Photo by Elaine Haberland

Legislators are meeting on Tuesday, August 27, in Jackson, to discuss Game and Fish funding—tell your friends and please attend if you can!

By Richard Garrett, Jr.
Your voice for conservation at the Wyoming State Legislature

You can help make a difference for the future of Wyoming’s wildlife and wildlife management with a quick email to some key legislators in advance of an important meeting on Tuesday in Jackson.

And if you can attend the meeting in person, too, that’s even better!

What and Where:

The Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife, and Cultural Resources Interim Committee will meet to discuss Wyoming Game and Fish Department funding and revenues at 8:30 a.m., August  27th, at the Teton Mountain Lodge in Teton Village (Jackson Hole) in the Four Pines Room.

How You Can Help:

Can you attend? Great! If not, you can send an email message to committee members in support of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (see below for clickable names and email addresses for committee members).

Suggestions for Your Email Message:

Make the subject of your message something like: “Please support Wyoming wildlife and the Game & Fish Department.”

Tell the representatives who you are and why this is important to you. Brief messages are best, with bullet points if possible.

Some example bullets:

• Our state’s wildlife is essential to our economy, our natural heritage, and our way of life—our wildlife must continue to be professionally managed.
• The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has streamlined its operation, managed costs, and trimmed personnel.
• Because of inflation, the department has suffered a 13 percent reduction in funding over the last five years.
• Modest license fee increases are necessary. A broad range of hunters and anglers support these increases. As a legislator, your support is crucial.
• Other funding resources, including a contributor’s license, should also be considered. This would allow those who don’t hunt or fish to support our state’s wildlife management.

Who to Email:

Members of the Travel, Recreation, Wildlife, and Cultural Resources Interim Committee.

Senate:

Bruce Burns (Chair) – Bruce.Burns@wyoleg.gov

Paul Barnard – Paul.Barnard@wyoleg.gov

Leland Christensen – Leland.Christensen@wyoleg.gov

Bernadine Craft – Bernadine.Craft@wyoleg.gov

Ogden Driskill – Ogden.Driskill@wyoleg.gov

House:

Kathy Davison (Chair) – Kathy.Davison@wyoleg.gov

David Blevins – David.Blevins@wyoleg.gov

John Freeman – John.Freeman@wyoleg.gov

Gerald Gay – gerald.gay@wyoleg.gov

Marti Halverson – Marti.Halverson@wyoleg.gov

Lynn Hutchings – Lynn.Hutchings@wyoleg.gov

Allen Jaggi – Allen.Jaggi@wyoleg.gov

Samuel Krone – Samuel.Krone@wyoleg.gov

Garry Piiparinen – Garry.Piiparinen@wyoleg.gov

Photo by Hap Ridgway

Background: Why We Support Better Funding for Game and Fish

Wyoming’s wildlife is an important and irreplaceable part of this state’s—and our nation’s—natural heritage. In order for it to persist and thrive, Wyoming’s wildlife must continue to be professionally and expertly managed.

The Game and Fish Department has worked hard to meet its obligation to conserve wildlife and serve people in a variety of ways. The Department has streamlined its workforce, implemented cost control measures on vehicle operations and purchases, and restructured to better manage workload and personnel placement.

The agency has also committed to cutting its 2013 budget by 3 percent.

And because of the way that the Legislature evaluates the Game and Fish Department’s resources and approves its license fees (once every five years on average) the Department’s operating fund has decreased by approximately 4 percent.

When adjusted for inflation this is a 13 percent reduction in funds to carry out programs essential to the department and Wyoming’s wildlife.

Without a funding increase, the Game and Fish Department’s budget shortfall will damage its programs and services.

The Wyoming Legislature must do its part and make sure that Wyoming’s wildlife and habitat persist, thrive, and remain world-class for future generations.

Other posts you might want to see:

Join Our Annual Meeting and Red Desert Expedition!

Why Even Rugged Individualists Should Embrace Federal Fracking Regulations

Fixing Haze Pollution: Wyoming People Deserve the Facts

Snapshots from our Red Desert Camping Trip!

Don’t Miss this Year’s Fun and Engaging Annual Meeting!

September 8, 2013 

By Julia Stuble, land conservation coordinator

Come out for our annual meeting and then explore the Red Desert. You won’t be disappointed!

You’ll get the latest conservation news, as well as updates on our exciting Red Desert work.

