement from the original proposed Alternative B, it is still far different than our present times in Alternative A, and considering how this entire process was rolled out a year ago, I'm not left with a great feeling of trust and bliss," Chairman West said. "There's a clear agenda here, and it doesn't represent what's best for the future of Sweetwater."

After the updated RMP plan was released, multiple Wyoming elected officials also weighed in to express their continued concerns. Senator John Barrasso said the RMP "strangles responsible natural resource development" and Senator Cynthia Lummis called it "only the latest in a series of land grabs that punishes Wyoming and the entire west." Representative Harriet Hageman said the new proposed RMP "will substantially reduce economically productive and environmentally safe land uses." On Tuesday, Aug. 27, Rep. Hageman submitted a letter to BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning asking the BLM to "scrap the current proposal and begin anew."

"Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the FEIS for the proposed Rock Springs RMP does not meet Wyoming's expectations of durable, multiple use of public lands," Governor Mark Gordon said after the plan was released. "Thank you to everyone in Southwestern Wyoming who participated in the comment process and the Governor's Task Force. Your comments and recommendations helped claw this document away from the BLM's preferred, absolutely unworkable, Alternative B. A cursory review makes it clear where the BLM considered local and cooperative input, and where the agency chose to force through national agendas. It is important to compare this document to the current status on the ground, and not by how much it has shifted away from the BLM's worst-case scenario. Much work is left to ensure the BLM is staying within the bounds of state and county policies, as well as federal law."

The governor added that the State of Wyoming will be filing protests for areas where comments were disregarded.

The release of the FEIS kicked off a 30-day protest period, after which there will be a 60-day period for the governor's consistency review.

The Sweetwater County commissioners also committed to continuing to work through the document during the protest period, assisted by along staff, particularly Land Use Director Eric Bingham and Chief Civil Deputy and Prosecuting Attorney John DeLeon.

"It will take time to sort through those more thoroughly, but I am confident our team will pull together over the next 30-days to push back and protest any and all areas that will continue to have everlasting effects on the state of the local economy across all areas of multi-use interest," Chairman West said.