Mayor Mickelson, Sen. Kolb urge public to speak at BLM meeting: ‘It’s just a death blow to Wyoming’

A public meeting, which will focus on the Rock Springs Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and the RMP, will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 3 – 6 p.m., at the BLM Rock Springs Field Office, located at 280 Highway 191 North.

The 90-day public comment period, regarding the DEIS and RMP, began on Aug. 18 and ends on Nov. 16.

This plan will update management decisions about Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, oil and gas development, lands and realty, and renewable energy for the following counties: Sweetwater, Fremont, Lincoln, Uinta and Carbon.

The draft includes four alternatives for managing the field office’s resources:

• Alternative A is the “no action” alternative, which would be a continuation of the existing 1997 Green River Resource Management Plan. That plan balances protection of resource values with the use and development of resources.
• Alternative B emphasizes resource conservation with constraints on resource uses and is the “Agency Preferred Alternative.”
• Alternative C emphasizes resource use and of the four, proposes the least restrictive management actions for energy and commodity development.
• Alternative D sits somewhere in the middle of B and C; it’s less restrictive on resource use than Alternative B while also having a greater conservation focus than Alternative C.

During council discussion, Mayor Max Mickelson stated that if BLM goes “with their preferred plan, it essentially prohibits 3.6 million acres of all human use in Sweetwater County.”

“No hunting, no camping, no side-by-sides, no mining; it completely obliterates economic development. It is extremely critical that everybody use their voice to tell them that is not what we want as a community or as a society,” said Mickelson, referring to the Sept. 27 meeting. “I think it's very important that as many people as possible not only provide their written comment but show up in person to let them know that.”

Mickelson expressed that BLM’s preferred plan, which is Alternative B, “is not our preferred plan” and that a big part of why Wyomingites live here is “to have that access to those open spaces.”

Councilman Tim Robinson hopes that people who “use those lands” will be pushed to speak, as well.

“I don’t have a side-by-side, but I walk my dogs in the desert all the time and when I’m out there, I see a lot of side-by-sides,” said Robinson. “I see people recreating and doing the things they love to do. I think this is one of those cases where enough people know that those opportunities may be limited, then they’ll definitely show up to the meetings.

“So, by all means, be there.”

Councilman Larry Hickerson said that he is fan of Alternative A, where no action is done.

“We should just use this land as we need it” Hickerson said.

While the RMP “is not riveting reading,” according to Mickelson, he revealed that a summary page breaks down the acreage and the restrictions.

Mickelson admitted that he hadn’t had enough interaction with BLM to know or guess what their motives are but believes “it is a fundamental assault on our entire way of life.”

“It is a gross overreach of their duties,” Mickelson mentioned, noting that BLM is “very proud of the fact that those 3.6 million acres would be available and set aside for the wild horses.”

“There are some people who are huge fans, but that is an invasive species,” Mickelson pointed out, saying that the wild horses did very well this winter at the expense of ranchers. “I don't think that we need a 3.6 million acres wild horse preserve here in Sweetwater County.”

Councilman Brent Bettolo agreed, saying that on Sunday, Sept. 3, he was out in the desert.

“I saw one antelope, but I saw plenty of horses in those 100 miles of desert,” said Bettolo. “To have our way of life change like that is...I can’t believe this is a question.”

“It shows a pretty severe disconnect between the community they’re supposed to be a part of and supporting and their plans for it,” said Mickelson.

Robinson added that he thought “the economic impact alone would just be absolutely counter-productive to whatever they’re trying to accomplish.”

Sen. John Kolb, Senate District 12, spoke to the council regarding the RMP, which he considers “a devastatingly bad choice for Wyoming and certainly for us in Wyoming.”

Kolb said, “It will in fact change our way of life. It will destroy our revenue. Anybody who wants some sort of service, you can probably forget that because we're not going to have any revenue if we lose our minerals extracted revenue combined with our way of life. I think it's just a death blow to Wyoming.”

Kolb is a member of the Select Federal Natural Resource Management Committee.

“We are going to make a recommendation, but we also, as a committee, want input from the people that are, in this case, directly affected from this proposal such as the city of Rock Springs, the county commission, Sweetwater County, the governor's office; all those folks are important players for hearing what you have to say,” Kolb urged. “It is a big change. It's monumental and it's going to be the template for the future. I see it as a devastating blow to our economy and to the way of life.”

Rock Springs resident Fred von Ahrens spoke on behalf of Genesis-Alkali, informing the council that as an industry they’re going to push back, as well.

“We're going to hire a consultant to be able to prepare our arguments. I'm also very active with the legislative body, working on growth in Southwest Wyoming,” said von Ahrens, noting that his company has a lot of support from legislators and the governor.“We're really looking at Terra Power, carbon capture; there are many, many growth opportunities.We're just wrapping up our expansion at Genesis and Exxon’s in the middle of their expansion. We've got other huge expansions coming our way. We're going to have a coalition to do everything we can to get a voice of reason in this plan.”

Kolb said, “It’s a power grab from Washington. That’s as simple as an explanation that I've come up with.

“I stand here firmly again ‘B.’ I think it’s an encroachment on our civil liberties, on our way of life and our future, my future, my children's future, and yours.”