89–006 

1 16 U.S.C. 1131. 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 115–1092 

RESTORING LOCAL INPUT AND ACCESS TO PUBLIC 

LANDS ACT OF 2018 

DECEMBER 20, 2018.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

together with 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

[To accompany H.R. 6939] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 6939) to protect and ensure multiple use and public access to public lands in Wyoming per the request of the respective 

counties, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that 

the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 6939 is to protect and ensure multiple use 

and public access to public lands in Wyoming per the request of the 

respective counties. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Wilderness Act of 1964 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) established 

the National Wilderness Preservation System to maintain some of 

America’s wildest areas for the ‘‘use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness.’’ 1 The Act described wilderness lands as areas ‘‘where the earth and its community of life are 

untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not 

2 

2 Ibid. 

3 Bureau of Land Management. Wyoming Wilderness Study Areas: A Final Inventory Report. 

1981. 4 Bureau of Land Management. Rock Springs District, Wyoming, Wilderness Study Report. 

1984. 5 Bureau of Land Management. Wyoming Statewide Wilderness Study Report: Wilderness 

Study Area Specific Recommendations. 1991. 6Public Law 98–550. 

7One of the WSAs is managed by the U.S. Forest Service with the remaining 20 managed 

by the Bureau of Land Management. 

remain.’’ 2 It required that the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior review within 10 years most of the public lands under their 

purview and evaluate ‘‘primitive’’ roadless areas greater than 5,000 

acres in size for their wilderness character and prepare suitability 

recommendations for the President to share with Congress. Under 

the Act, Congress reserves the sole authority to designate federal 

lands as wilderness. Generally, the Wilderness Act prohibits commercial activities, motorized uses, and the building of roads, structures and facilities in designated wilderness areas. In general, even 

though they have not been designated by Congress as part of the 

National Wilderness Preservation System, lands identified as wilderness study areas (WSAs) are managed as if they were wilderness. 

Pursuant to the Wilderness Act, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) completed its wilderness inventories in Wyoming in 

1981 3 and made wilderness suitability recommendations in 1984 4

and 1991.5 The Wyoming Wilderness Act of 1984 designated wilderness on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) parcels and released other 

areas from study. It also established new WSAs on USFS-managed 

land.6 Currently, there are more than 750,000 acres of federallymanaged WSAs in Wyoming. In Lincoln, Big Horn, and Sweetwater 

Counties alone, there are more than 400,000 acres in 21 WSAs.7

Without Congressional action, these areas will remain in limbo and 

will be managed as de facto wilderness, despite agency recommendations that many of the areas be released. 

H.R. 6939 intends to release all WSAs in Lincoln, Big Horn, and 

Sweetwater Counties. If enacted, this bill would release approximately 400,000 acres of BLM and USFS land for broader multiple 

use, ensuring greater diversity of access to public lands and a 

wider array of management options available to land managers. 

This bill would also prohibit any future wilderness designation in 

Wyoming, unless enacted by law. The bill also directs that any 

BLM or USFS land in Wyoming inventoried as ‘‘Land With Wilderness Characteristics’’ or that was identified as having wilderness 

characteristics will no longer be inventoried or identified as such 

and shall be managed under multiple use and sustained yield mandates. Finally, the bill prohibits BLM and USFS from conducting 

any new wilderness inventories or identifying land as having wilderness character in Wyoming. 

H.R. 6939 is supported by Lincoln, Big Horn, and Sweetwater 

Counties. It also enjoys support from the following organizations: 

Wyoming Stock Growers Association, Advocates for Multiple Use of 

Public Lands, Wyoming Mining Association, Petroleum Association 

of Wyoming, American Farm Bureau, Sweetwater Snow Pokes 

Snowmobile and ATV Club, Wyoming State Snowmobile Association, and Teton Freedom Riders. 

3 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 6939 was introduced on September 27, 2018, by Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R–WY). The bill was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands. On November 15, 2018, the Natural 

Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee 

was discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered, and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of 

Representatives by a roll call vote of 19 yeas and 11 nays as follows: 

4 


Insert offset folio 4 here HR1092.001

Date: 11.!5.18 9:30a.m. 

