WASHINGTON – More than 1.2 million acres of the Bridger Teton National Forest and Wyoming Range – a signature mountain range – will move one step closer to receiving protection, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) announced today.

Barrasso has successfully worked with Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Ranking Member Pete Domenici (R-NM), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chairman of the Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee, to deliver a hearing on the “Wyoming Range Legacy Act of 2007.”

“The Wyoming Range represents the heart and soul of Wyoming , and a wonder for those that come from all over to experience it,” Barrasso said.  “This hearing is a monumental step toward enhancing the tourism, recreation, grazing and the hunting economy of the Wyoming Range . The bill will preserve the range as a key part of Wyoming ‘s natural heritage.”

The Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee hearing on the bill will take place February 27, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. (EDT).

Barrasso is the Ranking Member on the Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee.

The bill, S. 2229, will protect more than 1.2 million acres of the Wyoming Range by prohibiting future oil and gas leasing. Barrasso’s bill will allow a buy-out process that respects the property rights of current leaseholders.

The bill allows the remaining leases to be voluntarily purchased, presumably by conservation groups, in order to retire the leases.