If the land use plan has determined anything about people in Park County, it’s that there are a lot of different views on a lot of topics.

There are, however, a few things the vast majority of residents who have participated in the planning process can agree on. One of those key things: People want to see open lands preserved and public lands accessible.

For a county bounded on much of one side by BLM land and much of the other by national forest, that’s not surprising, but it doesn’t make it any less important to clarify.

From Powell to Meeteetse, Sage Creek to Crandall, people want the wide open spaces of the county to stay wide open. It may feel like a “no duh” statement to make, but it’s still a key piece of the new land use plan.

I think it’s too easy here to take open spaces for granted — I’ll pop over to Badger Basin or up into the McCullough Peaks on a whim, but for seven years this westerner lived in Georgia, where public land is much more limited.

After growing up in Wyoming and Colorado, I was used to having boundless access to rivers. While living down south, I remember driving down roads by rivers and waiting, and waiting, for a public access point to go fish, often to no avail. State parks down there are certainly nice, but nothing like getting lost in the Peaks, not seeing humans or even evidence of them deep in a draw.

Obviously there’s not really concern of these large tracts of BLM or Forest Service land disappearing (I hope) but it’s important to ensure access to them remains. 

In 1998 the prior land use plan also emphasized this fact, that county residents value public and open lands. It’s nice to see some things haven’t changed.