 The Wyoming Outdoor Council was also part of a broad coalition that worked to ensure passage of the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, a bill modeled after legislation that Wyoming Republican Senator Craig Thomas had intended to introduce before his death, and which was later introduced by his successor, John Barrasso.The legislation safeguards the Wyoming Range in western Wyoming from future oil and gas leases while creating a mechanism for the buy-back and retiring of existing oil and gas leases.The Wyoming Range Legacy Act passed as part of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 30, 2009.