DENVER—Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon announced late Friday that he would seek to block the sale of Marton Ranch to the Bureau of Land Management, which opened access to 40,000 acres of previously inaccessible public land thanks to the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:
“Once again, anti-conservation extremists have revealed their true agenda: keeping the public off of public land, and telling private landowners what they can and cannot do with their property. Governor Gordon should be celebrating a sale that is a win for hunters, anglers, wildlife, and the Marton family, not trying to stop it.
“Families shouldn’t have to go begging government land boards for permission to protect their land for future generations. But that’s exactly what Governor Gordon is trying to force here. It’s an egregious attack on private property rights and an insult to the people of Wyoming, who have made it clear in poll after poll that they value access to the outdoors.
“Governor Gordon should reverse course, drop his objection to the sale, and be the first one at the ribbon cutting to welcome the public onto their newly-accessible public lands.”
A report from the Center for Western Priorities this year identified Wyoming as the worst state in the West for public land protections, having protected no new acres of national public land over the last decade. In the 2022 Conservation in the West Poll from the Colorado College State of the Rockies Project, two thirds of Wyoming voters supported protecting 30 percent of American lands and waters by 2030, and 7 of 10 Wyoming voters supported creating new national parks, national monuments, national wildlife refuges, and tribal protected areas.
LEARN MORE
- BLM acquisition unlocks thousands of acres, new stretch of North Platte near Casper [Casper Star-Tribune, Cowboy State Daily, Wyofile, Wyoming Public Media]
- Conservation Gridlock: Which states are leading and lagging in protecting public lands [Center for Western Priorities]
- 2022 Conservation in the West Poll [Colorado College]
- The 30×30 Disinformation Brigade: How extremists and political operatives are undermining American conservation efforts [Center for Western Priorities]
For more information, visit westernpriorities.org. To speak with an expert on public lands, contact Aaron Weiss at 720-279-0019 or aaron@westernpriorities.org.