Alternative B emphasizes conservation of physical, biological, heritage and visual resources, and LWCs with constraints on resource uses. Compared to other alternatives, Alternative B conserves the most land area for physical, biological, and heritage resources; designates the highest number of ACECs; and is the most restrictive to motorized vehicle use and mineral development.
Mineral resource uses are subject to additional constraints under Alternative B compared to other alternatives (see Table 2-2 for comparative land use acreages by alternative). Under Alternative B, 3,882,447 acres are available and 325,102 acres are withdrawn or would be recommended for withdrawal or extension of an existing withdrawal from locatable mineral entry. In addition, approximately 2,296,279 acres of federal mineral estate are administratively unavailable to oil and gas leasing; the remaining federal mineral estate is open to oil and gas leasing subject to the following constraints: 139,045 acres are subject to the standard lease form, 451,948 acres are subject to moderate constraints, and 1,320,277 acres are subject to major constraints. Alternative B does not delineate Oil and Gas Management Areas. This alternative makes 1,608,467 acres available for mineral materials disposal, while 2,599,082 acres are closed to mineral materials disposal.
Land resource program actions under Alternative B identify 24,267 acres of BLM-administered land in the Planning Area as available for disposal. Under Alternative B, the BLM manages 2,717,617 acres as ROW avoidance/mitigation areas, and 225,750 acres as ROW exclusion areas. Under Alternative B, 246,447 acres are open to renewable energy development.
Under Alternative B, travel and recreation management emphasizes protection of resources and recreational experiences, and includes more restrictions on resource uses than the other alternatives. Under Alternative B, 136,474 acres of BLM-administered land are closed to motorized vehicle use, 931,803 acres are limited to existing roads and trails, 2,054,228 acres are limited to designated roads and trails, and 3,170 acres are open to motorized vehicle use. Areas opened through activity planning to over-snow travel are required to have a minimum average of 12 inches of snow, and all ACECs, LWCs designated as Wild Lands, WSAs, WSRs, greater sage-grouse winter concentration areas, big game crucial winter ranges, and elk parturition habitats are closed to over-snow travel. Alternative B expands the resource constraints on recreational areas present under Alternative A, applying an NSO restriction on areas within ¼ mile of campgrounds, trailheads, day use areas, and similar recreation sites and applying a CSU stipulation on developed recreation sites and national, regional, and local trails. Under Alternative B, the BLM designates the following 12 SRMAs: Absaroka Mountain Foothills (72,177 acres), Badlands (220,808 acres), Bighorn River (15,274 acres), West Slope (126,924 acres), The Rivers (18,278 acres), Canyon Creek (3,687 acres), Red Canyon Creek (8,435 acres), Horse Pasture (144 acre), McCullough Peaks (160,860 acres), Basin Garden (19,842 acres), Beck Lake (6,478 acres), and Newton Lake Ridge (2,295 acres). Cave and karst resources are managed under the Worland Caves ERMA while all other non-designated land is part of the Bighorn Basin ERMA.
Under this alternative, a large portion of the Planning Area is closed to livestock grazing (1,988,927 acres) as a result of factors such as crucial winter range for elk and bighorn sheep and greater sage-grouse Key Habitat Areas. The remainder of the Planning Area is open to grazing where it does not conflict with other resource uses.
Alternative B includes 17 ACECs the nine existing areas (five of which the BLM proposes for expansion) and eight new ACECs. The five existing ACECs the BLM proposes to expand are Brown/Howe Dinosaur Area, Carter Mountain, Five Springs Falls, Little Mountain, and Upper Owl Creek. The eight proposed ACECs are Chapman Bench, Clarks Fork Basin/Polecat Bench West Paleontological Area, Clarks Fork Canyon, Foster Gulch Paleontological Area, McCullough Peaks South Paleontological Area, Rainbow Canyon, Rattlesnake Mountain, and Sheep Mountain. Table 2-3 summarizes acreages and management emphasis in each of these ACECs.
Alternative B retains the Red Gulch/Alkali Road National Back Country Byway and designates the Hyattville Logging Road and Hazelton Road as primitive Back Country Byways. Under this alternative, the BLM also applies protective management prescriptions to the Heart Mountain Relocation Center National Historic Landmark, Nez Perce NHT, and other important historic and regional trails. Under Alternative B, the BLM manages all 20 WSR-eligible waterways as suitable for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic River System (NWSRS), and applies more restrictive interim management prescriptions to the waterways. Under Alternative B, the BLM applies additional constraints on travel within the 10 WSAs.
