Wyoming Outdoor Council
Lander, WY
Wyoming Range campaign
Project location: western WY
$20,000 2008-2010

The Wyoming Outdoor Council (WOC), founded in 1967, is Wyoming's oldest independent statewide conservation group.  WOC works to protect Wyoming’s world-class public lands and wildlife, safeguard the state's enviably clean air and water, and blaze the trail toward sustainable energy. They influence the actions of a diverse set of decision-makers, including industry and agency staff and elected officials. WOC educates and activates citizens, works in alliances with conservation, religious, and labor groups, and when all else fails, will take legal action to meet WOC's mission, which is to protect Wyoming’s environment and quality of life for future generations.  

The Confluence Fund supports a project which aims to protect the Wyoming Range from oil and gas development. In 2005, the Forest Service agreed to open part of the Wyoming Range to oil and gas leasing along 44,720 acres along the eastern gateway of the range.  A groundswell of Wyoming citizens rallied against these leases, leading Senator John Barrasso to introduce the Wyoming Range Legacy Act.

If passed, the Wyoming Range Legacy Act will stop future oil and gas leasing on 1.2 million acres, but it will not stop development of existing and contested leases that flank the entire eastern edge of the range. To ensure permanent protection for the Wyoming Range from oil and gas development WOC will work towards three outcomes: 

• Cancel 44,720 acres of contested leases
• Prevent gas development on more than 60,000 acres of existing leases
• Support and backstop the Wyoming Range Legacy Act 

Latest News

On January 29, 2010, the Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF) issued a Draft EIS recommending that an additional 44,720 acres of pending oil & gas leases in the Wyoming Range (not included in the 1.2 million acres placed off-limits under the Wyoming Range Legacy Act) be permanently canceled due to unacceptable threats to air quality and wildlife. A permanent BTNF decision is expected in late spring.

The Wyoming Range Legacy Act was signed into law by President Obama as part of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 on March 30, 2009.