On Aug 22nd, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) publicly released their proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) and final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for their Rock Springs Field Office. The plan outlines how the BLM will manage 3.6 million acres of federal land in southwest Wyoming. The Governor’s statement on the RMP follows:
“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. One quarter of the Field Office remains slated for area of critical environmental concern (ACEC) designation. State agencies and I are still sifting through the details and looking at specific maps, management actions, and stipulations.
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. Additionally, we await further information to see how this RMP overlaps with the announcement of the sage-grouse management plan amendment and BLM implementation of their recent Public Lands Rule.
I will examine the FEIS closely, but make no mistake, the State of Wyoming will be filing protests where our comments were disregarded. I will continue to identify any management decisions that are inconsistent with Wyoming law and policy in my upcoming consistency review.”
When the FEIS is published in the Federal Register, the 30-day protest period and the concurrent 60-day Governor’s Consistency Review will commence. These are some of the final steps before a Record of Decision is signed and the RMP becomes final.
Further information on the Rock Springs RMP can be found at the BLM’s project website at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/