Where the rubber meets the road for habitat - Rock Springs RMP

[Jaden Bales]

We always talk about how development, roads, feral horses, etc., etc,. impact public land quality. Welp, here's where the rubber meets the road - Resource Management Plans.

The draft for the Rock Springs RMP just was released this morning and in it are four prescriptions for how to manage this BLM ground that's the size of Connecticut. Here's a link to WWF's page on the plan: https://wyomingwildlife.org/rock-springs-resource-management-plan/

This is where Wyoming's Red Desert elk and pronghorn herds live and where a ton of Region G and H mule deer winter.

For an example of how important it is, the collared mule deer that wintered out here had about normal winter survival this year compared to the real devastating impacts of winter over on the southern end of the Wyoming Range.

Gettin' involved is part of your great taxpaying American rights, so I suggest y'all do.

 

[robby denning]

Thanks for sharing this Jaden!

@realunlucky here’s some TT fodder if needed.

 

[Bull_n_heat]

Thanks for sharing this as well Jaden! This is a super important way for hunters to engage on wildlife habitat related issues for MILLIONS of acres (3.6 of them) in Wyoming. Hopefully hunters show up and let BLM know what they like and don't like in the plan.

There's a ton of mis-information currently out there on this plan, but I encourage everyone to read parts of it and get involved. Its a gigantic plan, but their resources include executive summaries as well as Google Earth files of where the conservation components of the plan would be.

If you want to comment, it just takes a moment and you can do so at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/13853/595/8003898/comment

Comments will be accepted through November 16, so still plenty of time to both hit the mountains and make your voice heard.

 

[TurkeyReaper69]

Has anyone been keeping up with the sh*t show that this draft RMP has caused? About 1000 articles between wyofile and cowboy state daily on it. Midwest rep called it more damaging than Pearl harbor and 9/11 combined. Ridiculous.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Maybe @Jaden Bales and @realunlucky could get together for a quick podcast on this?

 

[Brontosaurus]

I live in Rock springs and I've been hearing about this plan for awhile and still have no idea what it actually entails. I just know some people are freaking out and others aren't. A pod covering this would be great!

 

[wysongdog]

Muley fantastic did a 2 part podcast on it.

 

[TurkeyReaper69]

Looking forward to listening to the podcast. I'll be interested to hear what they have to say. As much as I love hunting and consider myself a conservationist; I believe in managing our public lands for multiple uses. And I hate seeing the BLM "sensitive species" weaponized to create ACEC's, WSA's and other designations to shut off multiple use by left wing administrations.

 

[Bull_n_heat]

Looking forward to listening to the podcast. I'll be interested to hear what they have to say. As much as I love hunting and consider myself a conservationist; I believe in managing our public lands for multiple uses. And I hate seeing the BLM "sensitive species" weaponized to create ACEC's, WSA's and other designations to shut off multiple use by left wing administrations.

From what I have read, it looks like the ACECs they are proposing are basically just taken already identified mule deer migration corridors and converting them so that many (most?) future activities are limited there. They also specifically propose some protection-type management alternatives for the Little Mountain Area. Sportsman's groups in SW Wyoming have been trying to work with BLM for years to do something like this here, as it is one of the most coveted deer and elk tags in the state. The other big areas they have proposed is in Adobe Town (Its a cool spot that I caution to say too much about on the internet for fear of ruining it) and some dunes in the Red Desert.

There are a couple of little spots that they have deemed "sensitive" due to cultural artifacts (petroglyphs) or perhaps natural resource concerns (springs). However, the vast, vast majority of the District remains business as usual. The Google Earth KMZs they have on the eplanning site are very good for displaying these proposals.

In terms of grazing, the new proposal is all but status quo. The only allotment that is proposed to be closed is a bit over 8,000 acres and the permittee has voluntarily rested the allotment for at least the last decade

 

[Jaden Bales]

Muley fantastic did a 2 part podcast on it.

Yes they did! Dave from Your Mountain is on the WWF's board and has a good mind. Haven't listened to the two-part podcast though.

Our director Joy also hopped on with Coursey from MFF on one of those and they hashed out a lot of good information right after it released for more of an overview.

Here's the link:

Wild Things & Wild Places: Balancing Wyoming's Future: Rock Springs Resource Management Plan Draft Featuring the Greater Little Mountain Coalition and Craig Rood

Welcome to "Balancing Wyoming's Future," the special two-part podcast. In today's episode, we shine a spotlight on the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan draft, a pivotal document that charts the course for responsible land use in southwestern Wyoming. We are honored to have two esteemed...

sites.libsyn.com

 

[Hawks]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Hawks]

We always talk about how development, roads, feral horses, etc., etc,. impact public land quality. Welp, here's where the rubber meets the road - Resource Management Plans.

The draft for the Rock Springs RMP just was released this morning and in it are four prescriptions for how to manage this BLM ground that's the size of Connecticut. Here's a link to WWF's page on the plan: https://wyomingwildlife.org/rock-springs-resource-management-plan/

This is where Wyoming's Red Desert elk and pronghorn herds live and where a ton of Region G and H mule deer winter.

For an example of how important it is, the collared mule deer that wintered out here had about normal winter survival this year compared to the real devastating impacts of winter over on the southern end of the Wyoming Range.

Gettin' involved is part of your great taxpaying American rights, so I suggest y'all do.