The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission met in Pinedale for their September meeting. The Commission received updates on department offices and informational presentations on the work of the department.

The Commission is moving forward with the next steps to build a new regional office in Cody. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department recently finalized the purchase of the 21.71 acres, less than one mile northwest of Cody off the Belfry Highway. The new office is closer to Cody than the current location and will offer more services to the public with increased space for license sales, public assistance and parking as well as an ADA accessible meeting location. 

The Commission also continued discussions on how to address employee housing in Teton County. 

“For fairness to our employees and the public, we need to take action,” said Commissioner Pat Crank, during the meeting on Monday. 

The Commission plans to hold a work session meeting in November, with the goal of determining final decisions by January. The Commission, alongside department staff, will review in-depth the most cost-efficient actions, such as purchasing homes, building homes and working with affordable housing organizations or moving the regional office and some employees to another location, such as Pinedale. The Commission will also consider opportunities to generate revenue, such as selling certain Commission-owned lands in the area. The work session will be open to the public; more details will be available when the meeting date is set. 

An informational presentation was provided to the Commission on sage grouse research south of Pinedale. One year after collaring 28 sage grouse hens in the only designated sage grouse winter concentration area in the state, Game and Fish has started to learn about the bird’s winter movements, nesting and survival. About 1,000 sage grouse congregate south of Pinedale during the winter, and researched showed during spring of 2019 birds spread out to the north, occupying leks up to 43 miles away. Entering the breeding season, 22 of the 28 collared sage grouse were still alive. Those 22 hens initiated 26 nests including nine re-nests with two nests successfully hatching. After nesting, the hens made relatively small movements to late summer habitats. The study will continue this during the 2019/2020 season, where biologists will collar 72 more birds. 
 
The Commission’s next meeting is Nov. 19-20 in Powell.