CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray is expected to speak at 6 p.m. today at a meeting of those against proposed gravel mining west of Casper.
The Coates Road/Squaw Creek Gravel Pit Resistance Group and anyone else interested in the intention to mine gravel on state lands in the area will meet at the University of Wyoming Agriculture Extension Office, 2011 Fairgrounds Road.
Gregg Werner, one of the de facto organizers of the group, said two people today took Gray on a tour of the area that would be affected by the proposed mining on state lands.
Gray will speak at the meeting, but Werger said there was no other agenda.
Monday, Gov. Mark Gordon vetoed Senate File 44, which initially would have prevented county commissioners from overseeing mining Limited Mining Operations on state lands.
On Feb. 18, Werger learned from Kyle True, manager of Prism Logistics, that True had been obtaining leases to conduct Limited Mining Operations on sections of state lands just north of Casper Mountain. State lands are overseen by the State Board of Land Commissioners — comprising the governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor and superintendent of public instruction — to optimize and provide revenue for schools.
Meanwhile, residents in the area learned of SF44 and how it would have affected county control by preventing county commissions from having authority to oversee such operations.
They formed the ad hoc Resistance Group and held their first meeting on Feb. 29, with about 200 people in attendance. They subsequently packed Natrona County Commission meetings on March 5 and March 19, the day after Gordon’s veto.
Meanwhile, the Senate removed the operative word “prevent” from SF44.
The Resistance Group’s efforts led to other amendments about details of mining operations, and both houses in the Legislature approved SF44.
However, Gordon vetoed it, stating in a letter to Gray that “this bill would limit the state’s ability to generate revenue from its lands. Furthermore, it would improperly invert the authority over state lands, ceding management decision making away from the state to the counties.”
The Resistance Group isn’t giving up, though.
At the Natrona County Commission meeting Tuesday, commissioners said the county will still have a pivotal role to play in determining whether the planned mine becomes a reality. The commissioners will need to approve a conditional use permit for the project to move forward.