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Designates multiple new protected and specially managed lands in Wyoming and directs the Interior Department to prepare studies, plans, and local partnerships to guide use and management. The law creates five wilderness areas, a national conservation area, a motorized recreation area, several special management areas, and requires travel, fire, and grazing management plans, land‑exchange work, and local implementation teams with set deadlines and reporting to Congress.
Defines the term 'Counties' to mean Hot Springs County and Washakie County.
The Secretary shall carry out a study to evaluate the potential for the development of new special motorized recreation areas in the Counties.
The study must evaluate the potential for development on Federal land managed by the Bureau in the Counties, except any land that is subject to a restriction on the use of motorized or mechanized vehicles under any Federal law, including this Act.
In carrying out the study, the Secretary shall offer opportunities for public input.
In carrying out the study, the Secretary shall collaborate with State parks, historic sites, and trails, and with the Counties.
Primary affected parties and likely impacts:
Local communities and counties (especially Fremont, Hot Springs, and Washakie Counties): will see new land-use designations that shape recreation, tourism, and land management. Local governments are required partners in studies and implementation and will have a role via advisory teams.
Ranchers and grazing permit holders: the law preserves certain existing grazing uses but requires them to operate within new management plans and boundaries; grazing operations may face new coordination requirements and potential adjustments tied to travel, fire, and conservation plans.
Motorized recreation users (off‑road vehicle and other motorized recreationists): gain a designated motorized recreation area (Dubois) and will be subject to new travel management plans and route restrictions; some former candidate areas for motorized use are instead designated as wilderness or conservation lands and will be closed to motorized access.
Conservation interests, wildlife, and natural resources: receive new protections under wilderness, NCA, and Special Management Area designations that limit development, withdraw lands from some forms of disposal, and set management priorities for habitat and cultural resource conservation.
Energy and mineral industry: faces limits where lands are withdrawn from mineral entry or where leasing is allowed only under narrow conditions, potentially reducing future exploration or development opportunities on the affected acres.
Bureau of Land Management and Department of the Interior: must undertake multiple studies, prepare travel, fire, and management plans, coordinate land exchanges, implement new management regimes, and report to Congress — administrative workload increases though no direct appropriations are specified.
Recreation and tourism businesses: may see localized increases in opportunities (motorized recreation area, clarified management for recreation) or reductions where wilderness designations close areas to motorized access; overall economic effects will vary by community and by how new designations change visitation patterns.
Net effect: the legislation reallocates permissible uses across specific BLM lands in Wyoming, protecting some areas while opening directed, planned motorized recreation in others; affected stakeholders must coordinate with BLM and county/state partners to implement new plans and rules.
Alters how references in the Wilderness Act to the Act's effective date are to be interpreted for purposes of the wilderness areas created by this Act (treat references to the Act's effective date as references to this Act's date of enactment).
Specifies how provisions of 16 U.S.C. 1133 (including subsection 4(d) provisions on fire management and grazing) apply to the wilderness areas created by this Act: references to the Secretary of Agriculture are to be read as references to "the Secretary," authorizes the Secretary to carry out activities necessary for control of fire under 4(d)(1) subject to coordination requirements, requires establishment of a fire management plan within 180 days, and applies grazing rules for grazing established before enactment consistent with 4(d)(4) and specified House Report guidelines for lands under the Secretary of the Interior.
Specifies that the Fremont County Implementation Team shall not be subject to the requirements of chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code (the Federal Advisory Committee Act).
Releases specified portions of listed wilderness study areas from the application of section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)) so those portions are no longer managed under 1782(c).
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text: CR S1131-1135)
Introduced February 20, 2025 by John A. Barrasso · Last progress February 20, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text: CR S1131-1135)
Introduced in Senate