Committee Making Recommendations for Wilderness Study Areas

The committee tasked with making recommendations for the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative has closed comments on the topic of wilderness study areas in the McCullough Peaks.
However, according to committee member Bucky Hall, the High Lakes proposal is still open for public comment. He says that the goal of the committee is to move the two regions out of the limbo created by the wilderness study area status – they are tasked with recommending to the State whether or not the areas should be officially determined wilderness areas, which significantly reduces the options for people recreating in those areas.
The committee met last Wednesday evening in Cody to review the public comments received on the wilderness study area in the McCullough Peaks. Hall says that more people were in favor of increasing wilderness areas, but not many comments were directed specifically at the McCullough Peaks question.

The committee is made up of representatives from a broad cross section of the local communities, with interests in conservation, ranching, agriculture, and hunting, as well as mechanized and motorized recreation. Hall says that the ultimate goal of the process is to create legislation that will officially designate the use for each study area.
Hall says the next step in this process is to accept public comment on the High Lakes Proposal, which can be found on the Park County website. Their next meeting will be sometime next month, with a goal of having a proposal for each study area ready to present to the County Commissioners in March.