Under Alternative B, the BLM manages physical resources (air, water, and soil) with an emphasis on conservation. This alternative is less focused on supporting resource uses than the other alternatives. Alternative B requires an inventory of BLM-administered land to determine the rate of erosion and degree of soil slope stability and photo point monitoring of all channel crossings and all surface disturbance of more than ½ acre. In addition, Alternative B requires reclamation plans and topsoil salvage for any BLM-authorized surface-disturbing activity. As under Alternative A, the BLM continues the use of seed mixtures of native species to reclaim disturbed areas. Under Alternative B, the BLM does not authorize new activities resulting in the surface discharge of produced water on BLM-administered land and allows the fencing of springs, wetlands, reservoirs, and riparian areas as necessary to meet resource objectives.
Alternative B emphasizes the conservation of habitat for fish and wildlife, maintenance of contiguous blocks of native plant communities, ecosystem management, protection of natural functions in riparian areas, and control of invasive species. This alternative places the most constraints on resource uses that affect biological resources. For example, the BLM prohibits surface-disturbing activities within ¼ mile of riparian/wetland areas, applies an NSO restriction on wetland areas of more than 40 acres, and prohibits aerial application of pesticides within ½ mile of riparian/wetland areas and aquatic habitats. For the protection of fish species, the BLM also applies an NSO restriction and prohibits surface disturbance within ¼ mile of any waters rated by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) as Class 1 or 2 trout streams, and applies a 500 foot buffer around all other fisheries. Seasonal wildlife restrictions under this alternative include prohibiting livestock grazing in elk parturition habitat during the birthing season and a motorized vehicle closure in elk parturition habitat and big game crucial winter range. The BLM prohibits surface-disturbing activities year-round in big game crucial winter range and parturition habitat and within ½ mile of big game migration corridors. Under this alternative, the BLM designates the Absaroka Front Management Area (106,354 acres), closing it to most mineral entry and limiting other resource uses.
Compared to all other alternatives, special status species receive increased protection under Alternative B. Alternative B extends the protective buffers around greater sage-grouse habitat, prohibiting surface-disturbing activities within 0.6 mile of occupied greater sage-grouse leks and seasonally mitigating surface-disturbing activities in greater sage-grouse nesting and early brood-rearing habitat. Greater sage-grouse Key Habitat Areas are administratively unavailable for mineral leasing and are closed to motorized vehicle use from February 1 to July 31. Under Alternative B, the BLM prohibits surface-disturbing activities within 1 mile of active raptor nests during nesting periods and applies a year-round ¼-mile CSU stipulation on all raptor nests. The BLM applies an NSO restriction on suitable habitat for black-footed ferret reintroduction and on the Sage Creek Prairie Dog Town. For the protection of BLM special status plant species, the BLM applies protective buffers that prohibit various resource uses and surface-disturbing activity around special status plant species populations.
Alternative B emphasizes wild horse health and does not allow special recreation permits (SRP) using domestic horses in the McCullough Peaks and Fifteenmile HMAs. Under this alternative, the BLM applies seasonal restrictions on surface-disturbing activities to prevent foal abandonment or jeopardy of wild horse health and welfare. Under Alternative B, wild horse gathers would occur, to the extent possible, in the fall after peak foaling.
Alternative B emphasizes the protection of cultural and paleontological resources and restricts resource uses that might adversely affect such resources. Around important cultural sites, the BLM applies an NSO restriction within 3 miles and a CSU stipulation in view within 5 miles for leasable minerals. The BLM also prohibits mineral materials disposal within 3 miles or in view within 5 miles of important cultural sites. Under Alternative B, areas within 5 miles of trails and sites eligible for listing on the NRHP and Traditional Cultural Properties (TCP) are exclusion areas for renewable energy development (specifically wind turbines), unless structures are screened from the sites by intervening topography. The BLM attaches Standard Paleontological Resources Protection Stipulations to authorizations for surface-disturbing activities in all areas, regardless of PFYC. This alternative also requires an on-the-ground survey before approval of surface-disturbing activities or land-disposal actions, and monitoring of surface-disturbing activities for PFYC 3, 4, and 5 formations. The BLM prohibits surface-disturbing activities within 100 feet of the outer edge of a paleontological locality and prohibits the resumption of activity within 100 feet of a paleontological discovery until the authorized officer issues a written authorization to proceed.
Compared to the other alternatives, Alternative B manages the most acreage as VRM Class I and II areas which allow only a low level of change to the characteristic landscape. The class allocations for BLM-administered surface lands include 154,343 acres of VRM Class I, 1,782,843 acres of VRM Class II, 393,887 acres of VRM Class III, and 858,162 acres of VRM Class IV. Under Alternative B, 4,362 acres are unclassified.
Under this alternative, the BLM designates all LWCs as Wild Lands; manages to protect naturalness, outstanding opportunities for solitude, and primitive and unconfined recreation, and applies additional stipulations on travel, mineral resource use, and ROW authorizations in these areas.