After U.S. Senate proposed selling public lands, Wyoming lawmakers send D.C. a message: 'No'
JACKSON — The Wyoming Legislature has shifted its tone on public lands.
One year ago, lawmakers nearly passed a resolution demanding the federal government hand over all public lands in the Equality State’s borders except Yellowstone National Park.
This year, they changed course, passing a similar resolution to send a message to President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and the Wyoming congressional delegation saying that the Legislature opposes the large-scale sale of federal lands.
Gov. Mark Gordon signed Senate Joint Resolution 9, “Keeping public lands protected and decisions local,” on Friday.
Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, called Wyoming’s congressional delegation last summer when the U.S. Senate considered a large-scale sale of public lands in nine western states, including Wyoming. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, spearheaded the measure.
“They didn’t call me back, so I hope they appreciate the letter,” Provenza said during a Feb. 26 committee hearing.
U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, supported the proposed sale, though other Western senators did not.
“I hope they’re paying attention to this, because they need to realize that they were on the wrong side of this issue,” said Aaron Pruzan, owner of Rendezvous River Sports and a supporter of this year’s resolution.
Last summer’s sale attempt — which provoked an uproar amongst westerners of all political stripes — prompted the resolution in the Wyoming Legislature.
“The news that came out of Washington, D.C., got people very interested in the proposals on our lands,” Sen. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette said Feb. 26.
Barlow is currently running for governor.
Public lands are important not only for recreators, hunters and anglers, but also for the agricultural and mineral industries, Barlow said.
Committee hearings on the bill drew extensive public comment from students, hunters, sportsmen and environmental advocacy organizations.
The Senate Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee hearing featured a firearms advocate, a miner, a teacher and a mayor.
“Selling off public lands is just the antithesis of what the West is about, what Wyoming is about and what the United States of America is about,” Pruzan said.
This year’s resolution passed the Senate on a 27-4 vote. It passed the House on a 54-7 vote.
Besides opposing large-scale sales, the resolution supports “responsible, locally supported” land exchanges and sales, the incorporation of local desires into federal land use decisions and adequately funding land management agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service.
This story was published on March 7, 2026.