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Past 2005 Daily Legislative Updates

Here, you will find daily legislative updates from the 2005 General Session.

The WCV Daily Legislative Update ...

... for March 8, 2005
With the 58th Wyoming Legislature adjourned for the year, Gov. Dave Freudenthal on Tuesday, March 8, signed SF 41, the Wildlife and Natural Resources Funding Act, at a signing ceremony in Casper.

Before signing the bill, Gov. Freudenthal used his line-item veto power to remove from the bill a $200,000 limit on the annual spending by the new citizen board which will spend the interest from the $15 million trust fund on wildlife habitat projects. That limit had been placed on in the House and would have required prior legislative approval for every cent beyond $200,000 spent per year. Freudenthal, speaking to a packed house at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, said the limit would have hamstrung the board in getting its work done. Representatives of the sporting, conservation and wildlife communities were on hand for the ceremony, in which the governor shared the limelight with former GOP state Sen. Tom Stroock of Casper, a proponent of the trust fund on its first push in 1982, as well as Sens. Bruce Burns, R-Sheridan; Charley Scott, R-Casper, and Majority Leader John Schiffer, R-Kaycee.

... for March 3, 2005
The 58th Wyoming Legislature ended its 2005 General Session on Day 37, three days earlier than required by the Wyoming Constitution. Before packing up and leaving Cheyenne, lawmakers approved a historic new funding mechanism to pay for wildlife habitat preservation and restoration, although in a somewhat weaker form than conservationists had sought. Still, passage of SF 41, the Wildlife and Natural Resources Funding Act, is a milestone for the Legislature as it moves still further away from its anti-environmental philosophy of the 1990s, and a bona fide victory for friends of Wyoming's wildlife.

Senators on Thursday voted 24-6 to ratify the House version of the bill, in which the trust fund was halved to $15 million, a $200,000 cap was placed on annual spending without prior legislative approval by the new wildlife board, and acquisition of private property using the fund was banned. A joint conference committee between House conferees (Reps. Pat Childers, R-Cody, Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, and Kurt Bucholz, R-Saratoga) and Senate conferees (Sens. Bruce Burns, R-Sheridan, Mike Massie, D-Laramie, and Bob Peck, R-Riverton) was unproductive and forced the Senate to choose between the House version or no bill at all. Several lawmakers said it was wise to accept the bill as it stood and come back in a future session to address any shortcomings that become apparent after the board is appointed and begins its work. Gov. Freudenthal is expected to quickly sign the bill in whole or, by using his line-item veto power, in part.

Lawmakers on Thursday also accepted a compromise version of SF 19, which creates and funds a task force to recommend ways the Office of State Lands and Investments can better care for state school-trust lands for future school funding beneficiaries, industry lessees and recreational users. The House had changed the task force composition, by removing the five members of the State Land Board and replacing them with representatives of industries which lease state lands, or the parents of schoolchildren whose education benefits from income from the state trust lands. The conference committee version retains the top five elected officials in the task force, along with one school district trustee, one agricultural lessee, one minerals lessee, one recreational user of state lands, two senators, two representatives, one representative of a parents group and one forest-industry member. Senators and representatives both voted unanimously to accept the conference report, sending the bill to Gov. Freudenthal.

... for March 2, 2005
The 58th Wyoming Legislature hit a snag Wednesday in its efforts to pass a trust fund to raise money for wildlife preservation. Senators, on the second to the last day of the 2005 General Session, refused to agree with changes the House of Representatives made to the bill, sending it to a conference committee where House members refused to compromise on their chamber's position either on the $15 million in overall funding, or the $200,000 annual spending limit, both added to SF 41 in the House.

Senators on Wednesday voted 7-23 against accepting the House version of the bill, in which the trust fund was halved to $15 million, a $200,000 cap was placed on annual spending without prior legislative approval by the new wildlife board, and acquisition of private property using the fund was banned. Senators sought a conference committee in order to get better explanations of the House action and to try to develop a consensus version reflecting the much stronger bill that came out of the Senate. However, House conferees (Reps. Pat Childers, R-Cody, Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, and Kurt Bucholz, R-Saratoga) were unwilling to budge, and frustrated senate conferees (Sens. Bruce Burns, R-Sheridan, Mike Massie, D-Laramie, and Bob Peck, R-Riverton) by their tone and their apparent enjoyment of marginalizing the Senate version of the bill. Forced to choose between the House version or no bill at all, Senate conferees agreed reluctantly to the House version, setting up a final vote on the bill in the Legislature on March 3.

Lawmakers on Wednesday also developed a compromise version of SF 19, which creates and funds a task force to recommend ways the Office of State Lands and Investments can better care for state school-trust lands for future school funding beneficiaries, industry lessees and recreational users. The House had changed the task force composition, by removing the five members of the State Land Board and replacing them with representatives of industries which lease state lands, or the parents of schoolchildren whose education benefits from income from the state trust lands. Senators questioned the decision to drop the constitutional officers who are responsible for state lands management, a move made in the House after it became apparent that the five elected officials would likely only send staff members to take notes for them rather than participate directly. Senators also expressed concern at the cost of the study and the removal from the bill of a provision that would have minimized task force costs by using current state employees rather than new staff or contractors for support functions. The conference committee version retains the top five elected officials in the task force, along with one school district trustee, one agricultural lessee, one minerals lessee, one recreational user of state lands, two senators, two representatives, one representative of a parents group and one forest-industry member. The houses will vote on the package March 3.

... for March 1, 2005
Wyoming legislators killed a bill which would have retroactively allowed claims to designate public roads out of pre-1976 routes crossing federal lands in Wyoming, while slowing down progress on a state lands preservation initiative, all on Day 35 of the 2005 General Session.

Senators on Tuesday killed HB 240 on third reading on a 15-15 tie vote after a thoughtful debate. The bill designates as public roads those routes located on federal public lands prior to 1976, and would effectively allow such roads to be "grandfathered" into federal land-management status without environmental analysis under a federal law that expired that same year. Sen. Bruce Burns (R-Sheridan) expressed concern that the bill's actual language casts doubt whether county commissioners could refuse to designate or maintain the roads if they so chose. Sen. Jayne Mockler (D-Cheyenne) noted that the bill was unlikely to satisfy supporters' intent, since the federal statute in question has been repealed. Furthermore, no inventory exists of such roads. Several states which have laws allowing these old federal road claims to proceed, including Utah, California, Idaho and Alaska, have since been overwhelmed by claims, or embroiled in shaky and protracted litigation, in some cases over thousands of miles of rutted historic routes within national forest or BLM roadless areas or wildernesses, typically advanced by off-road vehicle users and other opponents of federal-land environmental protections.

The Senate on Tuesday also balked at ratifying House changes to SF 19 on a vote of 12-18, thus delaying a bill that creates a 10-member task force to recommend ways the Office of State Lands and Investments can better care for state school-trust lands for future school funding beneficiaries, industry lessees and recreational users. The House had changed the task force composition, by removing the five members of the State Land Board and replacing them with representatives of industries which lease state lands, or the parents of schoolchildren whose education benefits from income from the state trust lands. Senators questioned the decision to drop the constitutional officers who are responsible for state lands management, a move made in the House after it became apparent that the five elected officials would likely only send staff members to take notes for them rather than participate directly. Senators also expressed concern at the cost of the study and the removal from the bill of a provision that would have minimized task force costs by using current state employees rather than new staff or contractors for support functions. The House and Senate must now form a conference committee to explore a compromise acceptable to both houses.

... for February 28, 2005
The Wyoming State Legislature passed historic legislation on Day 34 of the 2005 General Session, approving a $15 million wildlife trust fund, the interest from which will pay to preserve and rehabilitate wildlife habitat through project grants across the state.

The House of Representatives on Monday completed both second and third readings on SF 41, with a surprisingly robust 44-14 margin after four tries in 23 years to set up legislative funding for a stand-alone wildlife preservation funding mechanism. Lawmakers considered a variety of amendments again on each of Monday's readings, though most of them were technical corrections to the bill's language which does not change its implementation. Two final efforts to increase the trust fund deposit, to either $20 million or $30 million, failed on unrecorded voice votes before final passage. The bill now heads to the Senate, which will have to concur with the House's sweeping changes to the bill, or else form a conference committee with members from both houses who will attempt to hammer out a compromise. Any such conference report would have to be approved again by both houses before Gov. Freudenthal would be able to sign the bill, which is one of his top legislative priorities for the year. The conference committee, if needed, would likely meet late Tuesday and/or early Wednesday. Please contact your senator and representative today and express your support for a compromise version of SF 41 which would give the new grant-dispensing board as much flexibility as possible in addressing habitat decline around the state due to residential, commercial and energy development.

