Greater South Pass Needs Your Letters

We have received information that the Lander BLM is close to releasing their proposed Resource Management Plan. The proposal is likely to include three different alternatives, each of which would have different impacts for the Greater South Pass Historic Landscape:

Current Status; no change
Resource Protection
Resource Use

AHW will be supporting the resource protection or conservation alternative. Unsuprisingly, however, many of the influential policy-makers are pushing for the resource use alternative.
We are asking the BLM to consider managing the Greater South Pass Historic Landscape much as they have done in the past. We most certainly have no dispute with historic ranch uses in the area. As for mineral development, there is no gas or oil in the area. The biggest energy threat comes from potential wind energy projects. But even those have limited potential due to topography. We also believe that hard rock mining is incompatible with this area.

What we are asking is that the BLM adopt a five-mile "no surface occupancy" boundary around the trails. Beyond that, we believe that any project can and should be sited on a case-by-case basis depending on the landscape in the area. Adoption of these standards would also protect core sage grouse areas, an increasingly important issue in Wyoming.

We are asking that our supporters contact key decision-makers as soon as possible to make sure they understand the significance that the historic preservation community places on the Greater South Pass Historic Landscape. You can click here to go to our website where you will find a link under "Current Alerts" that will allow you to send a "one-click letter" to these decision-makers or use the contact information provided below to send surface mail.

TALKING POINTS

• Wyoming is blessed with the most pristine historic emigrant trails anywhere in the country
• The crown jewel of this system of trails is South Pass
• Without South Pass, the iconic westward emigration would have been impossible
• Thousands of people visit South Pass every year, pumping untold dollars into the local economy
• Protecting South Pass for future generations is not a change in management; it's what our ancestors did for us; it's what we owe to our children
• The RMP will guide management of the area for the next 15-20 years. It must reflect the interests of the future as much, if not more, than any short-term gain
• The potential for mineral development is miniscule and trumped by the preservation imperative
• Wind energy can be developed in other parts of the state, parts of the state that do not include a one-of-its-kind, internationally renowned cultural resource

CONTACT INFORMATION

Send your letters to:

Governor Dave Freudenthal
State Capitol, 200 West 24th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82002-0010
307-777-7434 (phone) 307-632-3909 (fax)

Don Simpson, BLM State Director
5353 Yellowstone Road
PO Box 1828, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003-1828
307-775-6256 (phone) 307-775-6129 (fax)

Jim Cagney, Lander BLM Field Manager
1335 Main Street, PO Box 589
Lander, WY 82520-0589
307-332-8400 (phone) 307-332-8444 (fax)

Mary Hopkins, Interim SHPO
State Historic Preservation Office
Department 3431
1000 E. University Avenue
Laramie, Wyoming 82071
307-766-5323 (phone) 307-766-4262 (fax)