A 25-year lease of Martin's Cove to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday night as an amendment to the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill.

The lease was praised by amendment sponsor U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., and a spokesman for the church but criticized by a Western land exchange group.

The LDS church has operated the Martin's Cove site and the nearby Sun Ranch since 1997, but the agreement between the BLM and the church expired in September 2001. Both parties struggled to come to an equitable agreement on Martin's Cove. Controversial ideas considered were outright purchase of the property and a 99-year lease.

In a prepared statement, Thomas said while he opposed the proposed 99-year lease to the church, he feels the shorter lease period protects the land and still provides for public access. He called it "a good agreement for Wyoming."

"It is vital for the public to maintain this nationally significant trail area, but I have said all along that the church does a good job managing the site and should be allowed to continue to do so," Thomas said.

Lloyd Larsen, president of the LDS Riverton Stake, thanked Thomas and Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., for their efforts to reach a compromise.

"We're pleased with 25 years," Larsen said in a phone interview. "Our concern has always been for the long-term protection of this land."

But one organization was highly critical of the lease deal approved by the Senate.

"If the Mormon church gets this through legislation then they are being guaranteed that the public's going to be excluded from the lease process and that there will be no environmental analysis," said Janine Blaeloch of the Western Land Exchange Project in Seattle.

Blaeloch charged that Tuesday's Senate action was an attempt to circumvent the normal lease process.

"The public has spoken in Wyoming about this very loudly for quite a while. So I think it's obvious that they are trying to sidestep the concerns of the public and to bury it in a huge appropriations bill is the coup de grace against public participation," Blaeloch said.

The lease is similar to roughly 50 Recreation and Public Purpose Act leases that currently operate on federal lands in Wyoming, said Carrie Lehman, spokeswoman for Thomas.

Terms of the proposed 940-acre lease includes a payment based on the fair market value of the land, Lehman said.

The bill, which was approved 92-0, will now be considered by a conference committee and then be brought back for another vote by both chambers. The bill would not go into effect until four months after it is enacted, Lehman said.

The LDS Church has long wanted to purchase BLM land in southwestern Natrona County, where many Mormon pioneers perished from cold and hunger during a blizzard in 1856. The site overlooks the Sweetwater River and a corridor where the historic Oregon, Mormon, California and Pony Express trails converged. Those trails and the Martin's Cove experience are celebrated at the National Historic Trails Center in Casper.

After purchasing the adjacent Sun Ranch, Mormon volunteers built and now operate a museum focused on the Mormon Trail and handcart pioneer tragedy, attracting thousands of handcart re-enactors who travel portions of the Mormon Trail each summer. Martin's Cove is a national historic landmark.

Thomas noted the LDS Church will continue to manage the day-to-day operations and maintenance of Martin's Cove facilities, such as the foot trail, meeting areas, access road, fence and signs.

The senator stressed that the bill states the act "does not set a precedent for the terms and conditions of leases between or among private entities and the United States."

He said the lease also is required to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

By approving a lease now, Thomas said, it prevents future congressional efforts to mandate the sale of Martin's Cove to the church.