DECEMBER 23, 2024 |
Photo – Rock Springs field office of BLM – Bigfoot99 file photo
There was no Christmas card to Wyoming from the Bureau of Land Management on Friday. Instead, a Record of Decision over land use rules in Sweetwater County arrived. The public lands are now off limits.
Governor Mark Gordon reacted quickly, saying Wyoming will continue to fight over how public lands in the state should be used.
The BLM signed, released and delivered their Record of Decision (ROD) for the Rock Springs Field Office Resource Management Plan (RMP).
Before the ROD was issued, BLM Principal Deputy Director Nada Culver formally rejected the Governor’s appeal to his Governor’s Consistency Review response.
Here’s what Gordon said in his statement responding to the rule:
The Biden Administration’s BLM did everything within its power to push this out the door before President Trump takes office and their Director leaves for a position with an environmental group. While it is not surprising that Wyoming’s comments were figuratively dumped in the trash, it is disappointing that despite years of collaborative work between state agencies, impacted counties, concerned citizens, and interest groups, all Wyoming is left with is this parting shot from the Biden Administration.
The Governor went on to say that he and his team reviewed all the available options “to claw back this misguided ROD. With President Trump in office, former Governor Burgum at the head of the Department of the Interior, and a Republican Senate and House, I am confident that we will have the ability to finish the job and right a course that has been so far off track over the last four years.”
Congress could take action, as well, under incoming President Donald Trump. U.S. Senator John Barrasso also reacted quickly. The ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee called the Record of Decision a “misguided and malicious midnight rule on their way out the door. Given that Wyoming Governor Gordon just submitted his review of this plan two days ago, it is clear that the Department of the Interior did not seriously consider or respond to his concerns.”
Senator Barrasso concluded saying he will work with the new president “to repeal this disastrous” plan.
Governor Gordon said the State Attorney General’s office will review the BLM’s Record of Decision to determine it meets the conditions set by the Wyoming Legislature in the 2024 Budget Bill required for certification of the Kelly Parcel sale. A decision on the state review will be announced when released.
Meanwhile, Stone-Manning will exit as head of the BLM early in 2024 to become president of The Wilderness Society, based in Washington, D.C. Under her leadership, the BLM sharply reduced oil and gas lease sales and raised royalty rates that companies must pay to extract the fuel. It also issued a rule elevating the importance of conservation, by making it a “use” of public lands on par with drilling or grazing. The land bureau under the radical leadership of Stone-Manning also approved new solar and wind power projects and opened more public lands to renewable energy development under President Biden.
