A new nonprofit organization, Wyoming Friends for Martin’s Cove, has formed to advance the long-term stewardship of the Martin’s Cove historic site and the public acquisition of key ranchland parcels through collaboration, civic engagement, and shared responsibility.
A Wyoming-led Solution
“Martin’s Cove is a unique historic site, and it has been well served for nearly 25 years under the management of the Historic Sites Division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As the current lease approaches expiration, this is the right time to pursue a permanent, Wyoming-led solution for the management of the site, while also creating public access opportunities to new high-valued acreage. Our aim is to work with stakeholders to support a legislative land exchange that serves the public interest and preserves these landscapes for generations to come.”
-Ryan Lance: President,
Wyoming Friends for Martin’s Cove
Martin’s Cove
History at Independence Rock
Independence Rock - Parcel 1
The first exchange parcel is a 358-acre area adjacent to Independence Rock State Historic Site and within the federally designated corridor for the Oregon, California, Pony Express, and Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trails. It includes approximately 1.9 miles of Sweetwater River frontage, nearly 131 acres of wetlands, five contributing segments of the National Historic Trails, the trails’ first crossing of the Sweetwater River, and a site containing a historic trading post, stagecoach stop, Pony Express station, telegraph station, and military post dating to the emigrant-trail era.
Improving Connectivity and Access in the Granite Mountains
The second exchange parcel includes 575 acres in the Granite Mountains. It connects the Miller Springs and Savage Peak Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs). Moving this private inholding into public ownership would improve landscape-scale connectivity, support sage-grouse, pronghorn, and mule deer habitat, and expand recreational access to surrounding public lands.
WSA - Parcel 2
Independence Rock — Parcel 1
A Land Exchange That Delivers More for the Public
Under the proposed land exchange, two privately-held ranch parcels in Central Wyoming (Parcel 1, 358 acres; Parcel 2, 575 acres) would be conveyed into public ownership in exchange for the 933-acre Martin's Cove parcel, currently leased from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) since 2004. The proposed exchange is acre-for-acre (933 acres on each side). The combined cultural, ecological, hydrological, and recreational resource inventories indicate the two private parcels carry materially greater public value across nearly every category than the exchanged BLM parcel. In addition, the public may continue to visit Martin’s Cove, just as they have for the last 22 years.