ROCK SPRINGS – The Rock Springs City Council unanimously approved sending a letter to the director of Bureau of Land Management tonight, seeking the withdrawal of the BLM’s current proposal and to replace it with one supported by residents and stakeholders. The letter was written by Mayor Max Mickelson.
“Because the BLM went against the recommendation of the working group, we’re asking they hold the whole process,” Mickelson said during the Council meeting.
The Council joins the Sweetwater County commissioners and Gov. Mark Gordon in asking for the proposed Resource Management Plan’s withdrawal and its replacement with an alternative that utilizes more local input.
“We stand with Governor Gordon with our hope that this RMP will withstand careful legal and public examination,” the letter states. “That being said, we again request that this draft be withdrawn, and a new Preferred Alternative be drafted, which heavily contemplates the 12 years of collaborative and cooperative input from every agency involved in the process.”
The Council’s letter is critical of the BLM’s Preferred Alternative and its conservation goals, calling it “a means to an end with regard to Sweetwater County’s economic, industry, and recreational climates.”
The letter also requests a comment period extension be granted if the request for withdrawal is denied. The proposed end date for comments would be March 15, 2024, an additional 120 days beyond the 90-day comment period set to expire Nov. 16.
The Council asked for a response from the BLM’s Washington, D.C. office by Oct. 17.
The Council also received a letter regarding the BLM’s proposal from the Wyoming Mining Association. Addressed to the BLM, the letter also seeks the RMP’s withdrawal. The letter was written by Travis Deti, the association’s executive director, and the letter is heavily critical of the BLM’s proposal.
“The RMP is flawed at the outset, both substantively and procedurally,” the letter states. “Most of the baseline data is at least a decade old. The BLM doesn’t even include recent EIS information for mineral development.”
The mining association also alleges the RMP disregards the wild horse management issues and is inconsistent with the BLM’s planning regulations and the National Environmental Policy Act. Beyond the withdrawal of the draft RMP, the mining association also seeks a longer public comment period of at least 180 days as the 90-day period is too short to review the amount of information in the RMP.
Appointments
Three appointments were also made to city boards during the Council’s meeting.
Leon Wolfwalker was reappointed to the city’s Building Code Appeals Board for a second term.
Lena Warren was appointed to her first term on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. She replaces Larron Moretti, whose second term expires Oct. 18.
The third placement was Liz Strannigan for her second term on the Rock Springs Historical Museum’s Board.
