The Bureau of Land Management Lander Field Office has released its Draft Resource Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for the Wind River Basin. This draft is available for your review here. Until January 20^th, you have the opportunity to comment on the plan and have a say in how the Wind River Basin is managed for the next 15 years and beyond.

The BLM is offering the public a number of opportunities to engage directly in the comment period. They have organized several public commenting workshops and public meetings during the 90-day comment period. The commenting workshops, to be held Sept. 19-21, will focus on how to formulate effective comments and will feature a presentation and question and answer session about commenting and navigating the document.

West central Wyoming is a geologically young land of sharply defined mountains and broad plains lying at the heart of the Wind River Basin. Earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciers, wind and water have all played a role in shaping this land. The Wind River Mountains form the west boundary, the Absaroka and Owl Mountains stretch across the north. The Red Desert of the Great Basin dominate the southern view while to the east the landscape is dominated by a vista fading away into the Great Plains.

The place names of this land tell of the geology, the history and the people of the area. Crowheart Butte, Dubois Badlands, Popo Agie River, Poison Creek, Fremont County, Sweetwater River, Red Rock Canyon and Lysite Badlands are just a few of the descriptive names used to describe this land. Human inhabitants have been as varied as the landscape. The Eastern Shoshoni and Northern Arapaho tribes were early to the land. Mountain men in search of fur rendezvoused in the area during the early 1800's. The westward expansion of our country flowed through South Pass at the southern end of the Wind River Mountains. From this great migration of people came soldiers, miners, cattle ranchers and settlers, some who stayed and attempted to shape the land to their benefit. This was not and is not an easy task. This region occupies elevations raging from about 5,000 feet to over 10,000 feet and characterized by temperatures ranging from 40 degrees below zero to 100 degrees above. Precipitation in the Basin averages nearly 14 inches a year, most of which comes as winter snow.

Geology, soils, water and climate have shaped the vegetation of the land, in turn determining wildlife populations. The Wind River Basin is known as being one of the richest wildlife areas in the West. These particular habitats are home to pronghorn, elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, moose, various raptor species, as well as larger predators such as wolves and grizzly bears. Trout are also abundant in the cold water streams of the Basin. The US Fish and Wildlife Service, in 2010, characterized the southern Wind River Basin as one of the “two most important remaining areas of contiguous range essential for the long-term persistence of greater sage-grouse.” This, without mentioning that the largest herd of wintering Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in North America inhabits much of the 135,070 acre Whiskey Mountain Bighorn Sheep Management Area near Dubois.

The social and economic fabric of the land has changed with the years. Grazing and agricultural interests; gold, coal, uranium and steel miners; developers and producers of oil and gas (especially in the Lysite area); activities on the Wind River Indian Reservation; and timber interests have all left their mark on the land. In recent years there have been significant changes in how people value the land. Some of the changes include increases in small business operations, tourism, recreation, environmental education, and retirement communities

Be sure to check the Wyoming Wilderness Association website for updates on the Lander Draft RMP/EIS.

Contact Tony Ferlisi, WWA BLM Outreach Coordinator with any questions:

Email: tony@wildwyo.org

Phone: (307)690-3952

Dubois Badlands