Public Comments Key to Improving State Land Board Rules

by Christine Lichtenfels

The State of Wyoming owns approximately 3.6 million acres of land conveyed by the federal government at statehood and by subsequent acts of Congress. Beyond the initial and still guiding purpose that these lands are to be "in aid of common or public schools," they also provide important wildlife habitat, contain nationally significant historic sites, offer excellent recreation opportunities and are a major resource for the citizens of Wyoming.

This past June the Board of Land Commissioners proposed new rules to govern the acquisition and disposal of state trust lands. As initially proposed, the rules suggested a major and very disturbing change in the management of these lands.

The Wyoming Constitution and Wyoming Statutes set a high bar for the sale or exchange of state lands -only at public auction and only when significant advantages or needs can be proven. However, the proposed new rules gave short shrift to these standards, greasing the wheels for land disposal, exchange and acquisition.

Most worrisome, the rules included a "General Policy" which called for a "diversified" inventory of lands balanced among commercial, agricultural, industrial, residential, recreational and other uses and proposed no net increase in state trust land acreage. This policy would have generated a sell-off of existing state lands to finance the acquisition of commercial properties, giving the impression that the Board of Land Commissioners wanted to get into the business of commercial real estate, handling state lands as a commercial investment with very little in the way of public input or safeguards.

In December, following an extended comment period, the board adopted final rules for land acquisition and disposal. Most notably, the "General Policy" was left out of the final rules. Other improvements included a greater emphasis on wildlife, recreational and historic resources in the board's decision-making process and making more information available to the public for comments on proposed land disposals and acquisitions. However, the final rules fail to ensure that the public has adequate opportunities to comment on land-disposal proposals, contain statutorily insufficient notice procedures for public hearings and seemingly grant the board greater discretion in state land disposal and acquisition decisions than statutorily allowed.

While the final rules are far from ideal, they reflect the positive influence of comments by concerned organizations and citizens on the board's initial proposals and highlight the value of public involvement in state rule-making processes. WOC will continue to scrutinize state trust land sales and purchase proposals to ensure statutory safeguards for public involvement and proper decision-making.