This week I made a quick run “Up The River” to look over the Middle Ridge project and visit with a Wyoming Game & Fish representative, in addition to someone from the Bridger-Teton.

At one point I stopped in the Virginia/Visser Peak region, looked around and wondered why this was the first time I made a trip into the Greys River this year?

Most of my time this year has been devoted to legislative meetings across the state, like the latest sorting out the details  of school construction funding in Casper.

These small projects, such as the Middle Ridge project coordinated by the Greys River Collaborative hold a lot of promise, first by improving our wildlife habitat, while reducing the fuel source the allow wildfires to go unchecked.

Remember the Willow Creek Fire on the South End two summers ago. In addition to using U.S. 89 on the Salt River Summit as a fire break, the Bridger-Teton Kemmerer District had already been clearing undergrowth in the region. Both helped bring the fire to a conclusion before we lost the scenic Smith’s Fork region complete with the historic Lander Trail.

Wildlife and fire breaks are important but right there along with those efforts come the opportunity to fuel something other than a fire and thats the local economy.

Last month, I was invited to see a small mill operation in Sublette County that was processing some of the small timber cuts on the west side of the state.

Should we reach a long term plan to develop these projects like the Middle Ridge, we could not only strengthen our wildlife populations, stay ahead of the wildfires, but we could create a stronger local economy with the associated timber production.

The work of the Greys River Collaborative, with the cooperation of the Bridger-Teton and other agencies such as the Wyoming Game and Fish, could go a long way in accomplishing all three points.

This is worth working on, plus that this effort puts me in the country I love in western Wyoming — places like Greys River and maybe less in time in another meeting somewhere in Wyoming.

How fortunate we are to call western Wyoming, and places like Greys River  home.

Absolutely priceless!