The Wyoming Public Lands Initiative Act designates approximately 145,000 acres of federal land in Wyoming for enhanced protection and conservation through a mix of wilderness areas, national conservation areas, and special management areas. The bill creates five new wilderness areas totaling about 20,400 acres while releasing 17 wilderness study areas from strict protection, and establishes multiple conservation and special management areas that restrict new road construction, limit motorized vehicle use to existing routes, and prohibit commercial timber harvesting and most mineral leasing. Oil and gas drilling is permitted only through directional wells from outside protected boundaries with no surface disturbance allowed within the designated areas. The legislation directs the Interior Department to study potential motorized recreation areas in three Wyoming counties and form a county implementation team to guide management, with reports due within two years of the bill's enactment.
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