After that, you can explore the Red Desert with Outdoor Council staff, board, and area experts:

• We will meet from 8-9:30 a.m., Sunday September 8, at the Hampton Inn in Rock Springs.
• Then, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., we’ll take an expedition into the Red Desert to visit the White Mountain petroglyphs and Boar’s Tusk, and then hike the Killpecker Sand Dunes.

For more information and to R.S.V.P, please contact Julia Stuble, land conservation coordinator, (307) 332 7031 ext.11 or julia@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org

This past weekend we hosted an overnight camping trip and photography workshops in the Red Desert’s Honeycomb Buttes.

A special thanks to professional photographer Kathy Lichtendahl, who led the excellent workshops!

Click on any of the images below to see the photos in a larger slideshow format.

All photos by Kathy Lichtendahl.

The Honeycomb Buttes in the northern Red Desert are a colorful and textured landscape; perfect both for exploration and photography.

By Amber Wilson, environmental quality coordinator

Think of Wyoming. Now think of federal environmental rules. The first thing that might come to mind if you know this state is something along the lines of a scuffle, to put it lightly.

Wyoming has a proud tradition and culture of rugged individualism.

Our elected officials, almost universally, favor locally grown answers to Wyoming’s problems—and tend to have great disdain for D.C.-based “solutions.”

And we, as a state, have a well-deserved reputation of setting our own course when it comes to governing.

But I’d like to make the case for why the federal Bureau of Land Management’s proposed hydraulic fracturing rules can and should be embraced by even Wyoming’s most rugged individualists.

And why the citizens of Wyoming should not only support these federal rules but also help to make them stronger.

The BLM’s draft regulations, released in May, would require—with exemptions for “trade secrets”—the disclosure of the chemicals injected underground during hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands and also set stronger nationwide standards for well-bore integrity and the handling and management of “flowback” (waste) water, among other things.

The proposed regulations would lay a broad foundation for ensuring groundwater nationwide is protected during the fracking process. Critics of the proposed rules have said they are redundant and that the states can provide effective supervision themselves.

But despite this push-back from some state leaders, the reality is that at the state level, we don’t have all of the protections offered in the proposed BLM rule. And even if these protections were part of a state policy, the same benefits would be impossible when applied at the state scale.

There’s a simple reason for this. Because state regulations vary, some rules are more effective than others, some can be riddled with loopholes, and many more states still lack regulations altogether.

This brings up the most important point: problems created in a groundwater source or with air quality won’t restrict themselves to the political boundaries in which they were created.

A state could have perfect regulations, but if another state doesn’t create those same or similar regulations and pollutes a shared water source or degrades the quality of a shared airshed as a result, there is a gap that state policy alone cannot fill.

This federal rule would help bridge that gap and boost the states’ protections for public health—namely through groundwater protection.

Thus, while it is important for states to develop their own regulations for fracking (e.g. Wyoming is currently developing a highly valuable and important baseline testing rule), a federal fracking rule is a vital safety net for ensuring a consistent, reliable, minimum standard as states continue to build and strengthen their own regulations.

The BLM’s proposed rule is intended to serve as a minimum standard for all states. The agency proposes to still allow individual states to implement their own stronger rules if they choose, but also to serve as a safety net for the public in states where local rules are insufficiently protective.

Click here or on the image below to comment now!

Public Involvement: Vital for Creating the Right Rule

The BLM’s proposed regulations for hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands are essential, but—as is the case with any draft environmental regulation—it can and should be improved before it is made final.

There are several components of the proposed rule that the Wyoming Outdoor Council is urging the BLM to revise in order to ensure that people and the environment are protected.

The public can comment on the draft rule until August 23, 2013.

This is the time in which any member of the public can write to the BLM and express support and/or concern for the rule or parts of it, and help the agency ultimately create a rule that is as effective as possible.

The Wyoming Outdoor Council is participating in this process and submitting detailed comments to the BLM in an effort to help improve the rule. We encourage all citizens, if you are able, to do the same.

