S. 681 — Wyoming Public Lands Initiative Act of 2025

This section defines terms for purposes of the Act: (1) Bureau, as the Bureau of Land Management; (2) range improvement, as defined in section 3 of the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 (43 U.S.C. 1902); (3) Secretary, as the Secretary of the Interior; (4) State, as the State of Wyoming; and (5) wilderness area, as a wilderness area designated by section 3.

This section designates approximately 20,413 acres of BLM-administered federal land in the state as five new wilderness areas and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System under the Wilderness Act, as follows: (1) Encampment River Canyon Wilderness, comprising approximately 4,523.84 acres as generally depicted on the map entitled “Proposed Encampment River Wilderness” dated December 5, 2023, excluding land in the NW 1/4 NW 1/4 NW 1/4 sec. 24, T. 14 N., R. 84 W., and any land within 100 feet of the centerline of County Road 353 or Water Valley Road; (2) Prospect Mountain Wilderness, comprising approximately 1,099.76 acres as generally depicted on the map entitled “Proposed Prospect Mountain Wilderness” dated December 8, 2023, excluding any land within 100 feet of the centerline of Prospect Road; (3) Upper Sweetwater Canyon Wilderness, comprising approximately 2,877.35 acres as generally depicted on the map entitled “Proposed Upper Sweetwater Canyon Wilderness” dated December 6, 2023, with boundaries generally conforming to the Sweetwater Canyon Wilderness Study Area except for an eastern boundary located 100 feet from the western edge of Strawberry Creek Road and exclusion of certain existing authorized motorized routes in T. 28 N., R. 98 W., sec. 4, and T. 29 N., R. 97 W., sec. 33; (4) Lower Sweetwater Canyon Wilderness, comprising approximately 5,665.19 acres as generally depicted on the map entitled “Lower Sweetwater Canyon Wilderness” dated December 5, 2023, with boundaries generally conforming to the Sweetwater Canyon Wilderness Study Area except for a western boundary located 100 feet from the eastern edge of Strawberry Creek Road and exclusion of certain existing authorized motorized routes in T. 29 N., R. 98 W., sec. 4, and T. 29 N., R. 97 W., sec. 33; and (5) Bobcat Draw Wilderness, comprising approximately 6,246.84 acres as generally depicted on the map entitled “Proposed Bobcat Draw Wilderness” dated December 8, 2023. (Thus, these designations generally prohibit motorized access, structures, and commercial enterprise to preserve the areas' wilderness character.)

This section directs the Secretary to administer the wilderness areas in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), subject to valid existing rights, with any reference in that Act to its effective date deemed to refer to the date of enactment of this Act and any reference to the Secretary of Agriculture deemed to refer to the Secretary. The section further (1) authorizes fire, insect, and disease control activities consistent with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act, requires coordination with the Wyoming Forestry Division and the applicable county, and directs a fire management plan within 180 days of enactment to ensure timely control and protection for adjacent lands; (2) permits continuation of any pre-enactment livestock grazing under section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act and Interior-specific guidelines in Appendix A of House Report 101-405; and (3) prohibits creation of buffer zones around the wilderness areas and clarifies that nonwilderness activities or uses outside boundaries are not precluded if visible or audible from within.

This section releases from the wilderness study management requirements of section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c))—which generally prohibit impairment of suitability for preservation as wilderness—any portions of 17 specified wilderness study areas not designated as wilderness by section 3, upon a congressional finding of adequate prior study. (Thus, released lands may be managed for multiple uses without the non-impairment restriction.) The section directs the Secretary to manage released lands in accordance with FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), applicable land use plans, and other law, including the following specific provisions: (1) Bennett Mountains WSA per section 8(a); (2) Dubois Badlands WSA, with a required fence division and management per sections 6 and 7; (3) Copper Mountain WSA, authorizing directional oil and gas leasing without surface occupancy, underground rights-of-way, prohibiting new wind/solar leases, overhead lines, or towers (subject to valid existing rights), and requiring no net federal land loss in exchanges; (4) Whiskey Mountain WSA per the Whiskey Mountain Cooperative Agreement for bighorn sheep; and (5) Bobcat Draw WSA (Washakie County portion), requiring a travel management plan within two years that designates existing roads/trails for motorized/mechanized recreation or agriculture, prohibits new such roads/trails, permits nonmotorized trails, and withdraws lands from certain uses (subject to valid existing rights).

