Another draft of the natural resource management plan in the works
County Planner David Gertsch said public comment received since the last draft will inform the revisions. The plan seeks to direct local-federal cooperation on resource management.
Albany County is home to a wide array of natural resources and public lands. While the number of people that use a resource might grow, the resource itself will not follow that upward trend. That is where management plans step in.
The county is nearing completion of a Natural Resource Management Plan, which will outline goals for local and federal cooperation whenever the county’s natural resources are at stake. The plan has gone through a couple of drafts and recently had a month-long public comment period.
“Federal public lands are integral to life in Albany County,” the plan states. “They play a vital role in the area’s economy, are a source of enjoyment and freedom, and for more than 150 years, have been an inseparable part of the county’s culture and customs.”
This will be the first year that Albany County adopts a natural resource management plan, and the plan will be tailored to the county’s unique mix and quantity of natural resources.
“It will look different than others in Wyoming, the document isn’t a cookie-cutter plan,” Albany County Planner David Gertsch said. “It may have started with influence (from plans for other counties) but it has changed.”
The document was created by a consulting firm, Y2 Consultants, and it has taken on a shape of its own to be unique to Albany County. It has been shortened from well over 200 to just 160 pages. Gertsch said this was done by decreasing the wording and adding an extensive index to the document.
The document outlines the vital role of natural resources and public land within Albany County, whether it’s for agriculture and grazing, air quality, climate change mitigation, recreation, renewable energy, water quality and water resources, or wildlife and fisheries.
“The goal is to make sure agencies and users of public lands are striving for equal management,” Gertsch said.
The plan states that county and federal management teams should work together to recognize the diversity of the usage. While doing so, they have to come up with ways to reduce the conflict that can come from such diversity, emphasizing on cooperation.
“While statutes and rules may bring the participants to the table, the effectiveness of the discussion depends on mutual respect and a common understanding,” the plan states. “Specifically, the federal agencies’ recognition that decisions and activities on public lands often impact local residents more than national constituents, and the county’s acknowledgement that federal agencies make the ultimate decision about the management of lands under their care.”
The document states that Albany County is the eighth largest in Wyoming, containing 2.75 million acres, or 4,274 square miles.
About 24% of land in the county is managed by the federal government, including roughly 14% by United States Forest Service, 11% by the Bureau of Land Management, and less than 1% by United States Fish and Wildlife Services.
About 7% is owned by the state, and the vast majority — 67% — is made up of private property.
Gertsch said the plan seeks to ensure that one user, or one industry, does not deplete a resource through over-usage, thereby limiting its utility to another user. The purpose of this is to ensure that the resources continue to thrive.
The consultants and steering committee are still at work on the plan, and are considering the public comments they received over the past month. Gertsch said he was not sure when the next public meetings would be scheduled but he urged the public to come and share their opinions on the new draft whenever that next public meeting occurs.
The latest draft of the Natural Resource Management Plan can be found here.