The Taskforce membership elected Rusty Bell, Campbell County commissioner, taxidermist and sportsman, and Josh Coursey, of Sweetwater County, executive director of Muley Fanatic Foundation, as co-chairs to lead the group over the next 18-months. The co-chairs are mutually dedicated to ensuring an open process with many opportunities for public input.
“Transparency will be important to be successful,” said Josh Coursey, co-chair of the Taskforce.
Through a ranking process, the Taskforce membership prioritized three issues for initial discussion over the next several meetings:
- What policies might sustainably increase resident sportsperson opportunities for the “big 5” species -- moose, sheep, goat, bison and grizzly bear? This discussion comes with a proposal to consider a 90/10 allocation for resident/nonresident licenses.
- What policies might sustainably increase resident sportsperson opportunities for deer, elk and antelope?
- What policies and practices might support private landowners as stewards of wildlife habitat?
“We will be taking public comments over the next several weeks on these topics to build a foundation for discussion at our upcoming meeting,” said Rusty Bell, co-chair of the Taskforce.
Anyone interested can submit comments through wyomingwildlifetaskforce.com. In some regions of Wyoming, the Taskforce members will be hosting local listening sessions. For meeting details at a location near you, visit the Wyoming Wildlife Taskforce website.
The Taskforce membership set the next five, 1-day meetings, planned for 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. in Casper. Details on locations are forthcoming and will be announced when finalized:
- July 8
- July 19
- Sept. 1
- Nov. 18
- Dec. 3
The charge of the Taskforce will be to formulate recommendations to the Wyoming Legislature and the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission; the Taskforce does not have rulemaking authority.
