On December 20, the BLM signed the Record of Decision for the Rock Springs Resource Management plan - the final step for updating management guidelines for 3.6 million acres in southwest Wyoming. This plan revision has been over a decade in the making and will continue to be the blueprint for BLM decision making in the area for at least the next two decades. This plan includes much needed updates from the previous plan that has been in place since 1997.
The Wyoming Wildlife Federation has been working with various partners, including local, state, and federal entities, hunters and anglers, and others since 2010 to help shape a plan that would support wildlife and habitat conservation as well as the communities that rely on public BLM lands for their livelihoods. The BLM received and reviewed nearly 40,000 public comments in creating this plan - a testament to the importance of the public lands in this area for Wyomingites and all Americans.
“We are particularly encouraged to see that the agency incorporated many of the recommendations from the Governor’s task force and the vast majority of the requests from the Greater Little Mountain Coalition. These management decisions enjoy broad support overall and were built by collaborative decision making from a wide array of stakeholders across the state.” said WWF Policy Director, Nat Paterson