SWEETWATER COUNTY — The Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners will likely decide if it will send a letter supporting the rescission of a 2024 Department of the Interior rule Tuesday.
The commissioners will consider sending a letter to Bill Groffy, principal deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management about the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, which the DOI intends to rescind.
“Sweetwater County is home to a diverse mix of industries, land users, and communities that rely heavily on public lands for mining, energy production, grazing, and access to natural resources. Our residents value public land and have long proven to be among its best stewards,” the letter states.
The county says the 2024 rule elevated conservation as non-use and claims the interpretation is inconsistent with the Federal Land Policy Management Act’s multiple use and sustained yield mandated, while threatening to “undermine the careful balance Congress directed the (BLM) to maintain.”
The county also alleges the rule conflicts with certain executive and secretarial orders issued by the Trump Administration, saying the rule’s rescission would comply with those directives by removing barriers to energy and mineral development.
The commissioners meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Sweetwater County Courthouse in Green River. The meeting is open to the public and will be streamed on the county’s YouTube channel. A full agenda can be found here.