Click here to comment now! The formal title of the rule is: Oil and Gas; Hydraulic Fracturing on Federal and Indian Lands

Here are some points you might consider making:

• The proposed rule has no requirement for operators to disclose chemicals, even to the BLM, that the operators classify as trade secrets – there should be a requirement for the BLM to verify any trade secret claims before they are withheld from the public.
• The proposed rule lists FracFocus.org as the primary disclosure venue for hydraulic fracturing fluid constituents. We believe this is a serious flaw. FracFocus is not an independent, public interest website. The BLM should create its own, independent, nonpartisan venue for disclosure, one that is subject to government oversight, and that the public can trust in perpetuity.
• Chemical disclosure of fracking fluids should happen before fracking operations, not after as the proposed rule reads.
• Baseline and post-drilling water testing should be required. Neither is currently included in the proposed rule.
• “Type well” testing (testing only the integrity of one well and using the results of that test for all wells deemed similar to it)—suggested in the proposed rule as a means of reducing operator time spent testing well integrity—are not an appropriate shortcut. The process for determining similarity between wells is not outlined in the proposed rule. Given the importance of ensuring the integrity of each production well and the subjectivity of determining well similarities, it is more responsible for operators to perform well integrity tests on each production well they drill.
• The proposed rule does not require the disclosure of the chemicals in flowback fluids—it should.
• The proposed rule allows storage tanks OR lined pits to be used in the management of flowback—it should require ONLY storage tanks.
• The proposed rule allows for “usable water” exemptions—thereby permitting operators to potentially pollute drinkable water. These exemptions should never be allowed.
• The proposed rule exempts from its purview processes such as acidizing, which are processes similar to fracking. The rule should include processes similar to fracking.
• Bonding of new production wells as insurance for reclamation (should a company go bankrupt, abdicate its responsibilities, or improperly abandon its wells) is not required in the proposed rule—it should be.

Amber Wilson, environmental quality coordinator, can be reached at (307) 332-7031 x20 or amber@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org.

Other posts you might want to see:

Fixing Haze Pollution: Wyoming People Deserve the Facts

The Mega Fields Are Coming—We need to apply lessons learned to Protect Wyoming

Proposed Wyoming gas field would be one of the largest on the planet

Why We’re Seeking Fracking Chemical Information

Groups seek better disclosure of fracking chemicals in Wyoming

Saturday, August 24, 2013

For More information and to RSVP visit wyomingrange.org!

Other posts you might want to see:

Winter Frontline 2012-2013, the Wyoming Outdoor Council Newsletter

A big thank-you to Hoback supporters!

The Upper Hoback will be protected in perpetuity

Major Announcement: Agreement Struck, Citizens to Buy-Out Hoback Leases

Ad Campaign is Creating Its Own Haze

By Bruce Pendery

There has been quite a concerted advertising and PR campaign running in the pages of Wyoming’s local papers in recent days and weeks slamming the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to fix haze pollution in Wyoming.

Part of this effort has included an attempt to paint this plan as part of some sort of Obama administration assault on coal.

But this advertising campaign is creating its own haze, and underestimates the people of Wyoming. It assumes we’re not paying attention.

The truth is a solid majority of Wyoming citizens reject the assertions in these advertisements.

We also disagree with our political leaders when they are unwilling to reject industry attempts to mislead and misinform. The EPA’s proposed rule is not partisan.

In fact the law that the EPA is working to implement dates back to President George H.W. Bush.

It’s the Law

So let’s talk about reality. To conform with the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed important regulations to restore visibility in what are called “Class I” areas—many of our national parks and wilderness areas.

Wyoming has seven iconic places that are designated Class I airsheds—Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the Washakie, North Absaroka, Teton, Fitzpatrick, and Bridger Wilderness Areas.

Under the terms of the Clean Air Act, and the EPA’s subsequent regional haze regulations, our nation’s important wilderness areas and national parks cannot be made hazy by industrial pollution.

The EPA is working to meet this legal requirement with these proposed regulations.

Contrary to the claims of a few industry representatives and some Wyoming leaders, these regulations are not a surprise: Wyoming, the EPA, and industry have known for more than 15 years that these pollution improvements are required by the Clean Air Act and would need to be put into effect here.

The EPA’s proposed haze regulations are achievable and will be phased-in gradually. If adopted, coal-fired power plants wouldn’t have to completely eliminate haze-producing emissions for decades.

There is a potential bonus, too—while not the focus of this action, the new pollution control requirements will greatly reduce air pollution in the forms of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter all over the state, something that would have significant public health benefits for all of us.

We recognize that some in Wyoming, including our governor, have spoken out against these proposed regulations in the news media and at public hearings. And the coal-fired power plant industry, particularly Basin Electric and Rocky Mountain Power (PacifiCorp), have engaged in a massive opposition campaign that has included full-page newspaper advertisements.

