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Senator Urges Reversal of Rock Springs Resource Plan; Bureau Official Says Comments, Task Force Under Review
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Summary
A senator told a bureau official the Rock Springs resource management plan would 'lock up millions of acres' and faces broad state opposition; the official said the bureau extended the comment period, worked with the governor and is considering task-force recommendations before a final decision.
An unidentified senator pressed Miss Stone about the bureau's Rock Springs resource management plan, saying the proposal "will devastate the people of South of Southwest Wyoming" and "lock up millions of acres" that local communities and the state rely on. The senator said the governor, state legislature, county commissioners and local communities "all strongly oppose this plan" and asked why those objections were being ignored.
Miss Stone responded that the plan is currently a draft, noting there was "a lot of hyperbole about, facts, that were not true about the plan." She said the bureau has conducted outreach to constituents, extended the public comment period and worked with the governor. "He stood up a task force, and those folks got to walk in the shoes of our BLM and, field staff in Rock Springs, to give us recommendations for, for the final," she said, adding that the bureau is "digging in, looking at those recommendations" and that she was "certain that Wyomingites will, see their voices reflected in the final."
In a brief follow-up, the senator said he hoped "the BLM does not dig in but actually reverses course, on this issue," restating his concern that the plan would lock up land relied on by local communities.
Why it matters: the exchange captures a dispute over the scope and impact of a federal resource-management draft plan that, if finalized as described by the senator, could change land use across parts of Wyoming. The bureau official described ongoing public engagement and a task-force review that she said will inform the final plan.
What happens next: Miss Stone said the bureau is reviewing task-force recommendations and public comments before publishing a final plan; the transcript does not show a timeline for that decision or any formal vote by a legislative or executive body.
Sources: Direct quotes in this article come from the hearing transcript. The senator is identified only as 'Senator' in the record; the bureau official is addressed as 'Miss Stone.'
