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Interior Department finalizes updated Western Solar Plan, potentially opening 31.7 million acres of federal public lands in the West to industrial solar energy development, including 3.8 million acres in Wyoming. Decision comes just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office and hours before a potential federal government shutdown. Wyoming acreage represents about 20% of land overseen by BLM in the state, excluding sage grouse core areas, ungulate migration corridors, and unindustrialized areas. Plan updates 2012 effort to concentrate industrial-scale solar in high potential areas of the southwest, but expands study area to include more western states. Interior and BLM insist only 700,000 acres are “anticipated” to be developed, with each project analyzed individually and open to public input. Conservation groups express tentative support, citing potential for job growth, rural economic boost, and conservation of environmental resources. However, some experts warn of potential for litigation and upset due to the “free-for-all-nature” of the plan.