Central Wyoming News

The Senate has unanimously passed the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative (WPLI) Act of 2023, along with other significant public lands legislation. These bills will now move to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Senator John Barrasso, representing Wyoming and serving as the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, expressed his support for the WPLI. He emphasized its importance to Wyoming, stating, "This legislation is very important to my home state of Wyoming – something we’ve been working on for years." The bill aims to address the management status of federal public lands across seven counties in Wyoming, specifically Wilderness Study Areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Barrasso highlighted that these areas are currently treated as wilderness lands until Congress decides otherwise. He noted that this approach limits land use options for residents who depend on these lands for their livelihood and recreation. "For the people of Wyoming, who rely on access to the land to make a living and for recreation, this just doesn’t work," he said.

In addition to WPLI, the Senate approved several other pieces of legislation introduced by Senator Barrasso:

- The Land Manager Housing and Workforce Improvement Act seeks to tackle housing and workforce issues within agencies like the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service by enhancing local hiring capabilities and partnerships with private entities.

- The Modernizing Access to our Public Waters Act mandates that federal waterway access points, navigation information, and fishing limitations be made publicly available in a single database by the Department of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service.

- The Resiliency for Ranching and Natural Conservation Health Act focuses on improving grazing management in western regions by permitting temporary use of vacant grazing allotments during extreme events such as wildfires or droughts.

These legislative efforts underscore ongoing initiatives aimed at addressing various challenges related to public land management in Wyoming and beyond.