The House on Monday also passed SF 19 on final reading 58-0, creating a 10-member task force to recommend ways the Office of State Lands and Investments can better care for state school-trust lands for future school funding beneficiaries, industry lessees and recreational users. The bill now heads back to the Senate, which must OK the changes the House made in the task force composition, or else a conference committee will be formed.

The House also overrode Gov. Dave Freudenthal's veto of HB 291, which would give the State Land Board, rather than the governor, the power to hire the director of the Office of State Lands and Investments, and allow a majority of four of the board's five members to fire the director as well. Gov. Freudenthal called the bill "a solution in search pf a problem" and expressed concern the conflicting authorities would make it difficult to recruit land office directors in the future. The House mustered a few more than the 40 votes required by the Constitution; the Senate now has until the end of the session to attempt the same action if the bill is to be salvaged.

Senators on Monday passed HB 240 on second reading. The bill designates as public roads those routes located on federal public lands prior to 1976, in order to allow the roads to be "grandfathered" under a federal law that expired that year. Such roads could be designated without federal analysis of the environmental effects, and the bill's confusing construction sows doubt whether county commissioners could refuse to designate or maintain the roads. No inventory exists of such roads. Sen. Bruce Burns (R-Sheridan) attempted to pass an amendment which would let the bill expire in a two years, saying the loophole the bill creates should not be left open indefinitely, but it failed on an unrecorded vote, 15-15. HB 240 faces final reading in the Senate on Tuesday, March 1.

In other action Monday, the House agreed with Senate changes to HB 327, which opens a new state study of quarrels over land ownership, recreational use and water availability between the Goshen County-based Horse Creek Irrigation District, and the Wyoming Game & Fish Department. The district had sought to use half of the minimum pool from Hawk Springs Reservoir for irrigation, imperiling a trophy-class walleye fishery. That version passed the House earlier in the session, but the Senate amended the bill to remove the water use change and replaced it with a new study to be completed by December 2006. The House vote to concur with Senate amendments was 58-1. The measure now heads to the governor for his signature or veto.

Finally, Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed another conservation bill into law Monday: HB 94, which creates a study of overlapping and conflicting jurisdictions within state government in dealing with environmental health hazards.

... for February 25, 2005
The 58th Wyoming Legislature continued work on a historic wildlife habitat preservation and enhancement trust fund on Day 33 of the 2005 General Session, replacing half of the $30 million in permanent funding stripped from the bill Thursday, but running out of time for debate and tabling the bill's second reading until Monday, Feb. 28.

The House of Representatives invested hours of debate on SF 41 on second reading Friday, restoring $15 million in trust funding which will generate interest for a new board to distribute as grants to nonprofit and government agencies for wildlife habitat preservation or improvement. But lawmakers continued to resist efforts to loosen the planned legislative oversight. Rep. Jerry Iekel (R-Sheridan) proposed allowing the new board to fund projects of up to $200,000 each without legislative approval; currently, the bill limits the board to a total of $200,000 for all projects in a year before every further expenditure of any size would require legislative approval through a select committee and votes of both houses. Lawmakers defeated Iekel's amendment 23-28 on an unrecorded stand-up vote on the House floor. Under pressure from Senate leaders to finish up bills on first reading, which would die Friday night if not approved by then, the House then tabled the bill until Monday. Please contact your representative today and express your support for SF 41.

The House also passed SF 19 on second reading, creating a 10-member task force to recommend ways the Office of State Lands and Investments can better care for state school-trust lands for future school funding beneficiaries, industry lessees and recreational users. The bill now faces its final House reading Feb. 28.

Senators on Friday passed HB 240 on first reading, on a narrow 12-11 unrecorded stand-up vote, with several senators off the floor. The bill designates as public roads those routes located on federal public lands prior to 1976, in order to allow the roads to be "grandfathered" under a federal law that expired that year. Such roads could be designated without federal analysis of the environmental effects, and the bill sows doubt whether county commissioners could refuse to designate or maintain the roads. No inventory exists of such roads, several senators noted in debate. HB 240 faces second reading on Monday, Feb. 28.

In other action Friday, the Senate passed its final reading of HB 327, which opens a new state study of quarrels over land ownership, recreational use and water availability between the Goshen County-based Horse Creek Irrigation District, and the Wyoming Game & Fish Department. The district had sought to use half of the minimum pool from Hawk Springs Reservoir for irrigation, imperiling a trophy-class walleye fishery. That version passed the House earlier in the session, but the Senate amended the bill to remove the water use change and replaced it with a new study to be completed by December 2006. The bill passed the Senate 16-14 and now heads back to the House for a vote on the Senate's amendments.

Finally, Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed two important bills into law Thursday: SF 15, which creates a $750,000 account to begin cleanups and maintenance on state lands, and SF 28, which stiffens the penalties for misappropriation or illegal impoundment of the state's waters.

... for February 24, 2005
Wyoming lawmakers once again took up the most important wildlife legislation of the year on Day 32 of the 2005 General Session, heavily amending the Wildlife and Natural Resources Funding Act but removing all of the permanent funding.

The House of Representatives gave its approval on first reading of SF 41, the Wildlife and Natural Resources Funding Act, but only after hours of debate on 14 amendments which left the bill much different than either the version passed by the Senate or even the rewrite the House Travel Committee passed last week.

On a series of unrecorded voice or standing votes Thursday afternoon, representatives:

• Emptied the bill of its $30 million interest-generating trust account that would fund wildlife habitat projects, in an amendment sponsored by the House Appropriations Committee.

• Replaced the Senate version of the bill with a substitute bill creating several new layers of legislative oversight, banning use of funds to acquire real estate and tightly capping total annual projects at $200,000 before requiring the Legislature's prior approval.

• Required the governor to nominate appointees to the new board overseeing the fund within 15 days of the act taking effect, though the Senate will not confirm them until March 2006.

• Refused an amendment by Rep. Keith Gingery (R-Jackson) which would have allowed use of the trust's interest funds to buy property if the Legislature agreed.

• Allowed private landowners to secure habitat improvement funding even if they refuse to allow sportsman access, under an amendment by Rep. Frank Philp (R-Shoshoni).

• Prevented the board from accepting any gifts or property from donors until its new rules and regulations take effect, a lengthy process likely to last into 2006, under an amendment by Rep. Pat Childers (R-Cody); and prohibiting rules from taking effect before April 2006 regardless of when they are complete, under an amendment by Rep. Colin Simpson (R-Cody).

• Require analysis of socioeconomic impacts of habitat protection projects, in a separate Childers amendment.

• Rejected an amendment by Rep. Dan Zwonitzer (R-Cheyenne) to prevent funds being granted directly to for-profit enterprises.

• Allowed the State Land Board to administer any land given to the trust fund in a manner which may not advance the purposes of the act, such as granting pipeline easements, under an amendment by Rep. Tom Lubnau (R-Gillette).

Despite all of these changes, which as a whole serve to slow down efforts to begin habitat projects, SF 41 still retains the strong support of the state's wildlife and environmental advocacy organizations as well as a broad array of sportsmen's organizations. Many of these amendments will be revisited on second reading Feb. 25 and/or third reading Feb. 28. Furthermore, extensive debate on replacing at least some of the funding is already scheduled for Friday's second-reading debate. Please contact your representative today and express your support for SF 41.

The House also passed SF 19 on first reading, chartering a task force to draw up policy recommendations, funding proposals and other measures to help the Office of State Lands and Investments to improve stewardship of state school-trust lands and better preserve them for future school funding beneficiaries, industry lessees and recreational users. The 10-member task force of lawmakers and land users would have a $30,000 budget for its study and about a year to do the work. The bill now faces second reading Feb. 25.

Senators on Thursday began interviewing Gov. Dave Freudenthal's nominees for executive agency directorships and state boards, including three new nominees to the Wyoming Game & Fish Commission for terms to run through 2011. The Senate Travel Committee unanimously approved the nominations of Clark Allan of Jackson, Clifford Kirk of Gillette and Jerry Galles of Casper to the commission, which oversees the Game & Fish Department operations, budget and project priorities. The nominations now head to the Senate floor for consideration during an "executive session" in the closing days of the session.

