In 2023, the Bureau of Land Management released its Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Rock Springs Field Office. The public comment period for this document has been extended to January 17, 2024. The additional time gives local stakeholders who use and enjoy the lands within the Rock Springs BLM management area the opportunity to shape an acceptable, well-reasoned final proposal.
Governor Mark Gordon has formed a task force charged with developing recommendations for revising the Draft RMP to meet the interests of Wyoming stakeholders. The task force is composed of 11 members representing various interest groups, listed below.
The task force will incorporate public input from a series of interactive workshops organized by the University of Wyoming’s Ruckelshaus Institute along with the UW College of Agriculture, Life Sciences, and Natural Resources, the UW School of Energy Resources, and the Wyoming County Commissioners Association.
Click here to visit the BLM's Rock Springs Resource Management Plan NEPA page
The Governor’s Task Force, representing multiple Wyoming interests, will cooperatively develop recommendations for responsible and durable management of the Rock Springs Management Area of Southwest Wyoming.
It will accomplish this through mutual education; transparency in process; fostering communication between interests; and identifying, evaluating, and recommending options that will balance the needs of the many stakeholders involved.
Recommendations will be submitted to the Governor and the Bureau of Land Management, and made available to the public.
As they become available, summaries from each task force meeting will be posted here.
Although it is recognized that task force members have multiple interests and may participate in discussions from various perspectives, task force members broadly represent the following organizations and interest groups:
Each member of the task force is supported by up to three advisors who will attend the meetings and provide counsel to the voting members. The legislative advisors are listed below.
November 17, 2023 — Rock Springs, Wyoming
Western Wyoming Community College, Room 3650
2500 College Dr, Rock Springs, WY 82901 (map, diagram, photo)
Park in the south lot, enter the Wellness Center through door #5, go past the pool
and up the stairs
November 18, 2023 — Green River, Wyoming
Western Wyoming Community College Green River Center, JWP (John Wesley Powell) Room
206
1 College Way, Green River, WY 82935 (map)
November 18, 2023 — Farson, Wyoming
Eden Valley Community Center
4039 US-191, Farson, WY 82932 (map)
These initial public workshops will inform a governor-appointed stakeholder task force, which will develop recommendations to be delivered to the Governor and BLM in January.
Task force members will attend these public workshops to hear directly from the public.
A report on the public workshop, including major themes, the complete raw data, and results from the workshop evaluation, will be available December 11, 2023.
View southwest from the Prospect Mountains at sunset.
In addition to sharing your input via the public workshops, you may submit input to the governor's task force using this form. Input submitted here will go to the governor's task force and not to the BLM. If you would like to submit a comment directly to the BLM, find more information about how to do so in the section below.
Outside of the public meetings, which will gather input to inform the governor's task force in drafting its recommendations on the Rock Springs RMP, citizens are also encouraged to submit individual comments directly to the BLM. Here, we offer guidance and resources on how to comment effectively.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to consider the effects of their actions on the environment, including interrelated social, cultural, and economic effects. This environmental review process has two major purposes:
In accordance with NEPA, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has opened a comment period on its Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Rock Springs Field Office. The deadline to comment is January 17, 2024.
Comments may be the most important contribution from citizens because they promote informed decision making. Comments should:
Commenting is not a form of “voting” on an alternative. The number of positive or negative comments an agency receives does not determine the final action. Agencies typically respond collectively to numerous comments that repeat the same basic message of support or opposition.
If you think the proposed action will have a significant environmental effect, explain why the issues you raise are significant to the consideration of potential environmental impacts and alternatives to the proposed action. General comments that state an action will have “significant environmental effects” will not help an agency make a better decision unless the comment explains the relevant causes and environmental effects.
In drafting comments, focus on the purpose and need of the proposed action, the proposed alternatives, the assessment of the environmental impacts of those alternatives, and the proposed mitigation.
This information was adapted from A Citizen's Guide to NEPA: Having Your Voice Heard, Council on Environmental Quality, Executive Office of the President, 2021.
On behalf of Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon's office, the following entities are facilitating these public workshops in the capacity of neutral convenors: