Nate Wilson, District Forester for the Wyoming State Forestry Division, called into the Weekday Wake-Up on Tuesday, July 28 to update listeners on the expanded timber harvests in Lincoln County as part of the new Good Neighbor Authority program being piloted in Lincoln County.

The following transcript of the above interview is AI generated. Minor spelling errors are likely to occur.

(0:00) Weekday wake up on SBI Radio, Swift 98 and The Spur, heading into our next guest interview (0:05) segment. (0:06) Nate Wilson on the air with me this morning, live over the phone. (0:09) He’s the district forester for the Wyoming State Forestry Division, covering Lincoln (0:13) and surrounding counties in this side of the state.

(0:16) Nate, good morning. (0:17) How are you doing today? (0:19) Pretty good this morning, Duke. (0:21) Thanks for having me.

(0:22) Absolutely. (0:23) Well, as it is the first time that we do have you on the air, I wanted to get your background (0:28) a little. (0:28) First of all, tell us how you got into forest management and what does the district forester (0:34) do within the Wyoming State Forestry Division? (0:38) Yeah, so a little background on me and our agency.

(0:43) So Wyoming State Forestry Division, we’re responsible for managing the forested state (0:49) trust lands. (0:51) We also provide private landowner assistance, you know, in matters of forest health and (0:58) wildfire mitigation. (1:01) And we also assist our federal partners, the Forest Service and the BLM, on various (1:08) projects through mechanisms like Good Neighbor Authority.

(1:13) And we’re a pretty small agency in comparison to some of our federal partners. (1:20) I have four state forestry employees over on our district on this side of the state, (1:27) which encompasses Lincoln, Teton, Sublette, Uinta, and Sweetwater counties. (1:33) So yeah, we’re a pretty lean and mean agency, but I think we get a fair amount done.

(1:41) As far as myself, I mean, yeah, I got into forestry because I like working in the woods (1:46) and kind of prefer that over talking to people most of the time. (1:51) But as I’ve progressed in my career, I’ve found that, honestly, people and those relationships (1:57) are probably the most important part of getting anything done. (2:03) Well, Nate, we appreciate your time and for talking with us today.

(2:07) Let’s discuss a couple of items, including the new forestry office that was announced (2:12) in Kemmer. (2:13) Give us an update on how that’s progressing and what will take place out of that office. (2:19) Yeah, so historically, we’ve had two offices on the district, one in Lyman and one in Pinedale.

(2:27) We still have the office in Pinedale. (2:30) We did close down the office in Lyman and transition that to Kemmerer, just a little (2:37) more centrally located and a little better position to help out the Berger-Teton National (2:46) Forest with any needs that they might have. (2:51) But yeah, we’re going to be located at the town hall there on Sage Street in Kemmerer.

(3:01) Yeah, kind of waiting on the new building there to get finished before we get completely (3:10) moved. (3:11) But yeah, we do have a presence in Kemmerer now. (3:14) Excellent.

(3:14) Well, I also wanted to bring up the pilot programs that are taking place in Lincoln (3:19) County in conjunction with the Berger-Teton, the Good Neighbor Authority and the Shared (3:24) Stewardship Program. (3:25) We had Adam Calkins with the Berger-Teton on a couple of months ago, and we talked (3:30) more about this. (3:31) And so we just wanted to get an update as you guys work with the Berger-Teton.

(3:34) First off, remind us, what is the Good Neighbor Authority Program and how has that been going (3:40) so far over the course of this summer? (3:42) Yeah, so Good Neighbor Authority is just a mechanism where it allows the state agencies (3:51) to help out the Forest Service and the BLM, but most of our work has been with the Forest (3:57) Service, in order to accomplish forest restoration activities. (4:03) So, you know, we might more commonly say, you know, fuels mitigation or forest management (4:11) or timber harvest or something like that. (4:14) But anyway, it’s just another tool in the toolbox to help our federal partners with (4:20) their capacity, use state employees and, you know, work hand in hand to try to get a little (4:27) bit more work done.

(4:28) I think most of our listeners, when you talk about Good Neighbor Authority, are most interested (4:33) in the timber harvest and the logging, potential logging industry that could happen. (4:39) And there’s been some big numbers thrown out of what the Berger-Teton is hoping to start (4:44) logging, and the amount of board feet that could potentially start with this program. (4:51) And so as we’re still in the infancy of it, though, are you starting to see it gain traction (4:55) and starting to see some of the lumber move? (5:00) Yeah, we are.

(5:01) We’re progressing a little bit. (5:05) You know, there’s quite a few steps. (5:09) We just, Adam Calkins just signed a NEPA decision in LaBarge Creek, so, you know, that’s the (5:18) first step.

(5:19) And then there’s a lot of recon and whatnot to do. (5:22) And in the meantime, we’re also, we’re progressing with a fuels mitigation project, helping out (5:31) the fuels and fire program with some sending up the Grays River. (5:37) We can do that as well.

(5:40) And so, yeah, we do quite a few things to help the Forest Service out. (5:45) Speaking this morning with Nate Wilson, Director Forester, a district forester with the Wyoming (5:49) State Forestry Division, covering Lincoln and surrounding counties. (5:54) Well, Nate, appreciate your time.

(5:55) Anything else you’d like to mention while we have you on the air today about these programs (5:59) and what’s happening with the forest management in this side of the state? (6:05) No, nothing much to add, Duke. (6:07) I just, yeah, want to say that we’re always happy to help our federal partners. (6:12) They do a lot of good work.

(6:13) And yeah, we’re just another tool in the toolbox to try to get a little bit more done. (6:19) Perfect. (6:19) That’s Nate Wilson with the Wyoming State Forestry Division.

(6:22) It’s all part of the weekday wake-up this morning on SVI Radio.