Restrictions Under Consideration
State Trust Values
When Wyoming became a state on July 10, 1890, the federal government granted approximately 4.2 million acres of land to the State of Wyoming. The law requires state lands be held in trust to produce income to support public schools and other state institutions named in the original grants.
State trust assets are managed for two key purposes consistent with traditional trust principles: (1) long-term growth in value, and (2) optimum, sustainable revenue production.
Land Resctrictions
In the years since the privilege to recreate on State Trust Lands was granted by the Board of Land Commissioners (Board) to the general public, the Office of State Lands and Investments (OSLI) has encountered numerous situations in which requests to restrict specific activities on certain State Trust Lands have been made.
Those requests have been submitted by state lessees, adjacent landowners, other state agencies, and the general public. Additionally, OSLI may also initiate a restriction upon the discovery of a detrimental situation occurring on State Trust Lands.
The most common restrictions placed on State Trust Lands by the Board have been Walk-In Areas and Habitat Management Areas (in conjunction with Wyoming Game and Fish Department), closure to motorized vehicles (due to resource damage, dumping of refuse, etc.), and firearms restrictions (due to safety concerns).
State Trust Land Restrictions Under Consideration
8/20/2021 - Under Consideration for Recreational Shooting Restriction: Township 52 North, Range 72 West, Section 36, Campbell County
OSLI has received requests from the grazing lessee and an adjacent landowner to restrict recreational shooting on this parcel of state trust land. Located ten miles north of Gillette on Highway 59, the parcel was closed to motorized vehicles in 2004 after years of dumping and vehicle abuse resulted in detrimental conditions to the land and lessees. Over the past several years, increasing recreational shooting pressure has resulted in consistent and ongoing destruction of state and lessee property, including the death of livestock and several wildfires. If you would like to provide comments on this potential restriction, please use the comment form to the right.