But the law of the land calls for these regulations, and they are also strongly supported by the vast majority of citizens in Wyoming and the West. These regulations would serve the public interest and meet EPA’s legal obligations.

To this end, throughout 2012, the state of Wyoming and the EPA continued a multiyear project to create a new regional haze rule that would ultimately ensure that this piece of the Clean Air Act that deals with haze is fully and faithfully implemented in Wyoming.

Wyoming was required by law to have a legally sufficient final plan approved by the EPA by fall of 2012, which the state failed to accomplish. As a result, the EPA has stepped in with its own proposal for several aspects of haze control in this state—as it is required to do.

While there is room for improvement with certain elements of these proposed rules, if adopted, the EPA’s proposed plan will more quickly and certainly allow all of us to once again enjoy the broad sweeping vistas in protected areas that are part of our nation’s heritage.

What is Haze?

We all know it when we see it, and we see too much of it in Wyoming. It’s that smudge that dulls the blue sky and dims the stars. Landmarks and mountains, once easily seen off in the distance, all but disappear from view. The cause? Many sources of pollution contribute to haze but to a significant degree it is the result of pollution from coal-fired power plants, which, in Wyoming, ship most of their power out of state.

Public Support for Clean Air

In 2012 Colorado College released its annual State of the Rockies west-wide poll. This was a scientifically rigorous assessment of public attitudes and opinions toward environmental protection among voters in six western states, including Wyoming.

The poll found that in Wyoming voters support continued implementation of the Clean Air Act by updating standards for air quality, “including for smog, dust, and emissions from power plants, factories and cars based on the latest science”—by a 62 percent margin.

And by the same margin Wyoming voters also said that laws governing environmental protection, including clean air, were more likely to be “important safeguards to protect private property owners, public health and taxpayers from toxic pollution and costly clean-ups” with less than a third of respondents saying these efforts are burdensome constraints on economic development.

Overall, throughout the West, the poll found that a strong majority of voters of all political stripes want the government to uphold and strengthen protections for our environment.

Wholly 80 percent of western voters view having a good economy and protecting the environment as compatible with each other and 99 percent feel that public lands such as national parks, forests, and wildlife areas are “an essential part” of the economies of these states.

Thus, there is strong public support for controlling haze that mars our priceless national parks and wilderness areas. And the law requires these measures. These are the facts, contrary to the claims made in industry advertising campaigns and mistaken political opinions.

For more information you can visit the EPA website at http://www2.epa.gov/region8/air-program. You can also contact Bruce Pendery at the Wyoming Outdoor Council: 435-752-2111, bruce@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org.

Other posts you might want to see:

The Mega Fields Are Coming—We need to apply lessons learned to Protect Wyoming

Proposed Wyoming gas field would be one of the largest on the planet

Why We’re Seeking Fracking Chemical Information

Groups seek better disclosure of fracking chemicals in Wyoming

 

Join us for overnight camping and photography workshops at the Honeycomb Buttes! 

The Honeycomb Buttes in the northern Red Desert are a colorful and textured landscape; perfect both for exploration and photography.

Enjoy this landscape with the Wyoming Outdoor Council and professional photographer Kathy Lichtendahl while honing your photographic skills in this wild and rugged place.

We will camp overnight to capture both dusk and dawn light, hiking into and around the Buttes while practicing a diverse set of photographic techniques. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2013

Media Contact:
Richard Garrett,  legislative advocate and energy policy analyst, 307-332-7031 x18; richard@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org

Wyoming Group Disappointed by Delay in Fracking Study; Calls for Transparency and Independent Oversight of State’s Groundwater Investigation

Lander, Wyo. — The Wyoming Outdoor Council is calling on the state of Wyoming to exercise maximum transparency, employ the best science available, and retain impartial scientific experts to oversee its investigation into groundwater contamination east of Pavillion.

The group also expressed disappointment that Wyoming citizens will have to wait even longer for the final results of this study.

“The victims in all of this — the affected citizens east of Pavillion — have been seeking answers for years,” said Richard Garrett with the Wyoming Outdoor Council. “It is imperative that this newest study be the best investigation possible.”

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead announced on Thursday the state will further investigate potential drinking water contamination from drilling operations in the rural area east of Pavillion, taking the lead from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which had been the principal investigator for the last two years.

