A dispute over a U.S. Forest Service land exchange involving a remote parcel of land that some call “a hunter’s paradise” in the Laramie Range mountains was settled — until it wasn’t.
The controversial Britania Land Exchange got the final green light from the Forest Service last month.
But this week, some adjacent landowners and other interested parties filed a petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming to stop the exchange.
‘Hidden Oasis’
At stake is 1,297 acres in the Green Mountains. Curt Artery of Wheatland described it to Cowboy State Daily as an extremely rugged, remote, game-rich “hidden oasis” that provides access to equally beautiful adjacent public lands.
The Britania land exchange will swap that for 804 acres in two parcels owned by the Broe Group, a private investment company based in Denver. One of those parcels farther north at the base of the Laramie Range, is also in Albany County. The other is in Carbon County.
Trading away the Green Mountain parcel could cut off access not only to it, but the adjoining public lands as well, Artery said.
The petition was signed by his brother, attorney Brian Artery of Wheatland, representing Artery Bros., Inc., an adjacent property owner.
Brian Artery on Friday told Cowboy State Daily that the petition had been filed in response to the Forest Service’s final decision issued last month. Because it’s an ongoing legal matter, he said he couldn’t offer any comment.
A Raw Deal?
The Artery brothers and others claim the exchange is a raw deal. The land the Forest Service is getting in exchange is at lower altitudes, will likely draw more traffic and doesn’t have nearly as much wildlife as the land the agency is giving in exchange, they argue.
The Green Mountain parcel and adjoining lands are home to bighorn sheep – for which hunting tags are highly coveted.
The petition was filed on behalf of not only the Artery brothers, but another “50 individuals” who have a stake in the Green Mountain area remaining under Forest Service jurisdiction, according to court documents.
“For more than 65 years, the Public Land Block has been accessed and used by the members of the Artery family, their guests and invitees for activities such as camping, hiking, backpacking, big game and wild turkey hunting, wildlife viewing, photography, and shed antler hunting,” the petition states.
“Petitioner brings this action on behalf of itself and its directors/officers, shareholders, their families, guests and invitees, who derive aesthetic, recreational, emotional, and spiritual benefits from accessing the Federal Lands, the larger Public Land Block and the public resources thereon,” it continues.
Forest Service Says It Was Right Choice
But the proposed exchange would increase public access on the parcels that the Forest Service would get, as well as access on adjoining federal land, the agency claims.
Most people who offered public comments regarding the exchange were in support of it, Aaron Voos, spokesman for the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, told Cowboy State Daily.
But the Forest Service didn’t allow for adequate public input and didn’t give enough consideration to dissenting views before making its decision, the Artery brothers and other opponents claim.
“Petitioners have engaged with the Forest Service, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WYG&F), local governments, and wildlife and public land interest groups concerning the Britania LEX, including by submitting comments and objecting to the process, decisions, information dissemination, and non-involvement of the public, and expressing concerns about permanent loss of public land habitat for bighorn sheep, elk, and mule deer and hunting opportunities for these species, as a result of the Respondents’ actions,” the petition states.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
