Senate panel restores 90 acres near Wyoming Life Resource Center for residential development

The Senate Committee of the Whole on Feb. 27 adopted an amendment to House Bill 69 that restores language to make roughly 90 acres of institutional land around the Wyoming Life Resource Center available for residential development and designates about 29 acres for the Wyoming Department of Transportation.

Senator Kates, speaking for the amendment, described the Life Resource Center in Lander as a longtime residential institution and said the amendment "puts back in that 90 acres would be made available for residential development," while preserving a separate DOT parcel. "This achieves the dream for me of kind of protecting the Life Resource Center from being encroached by noncompatible uses," Kates said.

Senator Pearson asked whether the 90 acres would reduce land used by the Honor Farm's agricultural leases; the sponsor said the DOT parcel is separate and the 90 acres are the sum of several small fields to be sold for residential development. Senator Scott pressed whether the Life Resource Center could still expand in future years; the sponsor said substantial surrounding acreage remains.

Senator Hicks raised a constitutional concern, citing Article 18, Section 1 of the Wyoming Constitution and arguing that constraining institutional land to residential use could conflict with the requirement that such lands be sold at public auction to the highest responsible bidder. Senator Case and others replied the parcels are institutional land (not trust lands) and said procurement rules would require market value sale, likely through auction, and that the language can be adjusted on later readings if necessary.

The Committee of the Whole adopted Committee Amendment No. 1 by voice vote and reported House Bill 69 back to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation.

Next steps: HB69 will proceed through the Senate third reading process and may be refined to address procurement or constitutional concerns before final passage.