Wyoming Public Lands Initiative Act of 2025

This bill reshapes how public lands in Wyoming are protected and used. It makes some areas full wilderness, adds the Dubois Badlands National Conservation Area (about 4,446 acres) with motorized use limited to existing roads and trails and closes it to new mining and mineral leasing, while allowing grazing to continue. It also creates a small Dubois Motorized Recreation Area (about 368 acres) and directs a fence and a travel plan to manage off-road vehicles there. Several places become “Special Management Areas,” where grazing can continue, motorized travel stays on existing routes, no new permanent roads are built, and agencies must create travel plans within two years; many of these areas are closed to new mining and mineral leasing, with any oil and gas only reachable by directional drilling from outside and no surface disturbance; some also block new wind or solar projects and new overhead towers . Some older “wilderness study” lands are released from their temporary status; for example, in the Bobcat Draw and Copper Mountain areas, the bill requires a travel plan, allows only directional drilling from outside, and closes the land to new mining claims and most energy leasing on the surface. Wilderness areas will be managed with a fire plan due in 180 days, grazing can continue where it existed, and there are no “buffer zones” that restrict activities outside the boundary .

The bill also promotes local input and planning. It directs land swaps to protect the Lander Slope and Red Canyon Areas of Critical Environmental Concern in Fremont County, sets up a local implementation team within 90 days, and orders a study (with a report due in two years) on where to add special motorized recreation areas in the county; it also orders a similar study in Hot Springs and Washakie Counties . Some areas (like Encampment River Canyon) are named as new wilderness and added to the National Wilderness Preservation System.

Key points

• Who is affected: Wyoming residents and visitors who hike, hunt, ride off-road vehicles, or ranch livestock; and energy developers who explore for oil, gas, or minerals .
• What changes: New wilderness areas; a 4,446-acre Dubois Badlands National Conservation Area with limited motorized use and no new mining or mineral leasing; a 368-acre Dubois Motorized Recreation Area with a fence and travel plan; multiple Special Management Areas with no new permanent roads, motorized use only on existing routes, grazing allowed, and tight limits on new mining and energy development (directional drilling only, no surface disturbance; some areas also block new wind/solar projects and new overhead towers) .
• When: Fire management plan for wilderness due within 180 days; travel management plans for new areas due within two years; Fremont County implementation team created within 90 days; Fremont County recreation study report due in two years .