Continental Divide Trail/Rawlins, Wyo. Area

Generous Wyoming Easement Furthers Continental Divide Trail Completion Efforts

By Dick Todd and Gary Long

On May 31st 2007 representatives from Congress and the Wyoming State Legislature; the City of Rawlins, Wyoming; the Bureau of Land Management; the U. S. Forest Service; the Anadarko Land Corporation; the Continental Divide Trail Alliance; and the Wind River Back Country Horsemen; as well as members of the general public joined together at a location on the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail to celebrate the granting of a public easement by Anadarko Land Corporation across nineteen miles of its private land along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. Nearly one hundred people attended the dedication ceremony. The Bureau of Land Management will hold and manage the easement in the Great Divide Basin region of Wyoming.In the Rawlins area the Continental Divide Trail crosses an area known as the Checkerboard, where every other square mile of land in a checkerboard pattern is in private ownership. This land ownership pattern is a result of the land grants given by the Federal government in the 1860s to encourage and assist the Union Pacific Railroad in construction of the first transcontinental railroad. The area is about forty miles wide so to cross it with a legal right-of-way, about twenty miles of easement are required. Anadarko’s donated trail easement preserves legal public access over approximately 18.85 miles of Anadarko property for the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, which opens up 40 miles of continuous legal access along the route of the Trail.The importance of this acquisition is more about the accomplishments of private/public partnerships than the actual easement itself. This wasn’t simply a matter of the BLM going out and purchasing an easement. As always, the story is much more complicated.This was not simply a negotiating process between the BLM and the Anadarko Land Corporation, the owner of the land through which the trail would pass. The participants included the Continental Divide Trail Alliance, the Wyoming State Legislature, BLM, and Anadarko. Volunteers from the Back Country Horsemen played a role as did the Wyoming Congressional Delegation. It’s important to realize that the easement wouldn’t have happened if the forces listed above hadn’t joined together to make it happen.During the Dedication Ceremony Rebecca Watson, Chair of the Continental Divide Trail Alliance, praised this cooperative effort: “Today we celebrate the generous contribution to the work of the Trail of a new partner, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. Anadarko has donated the largest easement ever given in the history of the Trail. Acquisition of private land easements is one of the most difficult challenges to the completion of this great Trail, and we could not do it without partners like Anadarko.” Constrained by ill health and so unable to attend the ceremony, a staffer for Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY) read a statement in which the now late senator praised Anadarko, the BLM and the CDTA for their efforts, noting, “In a state where we highly value public lands and access to them, this dedication is a true celebration of the ability of many in the private and public sectors to come together in partnership.”In his remarks, James Kleckner, Anadarko’s Vice-President of Operations mentioned his family’s experience with helping to build the Colorado Trail and emphasized Anadarko’s commitment to giving back. Dave Hunsaker, Deputy Director of the National Landscape Conservation System, and Robert Bennett, Wyoming State Director reaffirmed the commitment of the BLM to seek other recreation easements in their efforts to complete the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail.
Dick Todd is a Senior Realty Specialist for the Bureau of Land Management.Gary Long is Outdoor Recreation Planner in the Wyoming State Office, Bureau of Land Management.

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