“Since Encana Oil and Gas — the company that has the most to gain or lose from the results of this study — is providing funding for this investigation and will have a high-level of input, including the ability to recommend third-party experts — it’s going to be crucial that the state involve local landowners and put independent science first, in every phase of this investigation,” said Richard Garrett with the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

“This action will only be meaningful if it results in a scientifically valid investigation that gives the people affected some certainty and the opportunity to evaluate their alternatives for securing clean water,” he said.

The fact that the state finds itself at this point, with a complicated and potentially contentious investigation on its hands, is a clear example of how important it is to test and record groundwater quality prior to oil and gas development, Garrett said.

“It just underscores how important it is to have some certainty about water quality before any drilling takes place. As the governor’s staff has said many times, baseline testing is cheap insurance,” he said.

The Wyoming Outdoor Council is calling on the state to achieve the following in its investigation:

• Employ the best science available
• Drill additional test wells if needed
• Retain impartial scientific experts to oversee the science and its analysis
• Obtain independent scientific peer-reviewed results
• Involve local citizens, landowners, and conservation interests
• Realize complete public transparency
• Initiate a parallel investigation, led by the Wyoming Department of Health, into potential human health impacts of the water contamination and drilling activities east of Pavillion

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Click the image to view it in a larger format.

By Richard Garrett, Jr.
Your voice for conservation at the Wyoming State Legislature

Last month, following more than a year’s effort, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead released his energy strategy, for the state.

The plan outlines both general and specific energy policy objectives, with the stated goal of balancing economic growth and development with environmental protection.

One of the hallmarks of the governor’s plan is to establish a statewide requirement for baseline groundwater quality testing prior to new oil and gas drilling.

The strategy also calls for an examination of how the state regulates gas flaring at drill rigs, how it approaches reclamation and mitigation, and how it can remain economically competitive in the future.

Meanwhile—last week and across the Atlantic Ocean—the International Energy Agency published a broad and detailed report entitled “Redrawing the Energy-Climate Map.”

I thought it might be worthwhile to compare the two documents to see if there is a shared vision for the future of energy and energy policies as the world works to address global climate change.

As it turns out, Gov. Mead’s energy strategy and the International Energy Agency report are both relevant to each other. There are some encouraging ideas in common between the two documents, but there is also some real dissonance that deserves serious consideration.

Wyoming’s approach to energy policy has geniune implications for the IEA’s report. The United States is one of the world’s leading emitters of greenhouse gases and Wyoming produces about one-sixth of the total energy consumed in the nation.

The International Energy Report

The IEA report details four targeted policies that would cap the average increase in global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.

This is a good news/bad news scenario. Since most estimates predict that if we don’t change our habits, the world’s average temperature will increase by 3.6 to 5.3 degrees Celsius within the next 100 years (with most of that increase happening in this century)—limiting the increase to 2 degrees has to be seen as something of an accomplishment.

On the other hand, it is not going to be easy to achieve this goal, and a 2-degree increase will still produce profound consequences for the world, especially and most painfully for its poorest countries and populations.

“Intensive action is required before 2020, the date by which a new international climate agreement is due to come into force,” the agency asserts in its report. “Energy is at the heart of this challenge: the energy sector accounts for around two-thirds of greenhouse-gas emissions, as more than 80 percent of global energy consumption is based on fossil fuels.”

Judi Greenwald, a contributor to the IEA’s policy recommendations and Vice President of Technology and Innovation at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, gives additional urgency to the challenge.

“Now that the world has unfortunately hit a global carbon dioxide concentration of 400 ppm, it is indeed late to begin the energy transition essential to climate protection,” Greenwald wrote in an email to the Wyoming Outdoor Council. “But IEA’s analysis indicates that it is not too late, if the world starts taking action now.” She recently expanded on this on her blog here.

The IEA recommends four policies to limit global warming to an average of 2 degrees Celsius:

• Adopting specific energy efficiency measures (49 percent of the emissions savings).
• Limiting the construction and use of the least-efficient coal-fired power plants (21 percent).
• Minimizing methane (CH4) emissions from upstream oil and gas production (18 percent).
• Accelerating the (partial) phase-out of subsidies to fossil-fuel consumption (12 percent).

The Governor’s Energy Strategy

In his energy strategy, Governor Matt Mead identifies four themes that serve as the framework for initiatives that will “power and fuel the economic well-being of our state and supply energy to the nation while protecting our environment.”