In other action Thursday, the Senate passed second reading of HB 327, which opens a new state study of quarrels over land ownership, recreational use and water availability between the Goshen County-based Horse Creek Irrigation District, and the Wyoming Game & Fish Department. The district had sought to use half of the minimum pool from Hawk Springs Reservoir for irrigation, imperiling a trophy-class walleye fishery. That version passed the House earlier in the session, but the Senate amended the bill to remove the water use change and replaced it with a new study to be completed by December 2006. The bill's final reading will be Friday morning.

Finally, Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed two important bills into law Thursday: SF 15, which creates a $750,000 account to begin cleanups and maintenance on state lands, and SF 28, which stiffens the penalties for misappropriation or illegal impoundment of the state's waters.

... for February 23, 2005
The Wyoming Legislature continued wrapping up legislation on Day 31 of the 37-day 2005 General Session, with the Senate giving its first OK to a profoundly amended drought relief bill, and both houses wrapping up work on a new environmental health study. The governor, meanwhile, vetoed a bill which would have taken away his power to hire and fire the state lands director and given it to the five-member State Land Board.

The Senate gave its approval on first reading of HB 327, which opens a new state study of quarrels over land ownership, recreational use and water availability between the Goshen County-based Horse Creek Irrigation District, and the Wyoming Game & Fish Department. The district had sought to use half of the minimum pool from Hawk Springs Reservoir for irrigation, imperiling a trophy-class walleye fishery. That version passed the House earlier in the session, but was reworked in the Senate, much for the better, to focus on financial relief and a new study of the situation without taking water now controlled by the Game & Fish Department for fisheries and recreation use. However, the attorney general determined that the financial relief aspects of the bill—allowing the district to skip a year's payments and interest on their share of the state's rehabilitation of the reservoir in the 1980s—strayed too far from the topic of the bill. Senators amended the bill to remove the House provisions relating to Game & Fish water ownership and replaced it with a new study to be completed by December 2006. Senators then passed HB 327 unanimously on a voice vote. The bill faces second reading on Feb. 24.

In other action Tuesday, the Senate passed HB 94 unanimously on final reading. The bill creates a study of overlapping and conflicting jurisdictions between state agencies which deal with different aspects of environmental health issues, with the study group producing policy recommendations that would allow the state to better address emerging health issues. HB 94 now awaits the governor's signature or veto.

The governor issued his first veto of the year Feb. 23 over HB 291, which would have taken away his power to hire and fire the state lands office director and vested it instead in the five-member State Land Board made up of the statewide elected officials. In a letter to the speaker of the House, Gov. Freudenthal called the measure personality-driven and "at best a solution in search of a problem." Lawmakers will consider Thursday whether to override the veto, which requires a two-thirds vote of both houses.

... for February 22, 2005
The 58th Wyoming Legislature returned from a three-day weekend to begin Week 7 of the 2005 General Session with votes on wildlife habitat funding, state land management and other important conservation topics.

The House Appropriations Committee slashed all funding for the Wildlife and Natural Resources trust fund, in an action sure to spark extended debate on the House floor when the committee's action is reviewed on first reading. SF 41 aims to establish a $30 million trust fund, the interest from which would be given by a new board as grants to government or nonprofit agencies for use in habitat preservation, restoration or improvement projects. The committee's action is not unexpected, but it will force House members to hammer out consensus on a funding level during floor debate on the bill. Appropriators did leave in the bill the proposed $300,000 in startup costs for the new board and its staff. House members will also have to ratify or reject a package of amendments from the House Travel Committee, which last week rewrote the bill to hugely increase the legislative oversight and approval required or projects funded under the act.

The House Appropriations Committee also unanimously passed SF 19, which creates a task force to study policy formation and funding sources for better maintaining state lands for future generations. The bill sets up a 10-member task force with representatives of the Legislature, various commodity interests who lease state lands, and education advocates who benefit from the leasing proceeds from state lands. The left untouched the $30,000 in funding for the study group's work, which had been removed in the Senate due to concerns over the task force membership. The bill now goes to the House floor.

The Senate delayed its planned first reading of HB 327, which gives the Goshen County-based Horse Creek Irrigation District a one-year break on payments and interest for their share of a state reservoir rehabilitation project, so long as the drought lasts. The district had earlier sought to use half of the minimum pool from Hawk Springs Reservoir for irrigation, imperiling the trophy-class walleye fishery. That version passed the House earlier in the session, but was reworked in the Senate, much for the better, to focus on financial relief and a new study of the situation without taking water now controlled by the Game & Fish Department for fisheries and recreation use. Senators saw technical problems with how some of the new amendments were composed, and questioned the constitutionality of a bill that provides debt relief to a single entity. The bill faces its delayed first reading on Feb. 23.

In other action Tuesday, the Senate passed HB 94 on second reading. The bill creates a study of overlapping and conflicting jurisdictions between state agencies which deal with different aspects of environmental health issues. The idea is to develop policy recommendations that would allow the state to better address emerging health issues. West Nile virus outbreaks have been a strong example of the need; as the state Health and Agriculture departments combat the conditions which breed West Nile carriers, permitting processes at agencies like the Department of Environmental Quality or the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission allow creation of new industrial-water ponds which become breeding sites. HB 94 awaits final Senate on Wednesday.

... for February 17, 2005
Wyoming lawmakers took a final step toward protecting surface landowners from the impacts of oil and gas drilling on their lands, and moved closer to setting up a task force on maintaining state lands for future generations, on Day 28 of the 2005 General Session.

The House of Representatives gave its final approval to legislation better protecting landowners who do not control the mineral rights beneath their land, from the impacts of oil and gas drilling on their property. SF 60 requires mineral companies and surface landowners to negotiate access to property for such development, and provides posting of a bond to cover damages if negotiations fail. It also expands the kinds of damages landowners can recover to include loss of property use and value. It passed 52-6 with one member declaring a conflict of interest. SF 60 now heads to the Senate for a concurrence vote, and then to Gov. Dave Freudenthal's desk for his expected approval sometime next week.

The House Agriculture Committee unanimously passed SF 19, which creates a task force to study policy formation and funding sources for better maintaining state lands for future generations. The bill sets up a 10-member task force with representatives of the Legislature, various commodity interests who lease state lands, and education advocates who benefit from the leasing proceeds from state lands. The committee amended the bill to take the five statewide elected officials off of the task force and to add one representative for the timber industry and one parent of a Wyoming schoolchild. Committee members also restored the $30,000 in funding for the study group's work, which had been removed in the Senate due to concerns over the task force membership. The funding in the bill must now pass through the House Appropriations Committee before the bill goes to the House floor.

In other action Thursday, the House gave routine second-reading approval to SF 28, which raises the maximum penalty a judge can impose for water theft to $1,250 and makes each day of a continuing violation count as a separate offense. The penalties have not been changed in more than a generation and are no longer a deterrent to water misuse, which can be profitable in cases where the illegally obtained water helps produce an extra crop for sale. The bill faces its final reading on Feb. 18.

... for February 16, 2005
The Wyoming Legislature continued moving forward on bills to create a wildlife habitat trust fund, penalize theft of water resources and protect landowners from the impacts of mineral development, on Day 27 of the 2005 General Session.

The House Travel Committee met twice for a total of more than four hours Wednesday to consider SF 41, creating a trust fund to generate interest to pay for wildlife habitat preservation and improvement projects by government and nonprofit agencies. Committee members took testimony from more than 35 people, the vast majority of whom support creating the fund to offset damage from mineral development, residential sprawl, wildlife disease and other pressures on wildlife habitat. The committee resisted amendments to cut the $30 million trust fund deposit and the $300,000 startup appropriation for the board which will hand out the grants. However, the panel placed a major new restriction on the board, by voting to allow it to only spend $200,000 per year without legislative approval. Previous limits had allowed the board to approve individual projects of up to half a million dollars, with no overall annual cap. The committee also changed to bill to prevent the use of funds to purchase property outright; an alternative proposed by Rep. Keith Gingery, R-Jackson, would have allowed such purchases with specific legislative approval, but it failed on a 4-4 tie vote while one member was out of the room. After the amendments, the bill cleared the committee 9-0. The bill now faces consideration of its spending levels by the House Appropriations Committee, before heading to the House floor.

