Dear editor:
For generations, the Greater Little Mountain area of the Bureau of Land Management’s Rock Springs Field Office has served as a hunting, fishing, and recreational paradise for Wyoming sportspeople.
That’s why a coalition of community members, local officials, and sportspeople’s orgs have worked for over a decade to develop a balanced proposal that conserves this outstanding landscape for future generations while allowing for thoughtful development.
The Greater Little Mountain Coalition and its membership value these lands for their economic importance to our communities, the habitat they provide for mule deer, elk, and other fish and wildlife species, and the recreation opportunities they afford to so many others in Wyoming.
It has been over 13 years since scoping began for the BLM Rock Springs Resource Management Plan revision process, and we should see a final Record of Decision by the end of the year.
Our efforts to build a broad coalition that represents the diverse interests of southwest Wyoming has allowed our management proposal for the Greater Little Mountain Area to not only be included by BLM in the proposed RMP, but also be endorsed by the Governor’s Task Force recommendations to the BLM during the comment period in early 2024.
The RMP isn’t perfect, yet we appreciate the enormous task the BLM undertook to review and respond to tens of thousands of comments.
Failing to finalize this RMP would waste the years of hard work that the GLMC and many others have invested in this planning effort.
Further, it would mean that the current management plan, which dates to 1997, would remain in place for an unacceptably longer period of time.
It is essential that we move forward with updated management for Greater Little Mountain that reflects current needs and conditions.
We ask the BLM to double down on its efforts to meet the needs of Wyoming’s local committees as it finalizes the plan and commit to work with stakeholders on issues that may arise throughout plan implementation. It’s time to finalize the RMP.
Sincerely,
Greater Little Mountain Coalition Partners:
Steve Martin, Bowhunters of Wyoming
Monte Morlock, United Steelworkers Local 13214
Joshua Coursey, Muley Fanatic Foundation
Joy Bannon, Wyoming Wildlife Federation
Craig Thompson, Landowner
Josh Metten Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Leslie Steen, Trout Unlimited
