Several Wyoming counties are looking into ways to change wilderness study areas on Bureau of Land Management lands. Park County’s commissioners discussed the process Tuesday, and decided to give it a try.

The BLM preserves Wilderness Study Areas as undeveloped federal lands. One of Park County’s Wilderness Study Areas is on the BLM's McCullough Peaks near Cody. 

Park County Commissioner Bucky Hall says Governor Mead has asked Wyoming’s counties to start the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative. 

The Initiative would help draft federal legislation that might release the lands for multiple uses or allow them to be officially designated as a new wilderness area with full protections.

Hall says the Wyoming County Commissioners Association is taking the lead on the project. He says 13 Wyoming Counties have Wilderness Study Areas.

“The purpose for that is to get together in groups, have a collaborative consensus over what to do with all our wilderness study areas, and hopefully bring one bill to our delegation in Congress for them to pass,” he says.

Hall says the next step is to look into getting local public comment.