S T O R I E S

The old saying is that ignorance is bliss came to mind when I thought of how a rather ordinary bird came to affect my life and economic future. I found out the hard way what it means to be unaware of what a committee appointed by a Governor was doing. Their goal was to protect the greater sage grouse but I was the one would have to pay the bill. I thought I had done my due diligence by reading a report that was developed by the local working group on grouse. The report placed all of my ranch in an area identified as low potential habitat for sage grouse. That report lulled me into a false sense of security. What actually happened is difficult to determine because the Governor’s Sage Grouse Implementation Team did not keep minutes. This team was made up of multiple state agencies, federal agencies, environmental interests and just two private landowners. Because the team was only making recommendations to the governor, the Wyoming Administrative Procedures Act did not apply. The varied membership of the team allowed the Regulatory Takings Act Review to be bypassed because regulations were not being adopted by a state agency . The lack of minutes might have wiped the finger prints off of the murder weapon, so to speak, but the real result of the actions taken by the Governor and his team is very evident on my property rights.

At about the same time the Sage Grouse Implementation Team started work, the State of Wyoming leased the wind development rights on several tracks of land within our ranch that we use for grazing. The wind energy company then approached me to lease the wind rights on a large portion of our private land. The state’s action meant that we would see wind development on the ranch no matter what; so we thought we had little choice but to make the best of the situation. The neighboring ranch to the east was already the site for 66 wind turbines. Shortly after we started negotiations, the wind company withdrew a portion of the land they wanted to lease saying that a core area had been established to protect sage grouse and a small portion of the core was now over our ranch. The area in the core coincided with land that we did not feel was suitable for wind energy development so we did not see a conflict. We had been in contact with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department on other issues and were surprised that this agency would not have informed us of this designation. A few months later the Governor’s Committee would finish its work and send a draft executive order to then Governor Dave Freudenthal. At their last meeting before submitting the draft, the Sage Grouse Implementation Team, had without notice to me, expanded the core protection area to include over 24,000 acres of my private land.

By this time my ignorance was leaving along with the small amount of bliss it provided. When I was able to obtain a map of the core protection area, that showed the actual legal description of the land involved, I immediately contacted the Governor by phone and mail. The Governor only agreed to meet with me after the executive order was signed. When I did meet with the Governor, he refused to change anything but made promises that he never kept. I then met with the Governor-Elect, and had several more meetings with Governor Mead after he took office that achieved very little.

The Wyoming Constitution is very clear, stating that no person can lose property without due process of law. Unfortunately, when the state is bent on avoiding the listing of the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act, such technicalities are ignored. What really happened was a transfer of opportunity from private landowners to other interests. My land was protected so that the grouse would not be listed and much more valuable minerals could still be produced elsewhere.

There is much more to the tale but the essentials are all here. My neighbors have the rental income from a fully functioning wind farm, the State of Wyoming still has a wind lease within my ranch, but I am not allowed to lease my wind rights or fully develop my minerals. Other neighbors have valid wind leases outside the magic core protection area. There is no state law that prohibits wind development in core protection areas but the Governor has prohibited wind development by his word alone. So while you sleep some day, well meaning saviors of some animal or plant will labor to take your rights for the greater good. They will not lose any sleep worrying over your rights. Don’t expect those dusty words in the Constitution to mean anything or have any power to protect you. Your only protection is to sleep very little and be willing to fight very hard.