The House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill on a first-reading voice vote to stiffen the penalties for people who take water from streams, or dam them, without state permission. SF 28 raises the maximum penalty a judge can impose for water theft to $1,250 and makes each day of a continuing violation count as a separate offense. The penalties have not been changed in more than a generation and are no longer a deterrent to water misuse, which can be profitable in cases where the illegally obtained water helps produce an extra crop for sale. The bill faces second reading on Feb. 17.

The House also gave approval on a routine second reading to a bill to better protect landowners who do not control the mineral rights beneath their land, from the impacts of oil and gas drilling on their property. SF 60 would require mineral companies and surface landowners to negotiate access to property for such development, or else the posting of a bond to cover damages, and it expands the kinds of damages landowners can recover to include loss of property use and value. No amendments were presented during the reading. The bill heads to its final House reading on Thursday.

Also Wednesday, the House gave final approval to SF 15, preserving state school trust lands with a new agency trust account and providing an initial $750,000 for projects meant to show what state lands managers could do with a continuing source of additional monies. The bill prevailed on a 42-15 vote. The Senate on its final reading passed HB 203, which requires the Game & Fish Department to notify local sheriffs and the local media when they relocate a grizzly bear from a conflict situation elsewhere in the state. The bill won passage by a 28-2 vote. Both bills now go back to the original house to consider changes made by the other bodies; if not agreed to, the bills will go to joint conference committees.

... for February 15, 2005
Day 26 of the 2005 General Session of the Wyoming Legislature saw lawmakers approving bills to protect surface landowners from the impacts of mineral drilling, to deter unauthorized taking or damming of state waters, and to grant drought relief to irrigators without harming fisheries.

The House of Representatives by a first-reading voice vote approved a bill to better protect landowners who do not control the mineral rights beneath their land, from the impacts of oil and gas drilling on their property. SF 60 would require mineral companies and surface landowners to negotiate access to property for such development, or else the posting of a bond to cover damages, and it expands the kinds of damages landowners can recover to include loss of property use and value. Lawmakers fended off last-minute amendments on behalf of independent oil companies who did not sign off on the deal brokered over the interim between landowners, agriculture groups and the industry. The bill heads to second reading on Wednesday.

The House Agriculture Committee gave its blessing to SF 28, which increases the penalties for unauthorized use or damming of water from the state's streams, and allows daily penalties for continuing violations after written notice. The committee heard from the Powder River Basin Resource Council that ranchers in northeastern Wyoming are having trouble securing their rightfully permitted water use due to countless unpermitted dams on streams which coalbed methane operators use to dispose of effluent waters from the underground coal seam. State Engineer Pat Tyrrell said the existing penalties, set decades ago, are too low to deter such water theft. Committee members voted 7-1 to OK the bill without amendments. It now goes to the full House.

The Senate Agriculture Committee approved a major rewrite of drought relief legislation for irrigators in southern Goshen County, which will protect a previously threatened trophy fishery and help irrigators avoid bankruptcy due to drought-related crop difficulties. HB 327, which already passed the House, had sought to take half of the water from Hawk Springs Reservoir's guaranteed minimum pool for fisheries and recreation, potentially damaging or destroying the walleye and bass fish resource. Committee members scrapped the original bill and replaced it with one which will protect the fishery waters, provide debt-payment abatements for irrigators, and initiate a study of land ownership quarrels between the district and the state, which developed a recreation area at the reservoir as part of a 1980s state-funded overhaul of the dam and irrigation canals. If approved on the Senate floor, the amendment will remove conservationists concerns about legislative taking of water outside of the state's constitutional system for approving water rights. The bill now heads to the full Senate.

In other miscellaneous action Wednesday, the House passed second reading for SF 15, preserving state school trust lands with a new agency trust account and providing an initial $750,000 for projects meant to show what state lands managers could do with a continuing source of additional monies. The bill heads to its final House reading Wednesday. The Senate on second reading passed HB 203, which requires the Game & Fish Department to notify local sheriffs and the local media when they relocate a grizzly bear from a conflict situation elsewhere in the state. The bill now heads to Senate final reading Wednesday.

... for February 14, 2005
Members of the Wyoming Legislature opened Week Six of the 2005 General Session with votes to give new life to old federal-land road claims, to better plan the long-term sustainability of state lands, and to provide local notification when grizzly bears are relocated within the state by wildlife conflict managers. Lawmakers also killed a bill to implement electronic licensing for hunting and fishing, shelving a Game & Fish initiative already well along in development. And lawmakers sent two more bills to the governor for his signature or veto — one giving the Game & Fish Commission control over mineral leasing on their lands, and one stiffening the penalties for breaking state oil and gas regulations.

The Senate Transportation Committee gave narrow approval to HB 240, which would open up Wyoming's 85-year-old system designating our public roads network, and give official status to various old routes on federal public lands. The committee voted 3-2 in favor of the bill, which designates pre-1976 roads on federal public lands as part of the state and county road network. The bill has strong support from agricultural lobbies which bristle at seeking federal land management agency permission for road construction and maintenance on the public lands. Conservationists expressed concern that the bill could allow a plethora of new claims for counties to open and maintain old federal-land routes, as off-road vehicle enthusiasts have done with similar laws in California, Utah, Alaska, Idaho and other Western states. These efforts often are targeted on federal lands where land managers are attempting to protect wildland values, wildlife or environmental health. The bill now moves to the full Senate for consideration.

The House, on a first-reading voice vote, passed SF 15, preserving state school trust lands' productive and recreational values for the long term by setting up a new agency trust account and providing an initial $750,000 toward a series of demonstration projects meant to show what state lands managers could do with a continuing source of additional monies. The state is mandated constitutionally to use the lands to generate maximum proceeds for the public schools, but its long-term responsibility for maintaining those lands in a manner that would allow such returns, has suffered from lack of resources at the agency. The bill heads to second House reading Tuesday.

The Senate on first reading passed HB 203, which requires the Game & Fish Department to notify local sheriffs and the local media when they relocate a grizzly bear from a conflict situation elsewhere in the state. The bill was further amended to allow a radio dispatch message to the sheriff to count as notification, which should make it easier for Game & Fish personnel to carry out the bill's intent if it passes. The bill now heads to Senate second reading.

Senators also killed HB 82 on an 8-20 tally, preventing the Game & Fish Department from finishing implementation of an electronic licensing program that would have improved customer service for sportsmen license buyers. During debate on first reading, senators became convinced the bill would hurt the private selling agents who sell licenses from bait shops, drug stores, sporting goods outlets and convenience stores. The surprise defeat of the bill leaves in limbo the agency's efforts to improve the license selling system.

The House unanimously passed SF 72 on Monday, giving the Game & Fish Commission the authority to control mineral leasing on lands they own such as fish hatcheries. The bill now heads to the governor's desk for final action. The Senate, meanwhile, unanimously concurred with House changes to SF 73, which toughens the penalties for oil and gas operators who violate the rules of the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. That bill also heads to the governor.

... for February 10, 2005
The 58th Wyoming Legislature moved forward Thursday on bills protecting instream flows in rivers through cities and towns, and surface landowners who do not control the mineral rights beneath their property, while also adding new public notification requirements when problem grizzly bears are relocated by wildlife conflict managers.

The House Agriculture Committee approved SF 56, an act to make it easier for cities and towns to temporarily change the use of waters they have stored in reservoirs, to provide minimum stream flows for fisheries, recreation and other municipal purposes. The bill has wide support from municipalities, water development advocates and conservationists, and faces diminishing opposition, mainly from traditional agricultural lobbies which prefer the status quo under which most of Wyoming's water is controlled by the industry. However, the committee heavily amended the bill to confine it only to the town of Pinedale on a trial basis, and gave only three years before a "sunset" provision would take the new law off the books. Committee members voted 7-1 to accept the restrictive amendments, with Rep. Ross Diercks (D-Lusk) the only 'no' vote, and Rep. Burke Jackson, R-Rozet, excused. The committee then passed the bill 6-3. It now heads to the House floor.

The Senate Travel Committee unanimously approved HB 203, which requires the Game & Fish Department to notify local sheriffs and the local media when they relocate a grizzly bear from a conflict situation elsewhere in the state. The bill was further amended to allow a radio dispatch message to the sheriff to count as notification, which should make it easier for Game & Fish personnel to carry out the bill's intent if it passes. The bill now heads to the Senate floor.

