Governor applauds decision to protect Adobe Town
JEFF GEARINO Southwest Wyoming bureau | Posted: Friday, November 30, 2007 12:00 am
GREEN RIVER - Designation of Adobe Town as "very rare or uncommon" by the state Environmental Quality Council was in itself a rare act.
Only three other such designations have been made by the council in its 34-year existence, according to state records and EQC officials.
The council voted Wednesday to protect about 180,000 acres in the Adobe Town area of southwest Wyoming by designating the area as "very rare or uncommon." Council members said the area met all the criteria and was worthy of the designation, which protects the area from non-coal surface mining under state law.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Thursday the council's decision represents "an important step" in protecting Wyoming's special places.
"I believe that there are certain parts of the state that should be preserved and Adobe Town is one of them," Freudenthal said in a statement.
"The rare or uncommon designation is itself rare, and I appreciate that members of the EQC weighed the concerns of landowners and industry before making their decision," the governor said.
Although the governor applauded the council's decision, it does not need his approval to take effect. Contrary to earlier reports in the Star-Tribune, the council has full authority to make "very rare or uncommon" designations.
The Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance joined with seven other groups and submitted the designation petition a year ago. The Adobe Town area lies at the southern end of the Red Desert in southeast Sweetwater County, about 25 miles southwest of Wamsutter.
The area features such prominent landmarks as the Haystacks, the Powder Rim and Skull Creek Rim, along with rare fossils, badland topography, spires, arches, towering cliffs and numerous pinnacles.
Industry groups including the Wyoming Mining Association and the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation opposed the "very rare or uncommon" designation, saying they fear it could lead to restrictions on use of the area for such things as livestock grazing, in addition to non-coal mining.
The governor appoints the seven members of the Environmental Quality Council, who are confirmed by the Wyoming Senate. One member is appointed from the minerals industry, one from agriculture, and five members are at-large citizens.
The council designated state and national parks, monuments, numerous historical places, state and national wildlife refuges, state recreation areas and a variety of other sites as "unique and irreplaceable" shortly after the Environmental Quality Act became law in 1973, according to EQC records.
Since then, the council has added two more "unique and irreplaceable" designations - at sites in Johnson and Sheridan counties - and three "very rare or uncommon" designations.
In August 1978, the council designated as rare and uncommon an area in Natrona County commonly known as Jackson Canyon, Little Red Creek, Gothberg Draw and Eagle Roost.
The council next's resolution came in July 1994 when it designated the Bessemer Mountain area near Casper as "very rare or uncommon." In November 2002, the council designated a small section north of State Highway 220 and southeast of Casper as rare or uncommon.
To assign the designation, the council must conclude the lands have a particular historical, wildlife, archaeological, surface, geological, botanical or scenic value, and then determine that at least one of its values is rare or uncommon compared to the rest of Wyoming.
The governor has had a rocky relationship with the EQC of late. The governor and council members butted heads earlier this year while in the midst of coal-bed water rulemaking efforts.
And in April, Freudenthal came under fire for appointing three industry representatives to the council, effectively making sure that three members of the seven-person council would have to recuse themselves from coal-bed methane water discharge disputes.
One of the new appointees quickly resigned after learning of the situation and was replaced by another who could oversee such cases.
Freudenthal has consistently advocated for protection of the Adobe Town area in the face of increasing interest in oil and gas and mineral development in the area.
In 2005, Freudenthal pushed for measures aimed at protecting Adobe Town and surrounding areas in a letter to the Bureau of Land Management. The governor said he could not support additional leasing in the Adobe Town area under current drilling technologies.
Council staff members said Thursday a formal decision outlining the council's findings of fact and conclusions of law is being written. The final designation decision will be published on the agency's Web site,http://deq.state.wy.us/eqc, in the next few weeks.
Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at gearino@tribcsp.com.