The Wyoming Public Lands Initiative Act designates five new wilderness areas in Wyoming while releasing 17 previously protected wilderness study areas from federal protection, allowing them to be managed under standard federal land laws with certain restrictions on drilling and motorized use. The bill establishes the Dubois Badlands National Conservation Area (4,446 acres) for ecological and recreational protection and creates approximately 70,486 acres of Special Management Areas across Wyoming that prohibit new roads and commercial timber harvesting while restricting motorized vehicle use to existing routes and allowing only directional drilling for oil and gas development outside the protected areas. Management of the designated wilderness areas will follow the Wilderness Act with allowances for fire control and continuation of existing livestock grazing, and the Secretary of Interior must complete fire management and travel management plans within 180 days to 2 years respectively. The bill also directs a study of potential new motorized recreation areas in Hot Springs and Washakie Counties to be completed within 2 years, with recommendations due to Congress.
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