Finally, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved SF 60, which sets up new procedures for preventing or resolving conflicts between surface landowners, and mineral developers, when those property rights are held by separate parties. Only a few independent petroleum producers complained about the bill, which results from a compromise that followed three years of continued legislative lobbying by landowners who say their rights and financial interests are not adequately protected under current law. The bill now goes to the House floor.

... for February 9, 2005
The 58th Wyoming Legislature completed the first phase of the 2005 General Session on Wednesday, Feb. 9, as all bills had to pass third reading in their house of origin, or else die. From this point on until the session ends in the first week of March, the House and Senate will be working only on bills which originated in the opposite body, or on conference reports reconciling differing versions of the same bills.

The House finished up its work on HB 327, a bill temporarily reassigning, to an irrigation district, half of the minimum pool of water in Hawk Springs Reservoir in Goshen County. The popular reservoir was rehabilitated and improved more than 25 years ago in a public-private partnership that was one of the first modern Water Development Commission projects. Creating fishery and recreation opportunities was an important part of the public benefit of the project which balanced the use of public funds to facilitate private irrigation enterprises. Today, Hawk Springs Reservoir and Recreation Area boast a trophy walleye fishery, and extensive boating, water skiing, and camping opportunities, with a legally designated minimum water level and a perpetual easement for recreation use on district lands. But irrigators hard-hit by recent drought and hoping to raise an extra crop are eying the reservoir water as a one-year source. HB 327 authorizes the one-year water drawdown, which threatens to expose the fishery to damage from either freezing solid during the winter due to its shallower waters, or losing oxygen content from higher reservoir temperatures in the summer. The House added an amendment Wednesday requiring that the reservoir be at least at its minimum level before the drawdown could occur, though this provides less protection than intended as siltation in the reservoir has already eliminated hundreds of acre-feet of the minimum pool. The House then passed the bill 47-12, sending it to the Senate.

The Senate Minerals Committee, meanwhile, passed HB 291, which requires the state lands director be hired by the entire five-member State Land Board made up of the five statewide elected officials, rather than solely the governor as under current law. The bill also allows a majority of four members of the board, or the governor individually, to fire the director. The bill cleared the committee 3-2 despite the opposition of the state lands director, who said it would potentially hamstring the agency and the director as they weighed competing political agendas among the board members. It now heads to the Senate floor.

... for February 8, 2005
Wyoming's wildlife emerged as the biggest winners on Day 21 of the 58th Wyoming Legislature's General Session, as the Senate passed a groundbreaking new trust fund for wildlife habitat preservation projects. Lawmakers also addressed state land management responsibilities, reservoir water demands, and local instream flow projects, in separate legislative action Tuesday at the Capitol.

SF 41, which won final passage in the Senate by an encouraging 22 to 8 margin, sets aside $30 million from the state revenue surplus to generate interest to pay for "on the ground" wildlife projects by nonprofit and government agencies. That's double the $15 million initially approved by Senate appropriators, thanks to an 18-12 vote in favor of a third-reading amendment Tuesday by Sen. Mike Massie (D-Laramie) and Sen. Bruce Burns (R-Sheridan), who have shepherded the bill through the Senate consistently advocated a large initial trust fund deposit. The agriculture and petroleum industry lobbies were unsuccessful again Tuesday in amending the bill to prohibit use of the funds to purchase property, despite advancing two proposals. An amendment shifting the source of funding also failed. The wildlife trust fund concept now heads over to the House, where all amendments are back on the table and anything can still happen. It is time to get in touch with your representative in one of several convenient ways, and keep public support for SF 41 front and center. Your phone message, hotline vote or e-mail multiply the results your group's lobbyist can achieve. Please take a moment today to make something historic happen.

Meanwhile, the House completed a routine second reading for HB 327, which for one year would take away half of the water reserved under law for Hawk Springs Reservoir in Goshen County, and give it to irrigators. The popular reservoir boasts a trophy walleye fishery, but its irrigation district neighbors are eying the guaranteed minimum pool as a source for a few more inches of crop watering in a region hard-hit by recent drought. HB 327 changes an agreement for fishery and recreation facilities that was part and parcel of the deal in the 1980s that rehabilitated the reservoir with state money. If the bill is successful, the one-year water drawdown threatens to expose the fishery to damage from either freezing solid during the winter due to its shallower waters, or losing oxygen content from higher reservoir temperatures in the summer. This kind of damage could take years to undo — especially after an unexplained two-foot drawdown last fall that may have done damage of its own to the youngest fish in the reservoir. HB 327 comes up for final House reading Wednesday, Feb. 9. We recommend you contact your representative and urge a vote against HB 327.

Members of the House Agriculture Committee gave unanimous approval to SF 15, which creates an agency trust account for the Office of State Lands and Investments and stocks it with $750,000 for projects to rehabilitate damaged state lands and otherwise improve the long-term sustainability of the 3.6 million acres of state school trust lands the agency manages for the State Land Board. Lawmakers noted that the opening of state lands for public recreation in 1988 has added to the urgency of maintenance chores on the state lands. State lands managers said the problems on some parcels, most notably near Sheridan and Gillette, forced emergency closures, cleanups and other actions that disrupted legitimate land uses due to impacts from destructive recreational pursuits, garbage dumping and other mischief. The bill's companion legislation, SF 19, creating a new task force to study ways to improve the agency's trust responsibility management, will be before the committee in the next few days as well.

The House Agriculture Committee also took testimony on SF 56, which would allow cities and towns to temporarily transfer water held in storage into an instream flow to improve fisheries or water quality within their local boundaries. Currently, temporary water use change laws do not allow a temporary use as an instream flow, which can only be achieved by permanently surrendering the water right to the state. This bill will help communities that wish to enhance and conserve their natural resources, while protecting the stability of the state's traditional first-in-time, first-in-right water use laws, and refraining from selling or deeding away precious water rights that the community may need for other uses in the future. However, the Agriculture Committee members asked probing questions for well over an hour and were preparing to consider amendments to the bill before time ran out at Tuesday's hearing. SF 56 will be back in the committee the morning of Thursday, Feb. 10.

... for February 7, 2005
Week Five of the eight-week 2005 Wyoming Legislative Session opened Monday with the Legislature taking another step toward statewide wildlife habitat protection funding, while going backward on a state-funded recreational fishery.

SF 41, establishing a trust fund to generate interest for wildlife habitat project grants, passed second reading Monday in the Senate and held off four of the five amendments senators presented. Sen. Stan Cooper (R-Kemmerer/Senate District 14) successfully amended the bill to insert language stressing that the bill would not alter the primacy of the mineral estate under state law or otherwise block industry's access to protected habitat for mineral extraction. That amendment had been withdrawn Friday on first reading due to a grammatical error. Four other amendments failed; one, by Sen. Mike Massie (D-Laramie/Senate District 9) would have raised the trust fund's interest-earning account to $45 million, from the current $15 million endowment, and went down on a 10-20 recorded vote. Two other amendments by Sen. Kit Jennings (R-Casper/Senate District 28) would have prevented the state from using any of the funds to purchase property; one lost 12-18 on a recorded vote, and the other went down on a voice vote. Finally, Sen. Curt Meier (R-LaGrange/Senate District 3) tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to prevent state property acquisition unless the Legislature and the State Loan and Investment Board agreed. It failed on a voice vote. Third and final Senate reading occurs Tuesday morning, Feb. 8.

Meanwhile, the House passed a bill on first reading, HB 327, which would take away half of the water reserved under law for the minimum level for Hawk Springs Reservoir in Goshen County for the coming year, and give it to irrigators. The reservoir is the third most popular in southeastern Wyoming and boasts a trophy walleye fishery that has been built up over a generation since the state began the water development project. The nearby Hawk Springs Irrigation District says with drought conditions persisting, it needs the water to raise more crops. But the projected crop value of about $80,000 is dwarfed by the multimillion-dollar impact of reservoir fishing and recreation in the county. The bill also changes an agreement for fishery and recreation facilities that was part and parcel of the deal in the 1980s that rehabilitated the reservoir with state money. The bill would also a specific water use agreement via direct legislative action, inserting the Legislature into the arena traditionally reserved for the State Engineer and the Board of Control, nonpartisan officials insulated from politics under the Constitution in order to safeguard the water rights regulatory process. The state has also authorized temporary debt relief for drought victims like the members of this irrigation district, which could prevent the district from having to raise additional hay cuttings to sell to make payments on the irrigation project debt during a gubernatorially designated drought emergency like the one we are having today. If the bill is successful, the one-year water drawdown threatens to expose the fishery to damage from either freezing solid during the winter due to its shallower waters, or losing oxygen content from higher reservoir temperatures in the summer. This kind of damage could take years to undo. Supporters are relying on the hope either of return flows from parched irrigation lands, or a wet fall and winter, to mitigate lawmakers' concerns about dewatering this fine trophy-class fishery. Those hopes seem a thin basis for legislative action. We recommend you contact your representative and urge a vote against HB 327.

