JACKSON — In Clark Stith’s mind, the federal government’s plan for managing the Red Desert, one of Wyoming’s most picturesque landscapes riddled with buttes, canyons, wildlife and oil and gas wells, is far from perfect.
But in the proposal, the controversial Rock Springs Resource Management Plan that originally prompted bombastic opposition from the far-right Wyoming Freedom Caucus, Stith also sees a grain of compromise — a not-yet-finalized agreement that tethers together the fate of two of Wyoming’s most iconic landscapes.
“I think it paves the way for the sale of the Kelly parcel,” Stith said Tuesday.
Though Stith, a Rock Springs Republican, lost his seat in the Wyoming House of Representatives in the primary last week, his voice may be important in the next few months as Gov. Mark Gordon decides whether to place a seal of approval on selling the 640-acre Kelly parcel to the National Park Service. Last fall, he was a driving force in encouraging the Legislature, which has to approve the sale of state trust land, to tie the sale of the Kelly parcel to a favorable outcome on the Rock Springs management plan.
The Kelly parcel is the terminus of an iconic pronghorn migration route, boasts incredible views of the Tetons and is home to countless other wildlife species. Park officials, as well as a majority of Wyoming residents, want to ensure the parcel will remain undeveloped in perpetuity to preserve its natural resources.
After state officials proposed auctioning the square-mile inholding bordered on three sides by Grand Teton National Park, Department of the Interior officials said acquiring the state trust land was one of their highest priorities. Stith sought to use the federal government’s interest in the Kelly parcel as leverage in the state’s negotiations with the Bureau of Land Management, which like the Park Service is managed by the Interior Department.
He proposed the amendment that requires Gov. Mark Gordon to certify that the BLM gave Wyoming officials two things before the Kelly parcel can be sold. First, that it had backed off conservation-oriented proposals that would have severely curtailed oil and gas development north of Rock Springs near the Red Desert. And second, that the BLM had abandoned plans to bar most rights of way for new transmission lines, pipelines and fiber optic cables in the checkerboard of public and private land ownership near Rock Springs.
Both proposals were originally part of the BLM’s preferred “alternative” for the draft Rock Springs Resource Management Plan. But in the intervening months, and after Gov. Gordon convened a task force to present a “Wyoming alternative” for the 3.6 million acres of public land, the BLM has redrawn its maps and opened more land to rights of way and oil and gas.
Even as sporting groups and others that were part of Gordon’s task force have praised the near-final plan as a compromise for development and wildlife, Gordon has said he will protest parts of it in a 30-day objection period the BLM has opened. U.S. Sens. Cynthia Lummis and John Barrasso, both R-Wyo., also blasted the plan in statements released late last week.
Stith similarly is critical of the plan and still thinks it could impact Sweetwater County’s economy. But he thinks what the BLM released last week is a significant improvement over its original proposal. He credits his amendment with giving the state of Wyoming some leverage over the final product. The language of the amendment is black and white, and what the BLM did meets the legislative standard, he said.
“I wanted a black-and-white test because I didn’t want the governor or the Board of Land Commissioners to have to argue about whether the conditions are met or not,” Stith said.
The question now, though, is whether Gordon will feel the decision is “black and white” — and whether other groups that have his ear will feel the same.
The Wyoming Petroleum Association said it was too early for the industry group to weigh in on the Kelly parcel question, instead referring a reporter to a statement painting the plan as “part of an onslaught of new regulations that is making it more expensive and less efficient to do business in Wyoming.”
Michael Pearlman, the governor’s spokesperson, said Gordon will not comment on the proposal until the 30-day objection period closes and the BLM releases its final Record of Decision.
That step will memorialize the management plan permanently. It’s also the point at which Stith and the Legislature said Gordon will have to make the determination about the BLM’s actions.
Rob Wallace, a retired Department of the Interior official and Teton County resident who oversaw the Park Service during the Trump administration, said the decision now squarely rests with Gov. Gordon. He agrees with Stith that the condition imposed by the legislature has been met.
But, Wallace said, “The governor’s the arbitrator right now.”
Stith, meanwhile, cautioned that if Wyoming wants to sell the parcel, and the Interior Department wants to buy the land, the feds may have to act fast. Like Stith, other more moderate members of the Legislature lost in the primary, giving more control of the state’s deliberative bodies to the hard-line, right-wing Freedom Caucus that is skeptical of growing the federal government.
“If the federal government wants to acquire the Kelly parcel, they better do it before the next legislative session,” Stith said. “Tick, tock.”
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