Committee on Natural Resources 

U.S. House ofRepresentatiYes 

ll5th Congress 

Recorded Vote#: I 

Meeting on I Amendment on: FC Markup Favorably Report HR 6939 (Rep. Liz Cheney) 

MEMBERS Yes No Pres MEMBERS 

Mr. Bishop, UT, Chairman X Mr. Cook, CA 

1\fr. Gr(ialva, AZ. Ranking Nfcmber X l'vfr. McEachin, VA 

Mr. Young, AK, Chairman Emeritus Mr. Westerman, AR 

Mrs. Napolitano. CA X lv!r. Brmvn, MD 

Mr. Gohmert, TX, Vice Chairman X Mr. Graves, LA 

ll1s. Bordallo, Guam X Mr. Clay.MO 

Mr. Lamborn, CO X Mr. Hice,GA 

lvfr. Costa, CA Mr. Gomez. CA 

Mr. Wittman, VA Mrs. Radewagen, AS 

Mr. Sablan, CNlWJ Ms. Vehl:::quez, NY 

Mr. McClintock, CA X Mr. Webster, FL 

Ms. rwngas, lv!A Mr. Bergman, Ml 

Mr. Pearce, NM Ms. Cheney, WY 

Mr. Huffman, CA X Mr .. Johnson, LA 

!Mr. Thompson, PA X Ms. Gonzalez-Colon, PR 

lvfr. Lmventhal, CA X Mr. Gianforte, MT 

Mr. Gosar, AZ X Mr. Curtis, UT 

Mr. Be.ver, VA X 

Mr. Labrador, ID 

Mr. Gallego, AZ 

Mr. Tipton, CO X 

Ms. Hanabusa, HI X 

Mr. LaMalfa, CA X 

Ms. Barragan, CA X 

Mr. Denham, CA 

Mr. Soto, FL X TOTAL: 

Yes No Pres 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X I 

X 

X 

19 11 
5 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT

1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of rule XIII of 

the Rules of the House of Representatives and sections 308(a) and 

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 

requested but not received a cost estimate for the bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office. 

2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to protect and ensure multiple use and public access 

to public lands in Wyoming per the request of the respective counties. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any directed 

rule makings. 

Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not establish or 

reauthorize a program of the federal government known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was not included in 

any report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 

pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139 or identified in the 

most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act (Public Law 95–220, 

as amended by Public Law 98–169) as relating to other programs. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes to existing law. 

(6) 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

Despite its name, H.R. 6939 has little to do with restoring access 

to public lands or listening to local input. 

The bill would eliminate all Wilderness Study Areas (WSA) in 

three Wyoming Counties—effectively rolling back protections for 

nearly 400,000 acres of public land. A sober minded process for releasing WSAs would typically follow a deliberate process and release some lands to multiple-use management while protecting 

those most worthy of wilderness designation; however, this bill 

paints with a broad brush, removing all study areas regardless of 

their worthiness for protection. 

This is especially egregious as Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM) surveys in the mid-eighties and early-nineties determined 

that nearly half of the lands H.R. 6939 would release are worthy 

of wilderness designation. While we understand the bill-sponsor’s 

frustration that Congress has failed to formalize these protections, 

there is abundant and long-standing evidence that these areas 

merit increased protection rather than release from further study. 

In addition to releasing the WSAs, H.R. 6939 removes protections from approximately 3.3 million acres of US Forest Land managed under the 2001 national roadless rule and an additional 

700,000 acres of BLM land managed to maintain wilderness characteristics. The bill also restricts either agency from future inventories to determine the wilderness and conservation value of these 

lands, shifting all the land covered by the bill to a management 

framework that would permit oil and gas development, mining, 

commercial timber operations and other potentially harmful activities. Taken together this would turn back the clock on years of conservation success and potentially decrease access for users like 

hunters, fishermen, and outdoor enthusiasts, who rely on functional, unimpaired ecosystems. 

Furthermore, during the hurried effort to repeal these protections, the bill’s sponsor has done little to incorporate local input. 

Only one of the three counties impacted had even a semblance of 

a public engagement process, which culminated in a hasty endorsement along a split, 3–2 vote. In this vote, the Chairman of the 

County Board of Commissioner’s voted against the bill, noting in 

the press that this type of process requires ‘‘a lot of public comment 

to make it right.’’ This bill was clearly rushed through public comment: a haste mirrored in its incorporation into a lame-duck markup without receiving a hearing. That’s just one of the reasons why 

organizations representing public land users across Wyoming— 

from a group of state legislators to prominent outfitters and 

guides—oppose H.R. 6939. 

While we recognize the important role Congress plays in providing certainty for Federal lands management, this process ought 

to involve significant public and agency input. We cannot hastily 

7 

undo decades worth of work and protection for wilderness-quality 

lands simply because it is easy. There is a deliberate process for 

handling Wilderness Study Areas and by following it we can come 

to a consensus-based bill that meets the needs of all stakeholders. 

RAU ́ L M. GRIJALVA, 

Ranking Member, Committee 

on Natural Resources. 

GRACE F. NAPOLITANO. 

ALAN LOWENTHAL. 

Æ