WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (ENR), applauded the Senate’s unanimous passage of S. 1348, the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative (WPLI) Act of 2023, and other critical public lands priorities for the Cowboy State. These bills now head to the House of Representatives for approval.

After Senate passage of WPLI, Senator Barrasso spoke in support of the bill. Click here to watch his full remarks and here for more information on the bill.

“This legislation is very important to my home state of Wyoming – something we’ve been working on for years. The bill would resolve the management status for thousands of acres of federal public lands across seven counties of the 23 counties in my home state of Wyoming. These acres involve, what are known as, Wilderness Study Areas. These are lands managed solely for preservation, even though they are not included in the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Bureau of Land Management studies these areas. They study them to determine whether they should be designated as wilderness lands or if these lands should be returned to multiple-use status. Until Congress acts, the Bureau treats all of the lands as if it’s wilderness. In other words, these lands currently under study, are closed off to almost every use. For the people of Wyoming, who rely on access to the land to make a living and for recreation, this is just doesn’t work,” said Senator Barrasso on the Senate floor.

This week, the Senate also unanimously passed Senator Barrasso’s:

• Land Manager Housing and Workforce Improvement Act, which addresses housing and workforce challenges at the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and other agencies by expanding their authority to hire local candidates and partner with private entities.
• Modernizing Access to our Public Waters Act, which requires the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service to publicly disclose, in a single database, federal waterway access points, navigation information, and fishing limitations.
• Resiliency for Ranching and Natural Conservation Health Act, which promotes effective grazing management across the West by allowing for the temporary use of vacant grazing allotments during extreme events or disasters like wildfires or droughts.