More time to comment

After much discussion in Sweetwater County and across Wyoming concerning the Bureau of Land Management’s Resource Management Plan (RMP) Draft for the Rock Springs Field Office, the BLM has agreed to extend the comment period on the draft, giving the public an additional 60 days to weigh in on the RMP.

“At the request of the state of Wyoming and other stakeholders, the Bureau of Land Management is extending the comment period on the Draft Rock Springs Resource Management Plan, Draft Environmental Impact Statement and proposed Areas of Critical Environmental Concern,” a BLM press release explained. “The comment period now closes on January 17, 2024.”

The Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners requested an extension of the comment period, as did Governor Mark Gordon and other Wyoming leaders and agencies. “A lot of work happens between a draft plan and a final plan, and that work is best informed by people who roll up their sleeves to work together,” Tracy Stone-Manning, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, said in the BLM’s press release. “We are committed to doing that work to finalize the final plan.”

After having previously expressed frustration over the short turn-around on the draft’s release and the comment period deadline, the Sweetwater County commissioners were grateful to hear that there would be extra time to comment on the draft.

“We’re very glad they’re doing it,” Commissioner Mary Thoman said of the extension. “Of course we’re excited.”

“It’s going to hopefully provide much more opportunity for public involvement in the process,” Commissioner Robb Slaughter added. “We believe that this is a big step for us.”

Slaughter explained that the extension will also give the county — and the attorneys the county is working with — more time to dig through the document’s 1,350 pages in order to “give more effective comments with respect to the areas that we see as problems.”

Commissioner Thoman also pointed out that more time is helpful in order to look at all four alternatives detailed in the draft. She explained that she spoke with Andrew Archuleta, the state director of BLM Wyoming, at a meeting last week, and he told her it was better to provide comments on all of the alternatives.

“That just quadruples our task,” Thoman said. “If they would have just selected a reasonable one we could focus on that, but we don’t know what they’re going to pick and choose from. So we kind of have to cover everything.”

The press release from the BLM noted that “in any resource management planning process, the final plan may mix and match portions from all the alternatives,” which is why specific feedback is helpful.

When it comes to the draft’s alternatives, the commissioners have spoken strongly against the BLM’s preferred Alternative B, which focuses on conservation, saying it would effectively destroy the economy of Sweetwater County. While Alternative D has been presented as a more balanced approach, many of the commissioners still have reservations regarding it.

“There were areas in Alternative D that we would be filing objections to and trying to get some amendments to,” Commissioner Slaughter explained.

The commissioners’ request for the BLM to withdraw the draft plan entirely is still seen as the preferable option.

“We believe that the best avenue is for the plan to be withdrawn so that, once again, it can be done in a more proactive manner,” Slaughter said. “And, once again, we can serve as cooperators on the plan rather than just having it forced upon us.”

Commissioner Thoman agreed it would be preferable for the draft to be withdrawn.

“Another reason for starting over is the fact that this is not a complete RMP,” she added. “They have left out the sage grouse, they’ve left out the wild horses, they’ve left out the grazing regulations, and the travel management plan. There are four pieces to this RMP that they’re going to tack on later. . . . It doesn’t make sense to do a piecemeal resource management plan.”

Despite her desire to see the draft withdrawn, Thoman expressed her belief that the BLM is unlikely to withdraw the draft or choose a different alternative. She believes the draft will likely need to be protested and fought over in the courts.

“We’re probably going to win it piece by piece if we get it overturned,” Thoman said.

The process leading to any potential protest will still be a lengthy one, the commissioners explained. The public comment period has now been extended from November 16 to January 17. After the period has ended, the BLM will go through the thousands of comments, determine which are substantive, and make responses to include in the plan’s appendix, Thoman explained.

“Who knows how long that will take them to do that,” she said.

Once that process is done, Slaughter added, the Governor’s office will do a consistency review, which is also “a very extensive process.” Only after the consistency review will there be an opportunity for the plan to be protested.

For now, the focus will be on continuing to provide feedback on the draft.

“This extension will allow Wyoming citizens additional opportunities for engagement in this important process,” Governor Gordon said in a press release.

The extension also gives more potential opportunities for public meetings and workshops for everyone to learn more about the draft and provide feedback.

“The Governor has directed the University of Wyoming’s Ruckelshaus Institute to convene workshops for stakeholders, including, but not limited to, local government officials, legislators, conservationists, grazing interests, hunters, recreationists, trona, oil and gas, and the general public to discuss the proposed alternatives identified in the plan and EIS,” a press release from the Governor’s office explained. “The UW School of Energy Resources and the College of Agriculture will assist in gathering and recording information for these workshops. The BLM has assured the Governor that they will participate in all the workshops to which they are invited. Additional information on these workshops will be forthcoming.”