The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has extended a public comment period regarding potential changes to a management plan that covers 3.6 million acres of public land in southwest Wyoming.

The agency proposes to amend the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan to include more access for fossil fuel extraction and will accept “scoping” comments through Dec. 18 — a 45-day extension.

The plan was updated in December 2024 under the Biden administration, and it set off a firestorm of criticism from conservative critics and key politicians for being overly restrictive. The BLM, under the Trump administration, said it “determined that the special management designations and their associated mineral restrictions within the field office are inconsistent with recent executive orders and need to be reviewed.” 

The designated Sublette Mule Deer Migration Corridor, in brown, is intersected by 31 parcels totaling 49,329 acres that the Bureau of Land Management is proposing to auction during a June 2026 oil and gas lease sale. (Wyoming Outdoor Council)

Those Trump executive orders include Unleashing American Energy and Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry.

Conservation groups say public lands in the Rock Springs region are now at risk of the BLM prioritizing development over conservation — a threat to vital wildlife habitat. Although the 2024 plan still technically — and legally — guides management in the area, including limits on energy development in certain areas, the agency appears to be moving forward with plans that run counter to those prescriptions.

A federal oil and gas lease auction, set for June, includes several proposed parcels encompassing 19,839 acres in the Golden Triangle — a sanctuary for the greater sage grouse and other wildlife, according to a Rocky Mountain Wild analysis — as well as parcels that overlap state-protected ungulate migration corridors in the southwest planning area.

A public meeting regarding the proposed plan amendment is scheduled for Dec. 3, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Sweetwater Events Complex in Rock Springs.

Visit this BLM website to learn more about the proposed amendment and to submit a comment.

Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect lease parcels are under consideration for a 2026 lease auction. —Ed

Dustin Bleizeffer covers energy and climate at WyoFile. He has worked as a coal miner, an oilfield mechanic, and for more than 25 years as a statewide reporter and editor primarily covering the energy...

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