By Marcus Huff
Staff Writer 

County moves forward on 2 wilderness study areas

Commissioners hold off on Honeycombs area due to last minute changes

 

September 6, 2018



WORLAND – Washakie County Commissioners moved ahead on two proposals made by the county’s Wyoming Public Lands Initiative working group.

The original goal of the WPLI group was to reach a consensus as to the use of the Wilderness Study Areas in the county, through public input. The primary areas of concentration in Washakie County include the Honeycombs (located between Ten Sleep and Worland), Cedar Mountain (south of Winchester and shared with Hot Springs County) and Bobcat Draw (in the northwest corner of the county, shared with Big Horn County).

While Tuesday’s meeting was attended by only two members of the WPLI working group, and joined by phone with the Hot Springs County Commission, Washakie County Commissioners Aaron Anderson, Fred Frandson and Chairman Terry Wolf approved the WPLI recommendations for Bobcat Draw and Cedar Mountain, with added clarification regarding livestock grazing, while the commission stalled on a decision regarding the Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area, pending more time to consult with WPLI working group members.

The original proposals, which were submitted for public comment last month, included for the Honeycombs WSA, located 16 miles southeast of Worland and encompassing 21,000 acres of BLM- administered lands, the group identified 10,000 acres of primarily the “Hoodoo” region, to be protected due to the unique rock formations and landscape, while the remainder of the WSA would be

soft-released to a regular Resource Management Plan under legislation.

Highlights of the recommendation included protection of existing grazing and range improvements, limited motorized access and road development, and protection of scenic rock formations and public use.

The recommendation was changed however, after group members voted to release the entire area to Range Management Plan protections under the Bureau of Land Management.

On Tuesday, Commissioner Frandson stated that he would agree to the Honeycombs proposal, with the stipulation that the area would not be covered by Visual Resource Management Category 1 protections.

According to the Bureau of Land Management, “the VRM Class I management objective is to preserve the natural character of the landscape, and minimal visual change from human activities is allowed. VRM Class II and III lands allow progressively greater amounts of visual change to the existing landscape, while VRM Class IV lands provide for management activities which require major modification of the existing character of the landscape, and the level of change to the characteristic landscape can be high.”

While the commission debated the change, it was suggested that Anderson try to contact the WPLI group members for more input before voting on the proposal.

Anderson agreed, and the Honeycombs decision was delayed until as late as Oct. 4, to gather more input.

Once committee recommendations have been formalized and approved by the county commission, the final recommendations of the WPLI will be sent to a federal delegation for introduction in the U.S. House and Senate in 2018.

Hot Springs commissioners will vote on their recommendations for Cedar Mountain separately. (The WSA shares a boundary with both Hot Springs and Washakie County).

BACKGROUND

Under the WPLI, all 23 Wyoming counties have been invited to participate in the initiative, and each Board of County Commissioners decided if their county would join the effort. Each county choosing to participate created a County Advisory Team, made up of members from agriculture, conservation, energy, recreation districts and county commissioners to review and designate the lands in their area.

The Washakie County Advisory Committee is comprised of representatives of non-motorized recreation, motorized recreation, agriculture and ranching, sportsmen, energy interests, conservation and environmental concerns, the local conservation district and the general public.

Members included Dan Rice, Shawn Christenson, Justin Smith, Richard Kroger, Dru Bower, Dwight Mayland, Karen Fenton, Ron Harvey, Aaron Anderson, Stan Wostenberg, Kaylea Matlock, and C.J. Grimes.

INPUT

Representatives of the Wilderness Society, The Yellowstone Coalition, Trout Unlimited and the Wyoming Outdoors Council have provided public input and also observed the meetings.

The WPLI group also received written comments from organizations including The Wilderness Society, Trout Unlimited, Washakie County Conservation District, Wyoming Stock Growers Association, Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, Wyoming Outdoor Council and the Wyoming State Grazing Board.

Although in May the group agreed on wording to move forward with recommendations, in August, some representatives changed their votes, effectively recommending stripping the Honeycombs of its wilderness study area designation.

As a nod to conservation efforts, the group designated 5,000 acres in Bobcat Draw as a wilderness area, although the move didn’t pacify environmental groups who have been monitoring the process.

On Tuesday, Paul Stitler with the Wilderness Society, joining the meeting by phone, stated that the organization views the Washakie County proposals as a “net loss” of wilderness areas, and will oppose the decisions when they reach the legislative level.

 
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