Governor’s veto angers Natrona commissioners and residents

Senate File 44 would have provided local check against proposed mine

CASPER — On Monday, Gov. Mark Gordon slid Senate File 44, which would have made changes in how limited mining operations are approved, off his desk and into the veto pile.

On Tuesday, residents packed a Natrona County Board of County Commissioners meeting to share their frustrations with Gordon’s decision.

To recap: those frustrations — along with their partners: fear, ire and general disgust — arose after Prism Logistics in Casper announced it is exploring state land near Squaw Creek and Coates Road in Natrona County in hopes of developing a gravel mine.

This sparked intense controversy among residents and local leaders alike.

How the controversy arrived in Cheyenne was via an amendment made to Senate File 44, a bill that aimed to streamline how the state approaches limited mining operations. Casper Representative Steve Harshman’s amendment required people seeking to start a gravel mine operation to obtain a conditional use permit from their local elected leaders if the local county required such a permit.

The fire was further stoked when Gordon vetoed the bill, expressing in a written statement that he wouldn’t sign a bill that had an amendment targeted at only one community.

In substance, the comments expressed during Tuesday’s commission meeting had not changed since the last time commissioners met in March.

They were concerned about water, land, their animals, wildlife, housing prices in the area, health, their families, their homes and their neighborhoods.

“A quarry, I don’t believe, belongs in a residential area,” resident Roberto Fars told commissioners.

He had spoken at the last commissioners meeting, too. On Tuesday, he honed in on his concerns about how a gravel pit could impact water access and quality. Others spoke about the potential impact on trail access and outdoor recreation.

“Gordon said, what was it, a year ago, in the State of the State address, that recreation was the no. 2 priority,” Austin Burgess, who introduced himself as being with the Central Wyoming Trails Alliance, said. “Now he states in vetoing ... Senate File 44 that the state needs to control state lands. No. The people control state lands, the people control county lands.”

Still others begged the commissioners to do something, anything, to protect them from the possibility of a gravel mine.

“Just deny it,” one resident implored. “Just say no.”

There was, at this meeting, nothing yet for the commissioners to approve or deny.

But Commissioner Chairman Peter Nicolaysen told attendees after the public comment period had been closed that the commissioners’ legal counsel had assured them that they still had some authority and that hearing residents’ concerns was making an impact.

None of the commissioners sided with Gordon’s veto and Commissioner Dallas Laird told the crowd that he had called Gordon on his personal number but had not received any response.

Saying that this isn’t over yet, commissioners encouraged people to still show up and make their voices heard.

This story was published on March 21, 2024.