Hello Friends -

The Bureau of Land Management is currently revising its long-range management plan for the 4.7 million acres of public land in the Great Divide area, which includes the eastern half of Wyoming's world renowned Red Desert.

The Bureau of Land Management will be holding public meetings on the Great Divide management plan February 7-10 in Rock Springs, Baggs, Rawlins, and Laramie, offering a great opportunity for you--as American citizens and owners of these wildlands--to get involved and demand sensitive lands and wildlife receive the protection they need!  It would be great to have an overwhelming show of public support for conservation of the Great Divide at these public meetings! Please attend one of the public meetings listed above and speak out during the hearing.  And better yet, if you need or can offer a ride, contact Travis Murphy at BCA, (307) 761-2898 or (307)742-7978. or email: maggie@voiceforthewild.org as soon as possible. We are organizing ride shares and vans to the public meetings from around northern Colorado (Fort Collins, Steamboat Springs & Craig) and all of Wyoming!  If you can attend only one meeting please plan to come to Baggs!

A Background on the Great Divide

Desert wildlands with sculpted badlands, island mountain ranges, and important habitats for wild horses, ferruginous hawks, mountain plovers, elk, and black-footed ferrets can all be found in the Great Divide region of south-central Wyoming.  It includes spectacular wilderness like the pillars and battlements of Adobe Town and the uplands and canyons of Wild Cow Creek

The Bureau of Land Management currently manages 4.7 million acres of public lands and minerals in this area under the Great Divide Plan. Over the past decade, the BLM has managed these lands almost exclusively for oil, gas, and coal extraction, and has done little to protect its natural wonders.

In its preferred alternative, the BLM proposes to open over 90% of these public lands to industrial-scale oil and gas drilling, and drill over six times as many wells under the new plan as are allowed under the existing one, when drilling is already proceeding at a record pace. Sensitive big game winter ranges and migration corridors, important habitats for rare wildlife would continue to get only the token protection of seasonal restrictions, which allow industrialization of the most fragile areas as long as construction occurs during less sensitive times of year.

And under the agency's preferred alternative, important parts of Adobe Town would be opened to drilling, while potential wilderness in the Pedro Mountains and Wild Cow Creek would not even be considered for protection. The plan also fails to protect almost 3,000 identified respected places that are important to Native Americans, archeologists, and trails enthusiasts, hundreds of which are eligible for designation on the National Register of Historic Places.

Additionally, air pollution in the Great Divide area would double, threatening air quality in protected areas and increasing levels of acid rain. Water quality would be degraded in many areas due to surface discharge of toxic coalbed methane wastewater, and many of the wide open spaces that characterize this heart of the Wild West would be industrialized. In essence, the agency proposes to endorse the same heavy-handed drilling methods as always, with six times as much drilling.

For more information, visit our website at http://voiceforthewild.org/greatdivide/index.html.