County moves ahead with opposition to Biden's land conservation plan

Crook is set to be the first county in the state to come out against President Joe Biden’s “30 by 30” land conservation initiative. Though the Wyoming County Commissioners Association (WCCA) is working on a unified resolution for all counties across the state, the county commissioners have opted to continue drafting their own statement in an effort to get the ball rolling.

“It’s got to start somewhere,” commented Commissioner Jeanne Whalen, at whose request a resolution opposing the initiative has been drafted.

President Biden signed an executive order titled “Tackling the climate crisis at home and abroad” on January 27. One section directs the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a plan to conserve at least 30% of the lands and waterways in the United States by 2030.

The Biden administration later released a report detailing how it aims to achieve this goal, in a decade-long initiative dubbed the “America the Beautiful” campaign. However, the draft resolution from the county commissioners points out that the federal government owns 15.09% of the 1.8 million acres of land in this county and the well-being of the county depends on access to these lands and their resources.

Since the county’s resolution was drafted, Whalen said she has been working on the wording to strengthen it and reiterated her concern that the initiative will cause harm to the county. Preserving the land for conservation, she said, would mean no grazing, no logging, no walking, “no nothing.”

Whalen’s two biggest concerns, she explained, are that no details have been given about exactly how the land will be preserved, while it has been specifically stated that coordination from entities such as the county will not be sought.

Commissioner Fred Devish meanwhile noted that he does not support an increase in the amount of wilderness and roadless areas because multiple use is generally more productive. Less than a tenth of 1% of people ever even see wilderness country, he added.

County Attorney Joe Baron pointed out that nothing in Biden’s executive order says that roadless areas will be created. Devish responded that he understands that, but still feels this could be the “tip of the spear” and things could go that way in the future.

From his experience at a recent meeting of the WCCA, Devish shared his belief that 100% of this state’s counties are willing to throw down against the initiative. A committee will be discussing the issue within the next couple of weeks, he said.

Baron suggested that the commission may want to wait for that conversation to take place, as it could result in the creation of a unified resolution for all counties to consider passing. This would enable Wyoming to have, “a unified voice across the board with federal agencies.”

The possibility of bypassing the NEPA process to conserve tracts of land and cutting out local government from being cooperative members are two aspects of the initiative that are still being determined, Baron said. He suggested that this leaves time to wait for the WCCA to consider its wording, which would mean that everyone in the state would stand together with one view.

The statement could be “more powerful that way,” said Baron.

However, while acknowledging Baron’s perspective, Devish stated that he feels someone needs to take that first step and there is no reason that Crook County could not later join the herd. Whalen agreed, saying that she doesn’t believe the issue is even on the radar yet in some counties.

Whalen added that every county is unique, and Crook County doesn’t face the same challenges as, for example, Sweetwater County, so an individual document could be useful. “This document is ready to go,” she said, stating her view that the commission should move ahead with passing it.

Sarah Anderson of the Crook County Natural Resource District commented from the audience that her board of supervisors is in full support of the resolution and feels the executive order has, “A certain element of government overreach” and is unnecessary.

During the meeting, several amendments were made to the draft resolution, such as to mention the need for the NEPA process to be followed and to advocate for public hearings to encourage transparency.