“To redesignate land within certain wilderness study areas in the State of Wyoming, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Wyoming Public Lands Initiative Act of 2025.”
This section defines key terms for the Act, including “Bureau” as the Bureau of Land Management, “Secretary” as the Secretary of the Interior, “State” as Wyoming, and “wilderness area” as a wilderness area designated by section 3. It also incorporates by reference the existing definition of “range improvement” in 43 U.S.C. § 1902, which covers activities or programs on rangelands designed to improve forage production, change vegetative composition, control patterns of use, provide water, stabilize soil and water conditions, and provide habitat for livestock and wildlife.
This section designates approximately 20,412.98 acres of Federal land in the State as wilderness units within the National Wilderness Preservation System under the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), including the Encampment River Canyon Wilderness (4,523.84 acres), Prospect Mountain Wilderness (1,099.76 acres), Upper Sweetwater Canyon Wilderness (2,877.35 acres), Lower Sweetwater Canyon Wilderness (5,665.19 acres), and Bobcat Draw Wilderness (6,246.84 acres). It excludes specified lands and road corridors from the Encampment River Canyon, Prospect Mountain, Upper Sweetwater Canyon, and Lower Sweetwater Canyon Wilderness areas, including lands within 100 feet of the centerlines of County Road 353, Water Valley Road, Prospect Road, and Strawberry Creek Road, and preserves existing legal motorized routes in certain township and section locations.
This section directs the Secretary to administer the wilderness areas under this section and the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), subject to valid existing rights, and makes two conforming substitutions: references in the Wilderness Act to its effective date are deemed references to the date of enactment of this Act, and references to the Secretary of Agriculture are deemed references to the Secretary. It also authorizes the Secretary to carry out fire, insect, and disease control activities in the wilderness areas under section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)) and requires coordination with the Wyoming Forestry Division and the applicable county. Not later than 180 days after enactment, the Secretary must establish a fire management plan for the wilderness areas to ensure timely and efficient control of fires, diseases, and insects and, to the maximum extent practicable, provide adequate protection for adjacent Federal, State, and private lands. This section further provides that livestock grazing established before enactment must be administered under section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)) and the guidelines in Appendix A of House Report 101-405 for lands under the Secretary of the Interior’s jurisdiction. Finally, it clarifies that the section does not create a protective perimeter or buffer zone around a wilderness area and that visible or audible nonwilderness uses outside the boundary are not prohibited.
This section releases 17 wilderness study areas, or portions of wilderness study areas, in Wyoming from further wilderness review under section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)) unless the land is designated as wilderness by section 3. It finds that the listed areas have been adequately studied for wilderness designation and removes the non-designated portions from the statutory protections that apply during wilderness review. This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to manage the released lands under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, applicable land management plans, any specific management provisions in the bill, and other applicable law. It also imposes area-specific management rules for several sites, including: (1) Bennett Mountains Wilderness Study Area, which must be managed under section 8(a); (2) Dubois Badlands Wilderness Study Area, which must be divided by a fence or fence repair or relocation along specified township and section lines and then managed under the general release rules and sections 6 and 7; (3) Copper Mountain Wilderness Study Area, where the Secretary may authorize oil and gas leasing only through directional drilling from outside the released land, prohibit any surface occupancy or surface disturbance, allow underground rights-of-way, bar new wind or solar leases, overhead transmission lines, and communication towers subject to valid existing rights, and ensure any land exchange does not result in a net loss of Federal land; (4) Whiskey Mountain Wilderness Study Area, which must be managed under the general release rules and the Whiskey Mountain Cooperative Agreement, including amendments related to bighorn sheep; and (5) Bobcat Draw Wilderness Study Area, for which the Secretary must develop a travel management plan within 2 years after enactment that identifies existing roads and trails, designates routes for motorized or mechanized recreation or agriculture, prohibits new roads or trails for motorized or mechanized recreation, and permits continued nonmotorized trail use.
This section establishes the Dubois Badlands National Conservation Area on approximately 4,446.46 acres of Federal land administered by the Bureau in the State, subject to valid existing rights. It directs the Secretary to manage the area to conserve, protect, and enhance its ecological, wildlife, recreational, scenic, cultural, historical, and natural resources, and to allow only uses that further that purpose under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, this section, and other applicable law. It limits motorized vehicle use to existing roads, trails, and areas designated for such use as of the date of enactment, while allowing motorized vehicles for administrative purposes and emergency response. It provides that livestock grazing will be administered under the laws generally applicable to Bureau-managed lands. It also withdraws the land from appropriation or disposal under the public land laws, location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and disposition under mineral and geothermal leasing laws, subject to valid existing rights.
This section establishes the Dubois Motorized Recreation Area on approximately 367.72 acres of Federal land administered by the Bureau in the State, subject to valid existing rights. It also directs the Secretary to authorize construction of a fence along the western boundary of the Recreation Area on Bureau-managed Federal land west of North Mountain View Road and, as soon as practicable after the fence is completed, to establish a travel management plan for the Recreation Area to coordinate the use of motorized off-road vehicles.
This section establishes the Bennett Mountains Special Management Area, comprising approximately 6,165.05 acres of Federal land, and the Black Cat Special Management Area, comprising approximately 1,178 acres of Federal land in Carbon County, Wyoming, to be managed for natural, historic, scenic, and recreational values. It prohibits new permanent roads and commercial timber harvesting in each area, limits motorized and mechanized vehicle use to existing roads and trails except for specified administrative and resource-management purposes, and requires the Secretary to establish a travel management plan within 2 years after enactment. It also withdraws each area from appropriation or disposal under the public land laws, mining location, entry, and patent, and mineral and geothermal leasing, while allowing oil and gas leasing only by directional drilling from outside the areas and only if the lease prohibits any surface occupancy or surface disturbance within the special management areas.
This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to pursue land exchanges in Fremont County, Wyoming, under which Bureau of Land Management land in the county would be exchanged for State-owned land within the boundaries of the Lander Slope Area of Critical Environmental Concern or the Red Canyon Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Any exchange must comply with all applicable legal requirements, including any required environmental analysis, and is subject to appropriation. This section also requires the Secretary to conduct a study of the potential for developing special motorized recreation areas in Fremont County. As background, the Bureau of Land Management manages public lands for multiple uses, including recreation, conservation, and grazing. The study must evaluate all Bureau-managed land in the county except specified lands in Township 40 North, Range 94 West, sections 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, and the north one-half of section 34, as well as any land already subject to a Federal off-road vehicle restriction, including under this Act. The study must assess the suitability of the land for off-road vehicles, including rock crawlers, and the parking, staging, and camping needed to support such recreation. The Secretary must submit a report on the study to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Natural Resources not later than 2 years after enactment. This section further requires the Secretary to establish the Fremont County Implementation Team not later than 90 days after enactment to advise and assist with implementation of the management requirements in this section that apply to land in Fremont County. The Team must include the Secretary or a designee and 1 or more individuals appointed by the Fremont County Board of County Commissioners, and it is exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 10).
This section directs the Secretary to carry out a study of the potential for developing new special motorized recreation areas on Federal land managed by the Bureau in Hot Springs County and Washakie County, Wyoming, excluding any land subject to a restriction on motorized or mechanized vehicle use under Federal law, including this Act. As part of the study, the Secretary must offer opportunities for public input and collaborate with State parks, historic sites, and trails, as well as the two counties. The Secretary must submit a report on the study’s findings to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Natural Resources not later than 2 years after the date of enactment.