Public lands rally draws large, varied crowd to Wyoming statehouse

Though broad pushback already drove Utah Sen. Mike Lee to scale back his public lands sell-off proposal for the Republicans’ big budget bill, a large and boisterous crowd still gathered Thursday evening in front of the Wyoming State Capitol to send the message “not for sale.”  

The group of hunters, anglers, snowmobilers, hikers, wildland firefighters and scientific researchers numbered well into the hundreds and was likely one of the largest protest groups to gather at the statehouse in recent years. The high turnout in Cheyenne showcased what Lee’s proposal has once again reminded the West — selling off public lands sparks fierce political opposition. 

“I’d like to thank Sen. Mike Lee for bringing us all together,” Rep. Karlee Provenza, an Albany County Democrat, told the crowd, speaking from the top of the sweeping staircase at the Capitol’s main entrance. “I’m just kidding,” she continued, “let’s boo that jackass.” 

And so the crowd did, loudly.

Rallies were also planned for Sheridan on Friday and Pinedale on Saturday. 

Though the Cheyenne rally was organized by Provenza and other well-known Wyoming progressives, a handful of attendees told WyoFile they were conservative voters outraged at the land sale. And when Wyoming political commentator (and WyoFile opinion columnist) Rod Miller asked fellow Republicans to identify themselves, hands shot up throughout the crowd. 

After initially pushing a sale that could have topped more than 3 million acres across 11 western states, Lee stripped U.S. Forest Service lands from his proposal and refocused it on Bureau of Land Management parcels within 5 miles of cities and towns. Lee has described the sale as a measure to boost the construction of affordable housing. His bill language was light on enforcement requirements for affordability, however. Lee’s longtime crusade to trim down the amount of federal land in the country also made his suggestion that the sale could mitigate a housing shortage difficult to swallow for his opponents.

Conservation groups, hook-and-bullet advocacy organizations and other opponents are watching this week to see whether Lee’s new language will pass muster with the Senate Parliamentarian, a legislative referee of sorts who has been ruling on what measures can and can’t go into the budget bill. 

The parliamentarian rejected Lee’s previous proposal.

In Cheyenne, rally goers listened as speakers described the bond Wyomingites have to public lands — whether that’s the iconic peaks and canyons or the parcels close to town that give the state its unique character. Those latter lands are the ones Lee now seeks to put on the chopping block, some speakers said. 

David Willms, a former staff member for Republican Gov. Matt Mead who now works as an attorney for the National Wildlife Federation, said Lee would sell off plots of land where young kids catch their first string of trout and new hunters bag their first deer. Though Lee may have backed off the more drastic sale, Willms urged public land advocates to keep up the fight both for the length of the current debate and beyond. 

“He only needs to win once,” Willms said of Lee. “We need to win every time.” 

Dave Gustafson, a Vietnam War veteran, told attendees that when he returned from that brutal conflict, he turned to Wyoming’s wild, “sacred” places for spiritual solace. “I’m sure every one of you have places you go to seek refuge,” he said. 

Gustafson then read a poem he’d written about a grandfather telling his son a favored public land fishing hole had been sold off. 

“I’ve been going there since ‘54,” he read, “but we can’t go there anymore.” 

Gustafson’s son, Logan Gustafson, also spoke. As a wildland firefighter, Gustafson said he and his colleagues developed ties to the public lands where they grappled with sometimes dangerous conflagrations. Referencing a saying for moments when firefighters have their backs against the proverbial wall, he told protesters to keep resisting public land sales even when it seems the odds are against them. 

“Keep one foot inside the black and hold the line,” he said. The “black” refers to already burned ground that is considered unlikely to burn again.  

Listening in the crowd was James Schick, a Cheyenne pharmacist who said he considers himself an independent voter but leans more conservative than liberal. He criticized Lee for trying to ram policy with such intense public interest into law through a budget bill that Republicans in control of Washington, D.C. see as a must-pass measure. 

“We need to have these types of conversations in a reasonable and gracious manner,” Schick said. “Don’t try to force an agenda that is industry-based, it seems like, on our public land.” 

Another attendee held a sign that said, “if there was ever a hill to die on, it’s a public land hill.” He declined to share his name with WyoFile, saying he worked in government and did not want to face reprisal. But he described himself as feeling betrayed by Sen. John Barrasso after backing the Casper doctor in every campaign he’s mounted. 

“Apparently, Barrasso, [Sen. Cynthia] Lummis and [Rep.] Harriet Hageman back this,” he said, “because Hageman said ‘don’t worry your wildernesses, your national parks, your national monuments, you can still hunt and fish them.’ Well, who hunts on wildernesses but tourists? Outfitters take tourists into the wilderness. I’m not going to pack my kid 14 miles in for his first [deer]. This is Wyoming, are you kidding me?” 

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Under Lee’s original proposal, designations like national parks and wildlife refuges were exempted from sale. Though Wyoming’s congressional delegation has not explicitly backed Lee’s proposal in public comments, Hageman has defended it, none have criticized it, and all have expressed support for some level of federal land sell-off. 

At the rally, Provenza and other speakers said public land advocates need to create enough pushback on Lee that other politicians will hesitate to support similar initiatives in the future. And she called on Wyoming’s congressional delegation to block Lee’s latest language from the budget bill, and keep the public lands surrounding Wyoming towns intact.

“Why the hell is Harriet Hageman, or John Barrasso or Cynthia Lummis not with us here today?” Provenza asked. 

Correction: This story has been updated to correct Rep. Karlee Provenza’s comments about Sen. Mike Lee. —Ed.