LARAMIE – Conservation groups today announced a new proposal to protect 28,000 acres of high plains wilderness on Bureau of Land Management Lands northwest of Casper. The new proposed wilderness, called the South Fork of the Powder, stretches eastward from Notches across about 28,000 acres of public land, ten miles north of the community of Powder River. The area includes grassland breaks, flats, and rims dissected by intermittent waterways, with wooded domes at the western end and the South Fork of the Powder River near its eastern end. It is an area rich in wildlife, ranging from antelope to hawks and eagles, and including rare and sensitive wildlife like the sage grouse, mountain plover, and white-tailed prairie dog.

“Most of our wilderness areas today are in forest or alpine environments, with very little protected wilderness in our grasslands and deserts,” observed Erik Molvar, Wildlife Biologist with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “This area is a beautiful example of Wyoming’s shortgrass prairies, and its protection would add a new dimension not currently represented in the national wilderness system.”

"With the pace of Wyoming's accelerated energy development, every square foot of pristine Wyoming prairie lands should be spared from drilling rigs, new roads, and power- and pipelines,” added Liz Howell, Director of the Wyoming Wilderness Association. “Many are finding that the best key we have to lasting protection is Wilderness designation."

The Bureau of Land Management is currently revising its Casper Resource Management Plan, which covers the lands in the wilderness proposal. The conservation groups called for the BLM to protect the outstanding natural qualities of the South Fork of the Powder unit from industrial development through the new Casper RMP.

"There are many avenues available to the BLM to protect this valuable wilderness resource," said Nada Culver of The Wilderness Society. "This agency has repeatedly told us that they can and will protect wilderness values, and federal courts have ruled that the BLM has to consider citizens' wilderness proposals when deciding how to manage public lands. We've seen BLM field offices in Colorado, Arizona and elsewhere in Wyoming evaluating wilderness values and coming up with ways to protect them.  The Casper BLM should do the same for the South Fork of the Powder."

“This area is part of the Hole-in-the-Wall core area, one of the ten highest priority areas for conservation identified by the Northern Plains Conservation Network, a diverse coalition of conservation groups ranging from the World Wildlife Fund to the Denver Zoo,” added Molvar. “This entire Hole-in-the-Wall area is a world-class grassland system which deserves to be prioritized for long-term conservation.”

Other important issues in the plan include whether the BLM will strengthen its current ineffective wildlife protections, whether the BLM will require cutting-edge oil and gas techniques to reduce impacts to the land, and the potential for selling off over 120,000 acres of BLM-administered public lands, primarily in Platte, Goshen, and eastern Converse Counties. The BLM will be accepting public comments on the Casper RMP, which guides the management of over 1.4 million acres of public land in central Wyoming, through Thursday, October 19th.

Photographs of the proposed wilderness avaialable upon request.

Erik Molvar, Wildlife Biologist, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, (307) 742-7978
Liz Howell, Director, Wyoming Wilderness Association, (307) 672-2751
Nada Culver, The Wilderness Society, (303) 807-6918