The bounty and beauty of the American West has stirred the hopes and dreams of generations of Americans. The vast economic potential of the West was only a dream in 1804 when President Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on their now famous and well documented journey. A little over 30 years later in 1837, Washington Irving published the epic following the adventures of the famous explorer, Captain Bonneville, in what would later become known as the Wyoming Territory. He searched for the fabled Tar Springs. After a great ordeal the men in his party discovered a slow stream of oil at the foot of a sand bluff just east of the Wind River Mountains. Fifty years later a Pennsylvania born Irishman named Mike Murphy drilled the first well in the Wyoming Territory on the very same spot. These examples of exploration and discovery began a transformation of American society that still rings true today. Today we have over 2.45 million acres of Western lands managed by the Bureau of Lands Management. It's important that these lands are properly managed for the creation of wealth and prosperity for our Nation, the preservation of our environment and our way of life.