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Counties in Big Horn Basin oppose new wildernessPOWELL, Wyo. (AP)--Counties in the Big Horn Basin say preserving the Western way of life is their top priority. The county commissions of Park, Big Horn, Washakie and Hot Springs counties recently submitted 22 pages of comments to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management outlining their vision of how federal land should be managed in the future. "There is concern our Western culture is being destroyed or detrimentally changed," the counties said. The BLM took comments through Nov. 24 on a Resource Management Plan for the Big Horn Basin. Developing the plan will take several years. When complete, it will guide nearly every aspect of the 3.2 million acres of federal land in the basin over the next 15 to 20 years. The four county commissions submitted remarks together. They were compiled by Ecosystem Research Group, a Missoula, Mont., environmental consulting firm. The counties' comments emphasize the importance of grazing in the basin. If grazing is reduced, "the highest value of these lands is to sell to developers and 'hobby' ranchers," they wrote. "With large ranches being subdivided into smaller tracts, many unintended consequences emerge. Our wildlife corridors and habitat are forever altered. We are witnessing urban sprawl creeping into these special places, and our landscapes and viewsheds are being chewed up by housing, roads and rural businesses at alarming rates." Protecting ranches means protecting open spaces, the commissions stated. "Ranchers and farmers can be great stewards of the land," they said. "The benefits of keeping working landscapes from being subdivided and developed should be considered in the (plan)." The counties noted the special public interest in the basin's wild horses. They called on the BLM to examine all management options. "As part of the wild horse management plan, the use of contraceptives should be continued, and adoption and slaughter of excess animals should be considered," they wrote. The counties asked the BLM to stop using helicopters for roundups, citing cost and the animals' well-being. The commissions also came out against designating any federal lands as wilderness in the basin. Wilderness areas typically are remote, undeveloped and largely roadless. Motorized travel is usually prohibited in an area once Congress designates it as wilderness. "Millions of acres in the west are designated as wilderness," the counties wrote. "We oppose designating any of the lands within the (planning area) as wilderness." The BLM is studying 12 areas as potential wilderness sites. The agency places restrictions on those study areas and the commissions asked that the federal government return those areas to general management. The counties also spelled out their support for oil and gas development, but called for better site reclamation. The counties also called for the BLM to study the safety of chemicals used in oil and gas exploration--something environmental groups have also suggested. The counties suggested that the BLM consider alternative energy sources, such as wind, hydroelectric and geothermal power. 12/15/08 Date: 12/10/08 Advertisement
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