Finally, countless bills died Monday with passage of the deadline for first reading in the house of origin, including SF 37, which was seeking to provide additional funding for Game & Fish Department nongame wildlife management and aquatic nuisance species control among other projects of conservation interest.

... for February 4, 2005
Friday marked Day 19, the passing of the halfway point in what is projected to be a 37-day 2005 Legislative Session and a good day for two bills — one large, one small — that take different approaches to protecting wildlife.

Governor Freudenthal's proposed wildlife habitat trust fund survived a series of amendments from the agricultural and mineral lobbies, and emerged with strong support on the Senate floor. SF 41, establishing a trust fund to generate interest for wildlife habitat project grants, passed its first reading on a lopsided voice vote, with an initial $15 million in interest-earning trust funds; $300,000 in initial operations funding; and a friendly amendment adopted, requiring the new board to hold off on issuing project funds until after it puts out rules and regulations for grants and project specifications. An amendment by the Senate Appropriations Committee which would have cut the initial operations fund by two-thirds to just $100,000 was defeated on a standing vote, 10 in favor, 16 against. More surprisingly, an amendment by Sen. Stan Cooper (R-Kemmerer/Senate District 14) to forbid the new board from purchasing property was solidly rejected on a standing vote, 7 to 18. During the months running up to the legislative session, the concept of a ban on property acquisition had been considered by the governor's office and many others to probably be necessary to get the bill through the Legislature. This concept still seems likely to be raised again, in the House, if the Senate doesn't in fact revisit the issue on second reading Monday, Feb. 7 or third reading on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

The day also brought the year's first wave of extinctions sweeping through the roster of bills, as the deadline passed for bills to get out of committee in their house of origin. Dying today for lack of committee consideration or passage were important bills affecting instream flow (SF 106 and SF 107); radioactive waste transportation safety (HB 158); and landfill cleanups (HB 71), among other conservation-related topics.

The House Travel Committee also passed its first Senate bill on Friday, SF 72, which would allow the Game & Fish Commission to control mineral leasing on its small assortment of properties around the state including fish hatcheries and wildlife research stations. Under current law, commissioners would have to abide by the decisions of the State Land Board regarding leasing for oil and gas development on Game & Fish property. Should it gain control, the agency says it does not see itself indulging leasing as a money-making venture, but rather protecting the property from any inappropriate development. The agency has indicated it might be open to some kind of low-impact, cutting-edge demonstration of development compatibility with natural resource protection, though no such specific project is contemplated right now. The bill passed the Senate easily and cleared the committee Friday on an 8-0 vote. SF 72 looks to be in strong shape on the House floor, as it addresses a plausible threat to wildlife conservation efforts, and one which is easily corrected by legislation.

... for February 3, 2005
Day 18 of the 2005 Legislative Session saw the defeat of an effort to give the Game & Fish Department the authority to issue trespassing citations to people crossing between two public land sections by stepping across the corner where they touch.

The Senate Travel Committee decided against supporting SF 128, which would have reversed an attorney general's opinion that recently barred the Game & Fish Department (though not sheriffs) from issuing trespassing citations to sportsmen who cross between two sections of public land via the corner where they meet, in the course of hunting or fishing. The Attorney General ruled the practice illegal under the state's separate criminal trespass law, but not enforceable by game wardens under the sportsman trespass law in Title 23 of state statute. The ruling came from an Albany County circuit court who found that the language of the sportsman trespass law did not empower the Game & Fish to issue citations. The sportsman in question used a global positioning device to identify the land corner and step over the boundary. SF 128, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Geis (R-Worland/Senate District 20), would have expressly recriminalized this method of access for hunters and anglers attempting to hunt or fish on others' property or to cross others' property, even the airspace over their parcel's far corner. An interim committee refused to act on this proposal in November shortly before the session began, citing the need for a deliberative approach to trespassing issues. The committee on Thursday took the same action; Sen. Stan Cooper, R-Kemmerer, moved the bill, but no one seconded it and it died for lack of committee support. Two traditional agriculture lobbies supported the bill, as did Game & Fish Director Terry Cleveland and the director of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife. Speaking against were two individual sportsmen, an agricultural attorney, representatives of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, and the Wyoming Chapter of the Sierra Club. In its testimony, Wyoming Conservation Voters suggested the Legislature should address sportsman trespassing laws carefully and more broadly to determine whether the standards for sportsman trespassing crimes should be the same as those which apply in nonsportsman trespassing cases; currently, sportsmen can be convicted for unknowingly trespassing, in ways an ordinary trespasser cannot. A wider approach addressing other means of securing access to "checkerboard" public lands would also be helpful in reducing the motivation for sportsmen to break trespassing law in order to test jurisprudence at the frontiers of public access.

The full Senate is expected to pick up the debate on Friday on SF 41, the Wildlife and Natural Resource Funding Act, which would establish a trust fund to earn interest for wildlife habitat restoration and protection, and a new board to give out grants for the work to nonprofit and government agencies. At least six amendments have been pre-filed for first reading, including changes to the funding, to the scope of possible work, and to the state's ability under the current bill to purchase land for habitat preservation. The bill has been amended by Senate appropriators down to $15 million, from an initial $75 million request, but the Senate as a whole must vote to confirm the funding level during first reading, or set a new dollar amount. The more lawmakers place in a trust deposit, the more interest earnings will accrue to fund habitat projects. We strongly recommend a quick paragraph or two to your senator right now expressing your support for a higher total trust fund deposit.

... for February 2, 2005
Day 17 of the 58th Legislature's 2005 40-day session was quiet on issues important to wildlife, sportsmen and the environment, as attention turned to two actions expected Thursday—on wildlife habitat funding, and one on sportsman access to public lands.

The full Senate is expected to pick up the debate on Thursday on SF 41, the Wildlife and Natural Resource Funding Act, which would establish a trust fund to earn interest for wildlife habitat restoration and protection, and a new board to give out grants for the work to nonprofit and government agencies. The bill was amended by Senate appropriators down to $15 million, from an initial $75 million request. The full Senate must confirm the amendment or set a new level. Since the interest earnings vary greatly based on the trust deposit amount, floor debate on this amendment will especially important to the overall ability of the new fund to pay for enough work to make a dent in ongoing habitat losses and degradation. We strongly recommend a quick note to your senator right now to generate support for a higher total trust fund deposit.

Also Thursday, the Senate Travel Committee will consider SF 128, which would reverse an attorney general's opinion that recently ended trespassing citations for sportsmen who cross between two sections of public land via the corner where they meet, in the course of hunting or fishing. The practice, long thought illegal, was opened up by the legal opinion issued in the wake a circuit court ruling in Albany County which said the Wyoming Game & Fish does not have authority to cite sportsmen for trespassing. The sportsman in question used a global positioning device to identify the land corner and step over the boundary. SF 128, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Geis (R-Worland/Senate District 20), would recriminalize this method of access, and apply sportsman trespassing laws to those trespassing with merely the attempt to hunt and fish rather than just the actual practice of hunting and/or fishing. An interim committee refused to act on this proposal in November shortly before the session began, citing the need for a deliberative approach to trespassing issues. Wyoming Conservation Voters suggests the Legislature should address sportsman trespassing laws carefully and more broadly to determine whether the standards for sportsman trespassing crimes should be the same as those which apply in nonsportsman trespassing cases; currently, sportsmen can be convicted for unknowingly trespassing, in ways an ordinary trespasser cannot. A wider approach addressing other means of securing access to "checkerboard" public lands would also be helpful in reducing the motivation for sportsmen to push the limits of trespassing law.

... for February 1, 2005
Day 16 of the 58th Legislature's General Session featured House committee debates on three bills addressing public-land roads, tough choices on water use, and state involvement in federal natural resource planning and management efforts.

