Working to protect public lands and wildlife since 1967


Air Quality

Historically, Wyoming has enjoyed some of the cleanest air in the nation, but it is losing that distinction because of the rate of energy development taking place in the state. With this loss of clean air, Wyoming risks the health of its citizens, its tourism industry, its fisheries, and its mountain lakes and streams, not to mention its 100-mile views. The Wyoming Outdoor Council works to reduce the harm to air quality due to oil and gas projects, and the emissions from coal-fired power plants and other industries. The Council also works to ensure that Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) permits are as protective as possible and that the standards set by the Clean Air Act are enforced. A theme in all of these efforts is to protect human health from ozone and reduce impacts to visibility in our wilderness areas and national parks.

The goal of our air quality program is to reduce the impacts of regional haze that impairs visibility in protected Class I wilderness areas and national parks and to prevent dangerous ground-level ozone occurrences that threaten human health. Oil and gas development projects and coal-fired power plants are significant contributors to air quality degradation in Wyoming. Our advocacy efforts target the responsible federal and state agencies, particularly the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. We work to ensure that both project and permitting decisions are as protective as possible of air quality.

In addition to our independent work to protect Wyoming’s air quality, the Wyoming Outdoor Council is a leading member of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition. In this role, we engage in advocacy and outreach activities specific to this part of the state, meet with representatives of key federal and state agencies, and provide technical and legal support to the coalition and to citizens.