Around the 307
News, commentary, and other items of interest from the greater Wyoming landscape.
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Here are some news items of interest from around the Equality State for the week of February 2nd, 2025:
First of all, a clarification to the Jester’s Legacy story from last week’s Around the 307 post. Regarding trapping reform bill Senate File (SF) 139 this bill will not require traps to be setback from roads and hiking trails on public land but rather SF 139 would give the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission (WGFC) the authority to establish trap setback specifications. In order to provide the WGFC with this authority the bill proposes to modify language in Wyoming Statute, 23-2-303(d). If SF 139 passes, it would then enable WGFC to develop comprehensive setback rules utilizing the public rulemaking process; the latter would include comments and input from all stakeholders before the implementation of any trapping setbacks regulations.
As of the writing of today’s post, SF 139 has passed the Wyoming Senate and has been received in the House for introduction. It’s a process, and this is the first of many steps. I’ll endeavor to keep you updated as this story progresses.
On Tuesday, February 4th the Natrona County Commissioners (NCC) denied a permit that would have allowed construction of a 2,000 acre solar farm. Wow! That would have been a really huge farm! During the NCC meeting, that lasted more than 6 hours, concerns were voiced by the community, the local fire district, and the Wyoming Game & Fish Department about safety and the negative impacts to wildlife posed by the project. Missing paperwork in the permit application also derailed approval of the solar farm effort. Read the full story in this Your Wyoming Link news article published on February 6th.
Thursday, February 6th we learned former Wyoming Cowboys quarterback, Josh Allen, was named the National Football League’s (NFL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the NFL Honors event held in New Orleans, Louisiana. Allen is the first Mountain West Conference player to ever earn NFL MVP honors! Read more about his accomplishment in this Star Valley Independent article. Congratulations Josh!
Lastly, and also on Thursday, Cowboy State Daily published this article announcing newly-appointed Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, has put a kibosh on the much-hated and maligned Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Rock Springs Management Plan (RMP). Finalized during the waning days of the Biden Administration, the Rock Springs RMP would have designated 1.8 million acres of BLM managed land (mostly within Sweetwater County) as “areas of critical environmental concern”—meaning restricting public access in those areas for hunting, motorized recreation, cattle grazing, and energy exploration. The potentially devastating effects of the Rock Springs RMP on local economies spurred widespread and harsh criticism by Wyoming residents and elected officials. Now, while it’s still too early to know what the fate of the now halted Rock Springs RMP may be, some speculate the plan will likely be given an overhaul rather than being scrapped in its entirety. Stay tuned!
That’s all for today cowboys and cowgirls! Thanks for reading and have a great week!
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