LARAMIE – Conservation groups today announced a Laramie public hearing on the Bureau of Land Management's Jack Morrow Hills Coordinated Activity Plan, which covers some of the most spectacular wilderness and most sensitive wildlife habitats in the Red Desert. This long-term management plan covers 620,000 acres of public lands, and the agency is currently taking public comments on how these lands should be managed for the next 20 years. The hearing on these lands is being sponsored by Friends of the Red Desert, a coalition of conservation groups committed to protecting the Red Desert’s unique and spectacular landscapes, and increasing public involvement in the management of public lands.

The hearing will be held on Wednesday, May 7th, at the Albany County Public Library in Laramie. All members of the public are welcome to attend and will have an equal opportunity to voice their opinions. The hearing will be videotaped, Bureau of Land Management officials will be in attendance, and transcripts will be submitted to the BLM as official public comments on the 20-year plan.

"We petitioned the BLM to hold a hearing in Laramie, since the fate of public lands in the Red Desert is important to many people in the local area. But the agency refused to schedule a meeting," said Erik Molvar of Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. "Concerned citizens in the local area will finally get a chance to make their voices heard."

The lands managed under the Jack Morrow Hills plan contain important wilderness lands like the Pinnacles, Oregon Buttes, Honeycomb Buttes, and Killpecker Sand Dunes. Native American sacred sites like the Boar’s Tusk and White Mountain petroglyphs are found here. This area also contains wild horses, major pronghorn herds, and one of the only desert elk herds in the West. The BLM’s preferred alternative would open the area to drilling 205 gas wells and 50 coalbed methane wells, and would provide no additional protection for wilderness-quality lands.