The House Agriculture Committee again took up a statute that would change state law to declare roads on federal public lands before 1976 to be part of the state's highway system, though its sponsor strongly insisted it is meant to be relief for users of historic ranch roads on BLM acreages, and not aimed at allowing wholesale reopening of historic roads on public lands. HB 240, sponsored by Rep. Monte Olsen (R-Daniel/House District 22), had passed the committee 8-0 on Jan. 27, but was reheard to allow additional testimony. Wyoming Conservation Voters and the Wyoming Chapter of the Sierra Club outlined concerns over the use of similar laws as well as litigation in other Western public-lands states to convert huge historic-road networks into official public road systems, thus thwarting federal management efforts (such as wilderness or roadless-area status) aimed at conserving natural resources. However, committee members, after engaging in more question-and-answer with advocates, the sponsor, and prominent property-rights attorney Karen Budd-Falen, said repeatedly that they put their faith in county commissioners to prevent inappropriate profusion of roads. The committee then approved the unamended bill, 8-0, sending it back to the floor again to await first reading. Unfortunately, Wyoming Conservation Voters still remains concerned that the exact structure of the bill's language actually confers highway status on such roads automatically, regardless of county approval, though we still believe this can be corrected with friendly amendments to narrow the scope of federal-land roads that the bill carves out of the 1919 act which ended the profusion of unofficial roads forged across the state.

The Agriculture Committee also took up HB 327, advancing a request from a southeastern Wyoming irrigation district to increase available irrigation in the drought by drawing down half of the Game & Fish Department's guaranteed minimum pool at Hawk Springs Reservoir in southeastern Wyoming. The reservoir was rehabilitated a generation ago under a multimillion-dollar legislative package that included requirements for recreation and fisheries benefits in order to bring in support for the project's agricultural component. However, the district has been eying the reservoir's fishery for water for crop irrigation as drought lingers on in the region. The Game & Fish Department is concerned the lowering of its rightful level of storage water under state law could easily either stagnate the water in summer, even despite active aeration, and/or cause freezing in the shallower waters in winter, either of which could destroy a fishery that is now No. 3 in popularity in the area and home to trophy walleye and other sport fish. Passage of HB 327 would set a disturbing precedent that legitimate water rights under the prior appropriation system can be altered by the Legislature directly, even if held by a public agency. The committee passed the bill unanimously, sending it to the full House to wait for first reading.

The committee also took its first look at the latest result of its long-developing push toward stronger state and local government involvement in federal natural-resource management planning processes. During the interim, the panel's previous members had developed new statutes directing the governor and agencies to pursue planning priorities that, on the whole, would raise the profile of local social and economic objections to federal resource-protection actions seen as hurting traditional industries or the tourism economy. That bill, HB 11, has been set aside for this year. But House Agriculture Chairman Jim Hageman (R-Fort Laramie/House District 5) said Tuesday that he'd had the bill redrafted as a non-binding resolution, HJ 9, after conferring with the governor, and that he hoped it would be a more effective way of advocating the Legislature's position to the executive branch. Presenting the bill, Rep. Pat Childers (R-Cody/House District 50) specifically cited the Yellowstone snowmobile studies and ban as examples of federal processes which Childers implied had exaggerated the risks from snowmobiles. Speakers from the Wyoming Wool Growers Association and the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation gave their support for the resolution, while Wyoming Conservation Voters and the Wyoming Wildlife Federation supported the shift in tactics, from new state statutes to a simple resolution. The committee passed the resolution unanimously. HJ 9 now awaits first reading in the House of Representatives.

... for January 31, 2005
Day 15 of the 2005 Wyoming Legislature opened with a substantial, if only partial, victory in the continuing campaign to establish permanent funding for conserving wildlife habitat statewide.

The Senate Appropriations Committee gave its unanimous approval Monday to a much-amended SF 41, which establishes a trust account to earn interest for a new statewide board to give grants to nonprofit and government agency projects to conserve fish and wildlife habitat. The committee struggled to come up with a funding figure for the trust account and ultimately pared it down to $15 million, plus $100,000 to cover initial board startup and staff hiring expenses. (The Senate Travel Committee had asked for $300,000 last week.) Sen. Phil Nicholas (R-Laramie/Senate District 10) had sought to reduce the bill's $75 million interest-generating account to only $10 million to keep the Appropriations Committee's total budget recommendations in balance. However, the committee defeated that motion with only two votes in favor (Nicholas, and Chairman Sen. John Hines, R-Gillette) and three against (Sens. Rae Lynn Job, D-Rock Springs; Cale Case, R-Lander, and Jim Anderson, R-Glenrock). Sen. Job moved a $35 million deposit but could not find a second, and Sen. Anderson could not find a second for a $20 million motion. Finally after conferring quietly with Case at their desks for a few minutes, Nicholas moved for $15 million with Case's support, and they were joined by the remaining members.

Nicholas was referring to the daily state-budget spreadsheets including running spending total for the Legislative session to date, which indeed show the initially projected surplus nearing $1 billion has come down to about $80 million in discretionary spending decision, versus hundreds of millions in remaining requests. The governor's Chief of Staff observed that the proposals developed throughout the interim based on higher estimates of spendable surplus would obviously have to be reduced in light of the new realities.

Before debating the spending, appropriators took additional testimony on the bill, and heard support from the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, the Wyoming Game & Fish Department, the governor's office, and Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, while Wyoming Stock Growers Association edged closer to supporting the bill with specific amendments added to prevent the fund from being used for purchasing private land, even from willing sellers. The Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, long opposed to this bill and others like it, and opposed in particular to revenue-generating trust funds, even went so far as to suggest spending $3 million outright on wildlife through the Legislature directly rather than set aside a larger amount to provide interest earnings. That group's apparent position shift toward wildlife habitat spending, in itself, illustrates the growing belief within state circles that we are closer than ever to passing a legislative solution for the accelerating loss of fisheries and habitat across Wyoming.

SF 41 now heads to the floor with something of a question mark hanging over the final funding level, and how vigorously the appropriators will defend their decision-making to their colleagues, due to a range of support or opposition amongst the committee members themselves on the trust fund concept and the amount, if any, the state should invest in it to earn dividends for wildlife habitat. The bill looks set to spark some of the session's liveliest debate of the year when it arrives on the Senate floor in the coming days. The Senate Committee of the Whole, giving the bill its first reading, will first have to consider all the amendments made by both the Appropriations and Travel committees, including the change in funding, before voting up or down on the bill. The time is now to contact your senator and speak up for SF 41.

... for January 28, 2005
Wyoming state lawmakers shepherded legislation increasing Game & Fish Department funding for nongame species management through the committee holding the state's purse strings, on Day 14 of the 40-day 2005 General Session.

The Senate Appropriations Committee gave its unanimous approval Friday to SF 37, which makes history by injecting legislatively controlled General Fund dollars into the cash-strapped Game & Fish Department for the first time. The bill seeks to cover some of the agency's costs for managing species which are not harvested by sportsmen. The Game & Fish is about 80 percent funded by sportsman license dollars, but the department is legally mandated to manage a number of species, from the grizzly bear to the Wyoming toad, which have costly protected status and no source of direct revenue. The department is trying to spread some of the cost of its wildlife preservation work to the broader public in order to avoid more frequent increases in sportsman license fees. Committee members of Friday whittled the agency's request down to $1.8 million, from an initial total of more than $6 million, spreading out the cuts proportionally among the proposed programs like aquatic nuisance species control. Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander/Senate District 25) had sought to reduce it further, to $1 million, but was unsuccessful. Sen. Phil Nicholas (R-Laramie/Senate District 10) also chastised the agency for not submitting the proposal through the governor's supplemental appropriations bill, a common complaint from Appropriations Committee members facing large agency budgetary requests. The bill now heads to the Senate floor for debate on the committee's cuts and three floor votes on the bill itself.

... for January 27, 2005
The 58th Legislature passed two important water conservation measures out of the house of origin on the 13th day of its 2005 General Session, while hearing two more in committee, debating light pollution, promoting fuel-efficient vehicles and opening a debate on historic roads across federal lands.