This section establishes the Dubois Badlands National Conservation Area comprising approximately 4,446.46 acres of federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management, subject to valid existing rights, as generally depicted on the map entitled “Proposed Badlands National Conservation Area” and dated November 15, 2023. The purpose of the area is to conserve, protect, and enhance its ecological, wildlife, recreational, scenic, cultural, historical, and natural resources, with management by the Secretary of the Interior limited to uses that further that purpose and in accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and other applicable laws. Motorized vehicles are permitted only on roads, trails, and areas designated as of enactment (with exceptions for administrative purposes and emergency response); grazing is administered under generally applicable Bureau laws; and the land is withdrawn from all forms of appropriation or disposal under public land laws, location/entry/patent under mining laws, and disposition under mineral and geothermal leasing laws.

This section establishes the Dubois Motorized Recreation Area, comprising approximately 367.72 acres of land administered by the Bureau of Land Management in the state, subject to valid existing rights and as generally depicted on the map entitled “Proposed Dubois Motorized Recreation Area” dated November 15, 2023. The section further directs the Secretary (1) 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 (2) as soon as practicable after fence completion, to establish a travel management plan that efficiently coordinates motorized off-road vehicle use in the Recreation Area.

This section establishes three special management areas (SMAs) on federal lands to enhance natural, historic, scenic, and recreational values, with management prohibiting new permanent roads and commercial timber harvesting; limiting motorized and mechanized vehicles—except for administrative purposes, emergency response, fire management, forest health and restoration, weed and pest control, habitat management, livestock management, and range improvement—to existing designated roads and trails; requiring a travel management plan within two years of enactment; allowing livestock grazing under applicable Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or National Forest System laws; and withdrawing lands from public land laws, mining laws, and mineral and geothermal leasing, subject to valid existing rights. (1) The Bennett Mountains SMA, comprising approximately 6,165 acres of BLM-administered land in the state (as depicted on a map dated November 15, 2023), to be managed by the Secretary of the Interior. (2) The Black Cat SMA, comprising approximately 1,178 acres of federal land in Carbon County, Wyoming (as depicted on a map dated November 13, 2023), to be managed by the Secretary of Agriculture; oil and gas leasing exceptions require approval by both Secretaries. (3) The Sweetwater Rocks SMA, comprising approximately 34,348 acres of federal land in F— [text cuts off].

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to pursue exchanges of Bureau of Land Management (BLM)-managed land in Fremont County, Wyoming, for state-owned land within the boundaries of the Lander Slope Area of Critical Environmental Concern or Red Canyon Area of Critical Environmental Concern, subject to legal requirements and appropriations. It further requires the Secretary to (1) complete within two years a study evaluating BLM-managed land in the county (excluding specified sections in T. 40 N., R. 94 W. and lands restricted for off-road vehicles) for development of special motorized recreation areas—including suitability for off-road vehicles such as rock crawlers and needs for parking, staging, and camping—and submit a report to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Natural Resources; and (2) establish within 90 days the Fremont County Implementation Team—exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. ch. 10)—comprising a Secretary designee and one or more county commissioner appointees to advise on implementation.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study evaluating the potential for developing new special motorized recreation areas (i.e., off-highway vehicle areas) on federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Hot Springs and Washakie Counties, Wyoming, excluding lands restricted from motorized or mechanized vehicle use under federal law. The section requires public input and collaboration with Wyoming state parks, historic sites, and trails, as well as the counties, and requires 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 two years after enactment.