Those themes are:

• Economic competitiveness, expansion, and diversification.
• Efficient, effective regulation.
• Natural resource conservation, reclamation, and mitigation.
• Education, innovation, and new technologies.

A dive deeper into the relevant initiatives reveals a bit more of the governor’s strategy:

• Maintain and expand production.
• Infrastructure (pipelines).
• New industries (liquefied and compressed natural gas).
• Conservation.
• Energy Efficiency.
• Innovation and new technologies.

The overlaps between the IEA’s recommendations and the governor’s energy strategy are encouraging.

Both identify energy efficiency as an important tool for their respective objectives. Wyoming’s governor also gives something of a nod to the value of minimizing CH4 emissions when in one of his initiatives he calls on industry to “produce annual inspection reports documenting…violations…and complaints.”

To his credit, too, the governor does not suggest that the state permit the construction of any new coal-fired power plants.

Less encouraging is that one initiative would address issues related to minerals and mineral-related taxation issues and identify “improvements…that benefit local government and companies.”

This initiative then would appear to be at odds with the IEA suggestion to partially phase-out subsidies to fossil fuel consumption.

The incongruity between the two documents is most apparent when it comes to production and consumption.

Gov. Mead’s energy strategy is built on the premise that our nation (and the world) will demand more production of fossil fuels and, hence, Wyoming should work to produce more of those fuels to help meet that growing demand. This premise seems to assume (and rely on) no reduction in domestic energy consumption as a result of new technologies and efficiency improvements.

Conversely, the IEA asserts that almost half of its targeted 2-degree limit is achievable—and feasible—through improved efficiency.

The IEA assertion echoes a McKinsey study from 2009 that also targeted the year 2020:

Research shows “that the US economy has the potential to reduce annual non-transportation energy consumption by roughly 23 percent by 2020, eliminating more than $1.2 trillion in waste.” The report goes on to say that “the reduction in energy use would also result in the abatement of 1.1 gigatons of greenhouse-gas emissions annually—the equivalent of taking the entire U.S. fleet of passenger vehicles and light trucks off the roads.”

Using this information to make a good plan better

In the weeks and months to come, the governor’s energy strategy will almost certainly gain attention, and we hope momentum.

While it is clear that there are issues to resolve, Gov. Matt Mead deserves credit for his leadership and forward thinking at a critical juncture in Wyoming’s—and the world’s—history.

Within the framework of the governor’s energy strategy, we urge a clear-eyed vision that includes the shared goal of finding a solution to global climate change and that works to incorporate the IEA’s report policy recommendations.

We know that Wyoming plays a vital role in that solution. The time to act is now; we have less than seven years to make real progress on the most pressing environmental challenge of our generation. If we meet this challenge as a global community we have a chance of ensuring that the gift given us by our parents is one that we can give to our children and grandchildren.

Other posts you might want to see:

Agency: Company must address potential threats to drinking water before drilling on the Shoshone

WyoFile: Aftermath of a Drilling Boom — Wyoming stuck with abandoned gas wells

Spring Frontline 2013, the Wyoming Outdoor Council Newsletter

Media Release: Groups Appeal Fracking Chemical Case to Wyoming Supreme Court

The Upper Hoback will be protected in perpetuity

CST: Wyoming should be a role model and require baseline water testing

Click here or on the image above for event details!

Alliance for Historic Wyoming is hosting an ‘Unbarred’ event this Saturday

By Julia Stuble

Looking to explore some of Wyoming’s lesser-known treasures this summer?

You might want to include Castle Gardens, a Fremont County site renowned for a variety of rock art and unique geologic features.

Our friends at the Alliance for Historic Wyoming are hosting an “Unbarred” event at Castle Gardens this Saturday, June 22.

For  information on the event, including details and driving directions, click here.

Bureau of Land Management archaeologist Craig Bromley will discuss history and narratives of the site, as well as interpret the rock art and outline current preservation efforts for the area.

In the BLM’s soon-to-be approved long-term land-use plan for the Lander area, Castle Gardens has received solid protections for its cultural values, a section of the plan the Wyoming Outdoor Council has been closely monitoring.

Consider joining the Alliance for Historic Wyoming this weekend and learn about this special place and other preservation efforts statewide.

And for more summer tours to several Wyoming gems, please stay tuned: the Wyoming Outdoor Council will be leading two great Red Desert exhibitions in August and September. We’ll be sending out details soon.