The Senate cast a final vote in favor of two bills that will help conserve water in streams and reverse the trend toward more illegal dams and diversions of the state's waters. SF 28 sharply increases the penalties for unlawful dams and diversions of the state's rivers, and allows courts to impose daily fines for chronic noncompliance with the permitting requirements of the State Engineer. A recent survey by that agency showed Powder River Basin coalbed methane developers have erected hundreds of illegal dams in just one studied watershed to contain production effluent waters. The bill passed the Senate 30-0 and now heads to the House for Agriculture Committee consideration and three floor votes.

Also passing the Senate on Thursday was SF 56, which would allow cities and towns to temporarily change the permitted use of water stored within dams in order to maintain minimum stream flows through their towns for fisheries, recreation or water-quality improvement. The bill was spurred by a years-long effort by the Town of Pinedale to enhance its local fishery and recreation opportunities. It sailed out of the Senate 25-5 and now heads to the House Agriculture Committee and, if successful there, three House floor votes.

Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee sat through a more than three-hour session Thursday on an outdoor lighting bill and two efforts to reform instream flow programs that protect minimum stream flows for fisheries, all three of which are sponsored by Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander/Senate District 25).

The committee defeated SF 105 by a 2-2 tie vote; the bill would have expressly allowed Wyoming municipalities and counties to regulate outdoor lighting in order to prevent light pollution of the night sky which reduces the ability to see the stars, and light trespass, in which light from one property intrudes on that of someone else without their permission. Supporters turned out from a Laramie astronomy group, the city of Cheyenne's planning agency, several conservation organizations and various individual citizens. Opponents from the agricultural lobby, the retail industry and the car dealers association opposed the measure, saying voluntary efforts to control the problem are sufficient. The bill dies for lack of committee support.

Senate Ag Committee members also took initial testimony but no official action on two of Case's bills to reform the state's system for protecting instream flows, first passed in 1986 but still only occasionally used due to the heavily cumbersome process drawn up a generation ago. Both bills will receive additional testimony and scrutiny in the committee next week. SF 106 revises the law governing temporary changes of use of water rights to ensure that any water-right holder could change water use to in-channel conservation for two years at a time with approval of the State Engineer and a demonstration that no other water rights holder would be harmed by the change. SF 107 rewrites the main instream flow law of 1986 to reduce the number of reports and hearings required before a permanent instream-flow can be established, and allows the state for the first time to apply for such flows for public health purposes such as diluting contamination or preventing stagnation. It also would allow an instream flow water right to be established for more than the bare minimum amount of water required to keep fish alive, an important change in order to enhance existing fisheries beyond bottom-line conditions. Both bills drew support from wildlife advocacy organizations and were opposed by the mainstream agricultural lobbying organizations like the Farm Bureau and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. The Ag Committee will take up both again the week of Jan. 31.

The House on Jan. 27 approved final passage of HB 203 on a 56-0 vote, in an effort to require the Game & Fish Department to provide local public notice when a grizzly bear which is causing conflicts with landowners or other people and businesses. The bill now heads to the Senate Travel Committee for consideration sometime in early February.

The House Transportation Committee on Thursday evening passed a measure 7-2 to reduce the registration fees paid by owners of fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles. HB 116, sponsored by Rep. Rosie Berger (R-Big Horn/House District 51), would give a 75 percent discount on registration fees to owners of vehicles which get 50 miles per gallon or better according to published fuel-efficiency results. The savings will average about $11 per vehicle with the total cost to the state dependent on the number of such vehicles registered. The committee amended the bill to prevent such a discount for motorcycles. The bill now goes to the full House for first reading, probably no earlier than Tuesday, Feb. 1.

The House Agriculture Committee, on an 8-0 vote, passed a bill to expand the ability of counties to claim as highways various old roads that crossed federal lands earlier than October 1976. HB 240 will be back in the Agriculture Committee next week for a revote, however, as the committee had acted Thursday before all public testimony was allowed, and House leaders sent it back for additional debate. The bill would amend a 1919 statute to say that any roads crossing federal lands prior to the passage of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act could still be claimed by counties under the grandfather clause passed at that time. The claims under the so-called "RS 2477" federal statute of 1866 have been controversial in other Western states, where motorized recreation advocates, ranchers and others have attempted to assert highway status for thousands of miles of old trails now located within national parks, preserves and wildernesses in an effort to block or reverse environmental protections. The Wyoming bill aims to provide relief for a Sublette County rancher who found his generations-old family ranch road challenged by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The bill is less expansive than those in other states but without amendments, it does not appear to prohibit new county road claims within national parks and other preserved federal lands. Bill sponsor Rep. Monte Olsen (R-Daniel/House District 22) has pledged to work to try to address such concerns when the bill is heard again in committee.

... for January 26, 2005
The Wyoming Legislature moved closer to a comprehensive review of the state's multigenerational stewardship responsibilities in the management of lands in the Common School Trust, on the 12th day of its 2005 General Session.

Members of the Senate gave their third and final vote in favor of two bills authorizing a new policy study, and funding for cleanup, enforcement and improvement, of the state lands set aside at statehood to generate school revenues. The State Land Board, made up of the five statewide elected officials, manages more than 3 million acres to generate income for public schools, typically through grazing or timbering leases. The lands are also very popular hunting grounds and recreation sites for outdoor recreation enthusiasts. The board has a trust responsibility to manage the lands both for maximum income to the schools and for long-term capacity to generate such income. SF 19 creates a task force to study what changes may need to be made in the state lands operation in order to better meet that duty, and how to pay for it. Senators approved the bill by a narrow 16-14 margin. Also passing final Senate reading Wednesday was SF 15, a related bill expending $750,000 for an initial round of stewardship projects intended to demonstrate the kind of work the Office of State Lands and Investments could do with funding dedicated to trust-land improvement. It prevailed 21-9. Both bills now head to the House for Agriculture Committee consideration and three floor votes.

In other action, the Senate on second reading approved SF 28, significantly increasing the penalties for unlawful impoundment of the state's steams, or diversion of water without the permission of the State Engineer, after reports from a survey showed coalbed methane developers in the Powder River Basin have illegally erected hundreds of dams to contain production effluent waters in a climate of poor law enforcement by the state. Another bill winning second reading approval Wednesday in the Senate was SF 56, which would allow municipalities to temporarily change the permitted use of water stored within dams in order to maintain minimum stream flows through their towns for fisheries, recreation or water-quality improvement. Both bills face third and final Senate reading Jan. 27.

The House on Jan. 26 gave final passage 59-0 to HB 82, making statutory changes to enable the Game & Fish Department to implement a long-planned electronic license-selling program which will provide more responsive customer service to sportsmen and make operations easier for the private vendors who contract to sell department licenses at convenience stores, bait shops and other outlets. That bill now heads to the Senate for consideration by the Travel Committee and three readings on the floor.

House members also OK 'd HB 203 on second reading by a voice vote, adding new public-notice requirements for the Game & Fish Department when a problem grizzly bear is relocated within the state by conflict managers. The bill has been further amended since committee consideration last week to allow the Game & Fish to conduct some of the public notices electronically rather than by more time-consuming written notification. HB 203 faces its final House reading Jan. 27.

The House Rules Committee on Wednesday engaged in the long-running debate about separation of powers between the governor and the other four statewide elected officials, who sit together as the State Land Board among many other bodies they collectively comprise. The committee voted 7-5 to approve HB 291, which would allow a four-member majority of the land board to fire the director of state lands, and would also place the board in charge of hiring of future directors beginning in January 2007. Currently, the governor has the sole power to hire and fire the director. The bill also ends the director's term of office with that of the governor. Proponents say the move gives the board control of personnel whom they rely upon to fulfill their constitutionally mandated responsibility to oversee state lands. Opponents, including current State Lands Director Lynne Boomgaarden and the governor's chief of staff, Chris Boswell, say the political gridlock of working for five highly political and often divided board members would make it harder to recruit a strong director for the agency, and increases the likelihood of future firings at an agency that had six directors in the eight years preceding Gov. Freudenthal's administration. The bill now heads to the House floor for three readings.

... for January 25, 2005
Wyoming's 90 elected lawmakers tackled legislation that would protect wildlife habitat, enforce water law, enable new instream flows, and promote sustainable state-land management, on Day 11 of the 2005 General Session.

The Senate Travel Committee took a major step forward toward protecting Wyoming's shrinking wildlife habitat in the face of expanding energy and residential development, by passing SF 41 at a standing-room-only hearing in the Legislature's largest meeting room. The bill sets up a trust fund to generate interest to pay for wildlife habitat conservation projects by government and nonp