Congresswoman Hageman Insists BLM Listen to Cooperators as They Consider Amendments to the Rock Springs Resource Managment Plan
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Hageman welcomed a Wednesday announcement confirming that cooperating agencies will have an opportunity to once again meet with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to discuss amendments to the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan (RMP).
“The long-term economic harm of this RMP cannot be overstated. The current Biden plan fundamentally conflicts with the decades-long work undertaken by the stakeholders as they developed a reasonable RMP that complies with FLPMA. The previous administration, in its effort to elevate “conservation” over the statutory required multiple use policies, violated long-standing land use law.” Hageman stated, “As BLMreturns to the drawing board, it is important that they protect our legacy industries and access for recreation. FLPMA is clear in its mandate regarding what types of uses are allowed on these federal lands, and BLM need look no further than the law itself to carry out congressional intent. I have every expectation that the current administration will fully engage with the local community and the cooperators and we will end up with a more robust RMP as a result.”
Congresswoman Hageman has engaged with the BLM since being elected and has urged them to select the alternative that protected our long history of multiple-use management, including energy production, mining, grazing and recreation. Upon the BLM’s publication of the revised RMP in the fall of 2023, through which it chose the most restrictive alternative possible, Congresswoman Hageman has worked to block its implementation, including introducing a bill to do just that.
Background:
The Rock Springs RMP covers 3.6 million acres of BLM-administered surface estate and 3.7 million acres of mineral estate in portions of southwest Wyoming.
Of the four alternatives analyzed during the planning process, the BLM selected the most restrictive and least studied of them all.