A group of legislators, government leaders, and other citizens have created a new Wyoming Wildlife Taskforce to help investigate top wildlife issues in the state.

Wyoming Game and Fish Director, Brian Nesvick, says there have been lots of citizen interest in the last 10 years or so that deal with licensing, access, preference points, and other issues that have been discussed, but no real changes implemented.

“Through a cooperative with the legislature and the governor and the commission and the (Wyoming Game and Fish),” Nesvick said. “18 members of folks from across the state that are going to be charged with, first of all, identifying which topics are best to address but then spending about a year studying those.”

He says they will then make some recommendations to Wyoming Game and Fish, the legislature, or governor depending on who has authority over the issue.

“I’m excited about that,” Nesvick said. “It’s a great group.”

He believes there are very diverse interest representatives in the taskforce. He says they will most likely begin their work after the legislative session and the early part of the summer. He also says the communities will play a big part in this.

“All of their meetings and all of their processes are going to be heavily shaped by public input,” Nesvick said. “So the public is going to have an opportunity to sit in there during these meetings and provide their feedback.”

The Wyoming Game and Fish have released the names of the taskforce and they are the following:

• Tony Lehner – Converse County Commissioner, landowner
• Duaine Hagen – Park County landowner
• Representative Jamie Flitner – Big Horn County
• Representative Albert Sommers – Sublette County
• Adam Teten – Johnson County sportsman
• Joe Schaffer – Laramie County sportsman, President of Laramie County Community College
• Rusty Bell – Campbell County Commissioner, Taxidermist, Sportsman
• Sy Gilliland – President of Wyoming Outfitter and Guides Association
• Elissa Ruckle – Owner of Elevate Wyoming
• Senator Ogden Driskill – Crook County
• Senator Larry Hicks – Carbon County
• Liisa Anselmi-Dalton – Sweetwater County hotel owner
• Jen Scoggin – Director Office of State Lands and Investments
• Lee Livingston – Park County Commissioner
• Josh Coursey – Sweetwater County, Executive Director of the Muley Fanatics Foundation
• Pat Crank – Laramie County sportsman, outgoing Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioner
• Pete Dube – Johnson County, President of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission
• Brian Nesvik – Director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department