Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department

PLANNING FOR THE STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT

FINDINGS FROM THE FIRST SERIES OF FOCUS GROUPS WITH RESIDENTS AND THE QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF EMPLOYEES AND STAKEHOLDERS

Conducted for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department

by Responsive Management

2017

PLANNING FOR THE STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT

FINDINGS FROM THE FIRST SERIES OF FOCUS GROUPS WITH RESIDENTS AND THE QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF EMPLOYEES AND STAKEHOLDERS

2017

Responsive Management National Office Mark Damian Duda, Executive Director Martin Jones, Senior Research Associate Tom Beppler, Senior Research Associate Steven J. Bissell, Ph.D., Qualitative Research Associate Amanda Center, Research Associate Andrea Criscione, Senior Research Associate Patrick Doherty, Research Associate Statistician Gregory L. Hughes, Research Associate Statistician Justin Kauffman, Research Associate John Widrick, Survey Center Manager Alison Lanier, Business Manager

130 Franklin Street Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Phone: 540/432-1888 Fax: 540/432-1892 E-mail: [email protected] www.responsivemanagement.com

Acknowledgments

Responsive Management would like to thank the following Wyoming Game and Fish Department personnel for their input, support, and guidance on this project.

Scott Talbott, Director Scott Smith, Deputy Director John Kennedy, Deputy Director Jean Cole, Chief, Fiscal Division Meredith Wood, CFO, Fiscal Division Brian Nesvik, Chief, Wildlife Division, Chief Game Warden Doug Brimeyer, Deputy Chief, Wildlife Division Alan Osterland, Chief, Fish Division Dirk Miller, Deputy Chief, Fish Division Renny MacKay, Communications Director Jessica Brown, Executive Assistant Keith Culver, President, Wyoming Game and Fish Commission David DeWald, Senior Assistant Attorney General

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings i

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY This report details the findings of an initial phase of qualitative data collection conducted for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (the Department) as part of a larger multi-phase project to develop a new agency-wide strategic plan. The overall research process that will be used to develop the strategic plan includes assessments of Department employees and stakeholders (including a quantitative survey of employees); various methods of engagement with the Wyoming public (including two series of focus groups, a series of public meetings, and a survey of Wyoming residents, as well as an online forum for additional input); and extensive meetings with Department leadership to review the data and develop the framework for the strategic plan.

This report covers the results of the first series of focus groups with residents and a qualitative assessment of Department employees and external stakeholders. In addition to providing data on residents’ attitudes toward the work of the Department, as well as employees’ and stakeholders’ opinions on the project goals and outcomes, these qualitative findings will help guide the content of the upcoming surveys of Wyoming residents and Department employees.

Focus Group Methodology Five focus groups were conducted in November 2017 in Cheyenne, Rock Springs, Riverton, Gillette, and Cody. Each focus group consisted of 9-12 Department constituents who engaged in one or several forms of outdoor recreation relevant to the Department, including hunting, fishing, trapping, boating, hiking, and wildlife viewing/photography (note that most group participants engaged in more than one of the activities, meaning many hunters also fished, many boaters also hiked, etc.). Additionally, most groups included at least one landowner of 10 acres or more, with some groups having several landowners.

The focus groups were conducted using a discussion guide that allowed for consistency in the data collection; each group was recorded for later analysis and transcription. The groups each lasted approximately two hours and were led by one of Responsive Management’s trained moderators. Responsive Management recruited focus group participants using a random sample of general population residents in each of the five locations, as well as databases of hunting and fishing license holders provided by the Department.

Qualitative Assessment Methodology The purpose of the qualitative assessment was to establish a foundation of data from employees and stakeholders pertaining to the study goals, outcomes, and key agency characteristics relevant to the upcoming strategic plan. The questionnaire was coded using online software and link to it was then distributed to employees and stakeholders by email using a database of email addresses provided by the Department. The data were collected between October and November 2017. Responsive Management obtained a total of 223 completed responses from among all employees and stakeholders. The data were then analyzed based on the following breakdown of respondents: internal employees, which includes all permanent and non-permanent Department employees; and external stakeholders, which includes Game and Fish Commissioners, members of the Governor’s Fish and Wildlife Task Force, and directors of other Wyoming agencies. (See page 3 for the open-ended questions that were asked in the qualitative assessment.) ii Responsive Management

MAJOR FINDINGS FROM THE FOCUS GROUPS Overall Support for the Agency I’ve got nothing but the greatest respect for the way they [Game and Fish personnel] come across—very friendly; not mean like in Colorado. —Cheyenne resident They [Game and Fish] are some of the finest. When they contact somebody—especially out-of- staters who aren’t used to them—they’ll sit and explain things to them, talk to them. When they leave people, people are happy. —Rock Springs resident I think the major strength of the Game and Fish is the personnel they have in the field. They work extremely hard, they are extremely dedicated people, and they’re what everybody sees. —Rock Springs resident I haven’t heard anything bad in all my experiences with anybody to do with the Game and Fish. They’re all very nice and polite. They’ll do anything to help you. —Riverton resident I think the strength for them [Game and Fish] is their people. They are friendly; they do know us. I think that’s what resonates. They’re part of the community. You always have nice conversations with them. —Riverton resident I do read every year about [Game and Fish] wanting information about poaching. So I know they are active. I read and I do see that they are making arrests and they are trying to solve mysteries about a dead animal. I see that they’re on the job. —Gillette resident I had a really good rapport with [a certain warden] and I used to have some fascinating conversations with him—the man was a wealth of knowledge. —Cody resident

The focus group discussions reflected generally strong satisfaction with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Despite some specific areas of concern (discussed below), overall attitudes toward the agency itself appear to be quite positive—comments from residents throughout the five locations reflect solid support for the agency and its work. Perhaps the most important reason for this support is the Department’s personnel: as demonstrated by the quotations above, most people who had interacted with Department game wardens, biologists, and other staff spoke of the experiences in positive terms, often describing game wardens in particular as knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. A few people in the groups referred to the Department’s field personnel as “the face of the agency,” and it would appear that residents’ good experiences interacting with staff in the field go a long way toward engendering support for the agency as a whole. There was also a sentiment expressed by many participants that, although Wyoming is a state with many fish and wildlife management demands, the Department does a commendable job in effectively administering a range of important programs on a presumably limited budget.

The survey of residents should measure attitudes toward the agency as a whole as well as interactions with agency personnel—an important objective will be to determine how attitudes compare by region and demographic group.

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings iii

In terms of major areas of concern, two issues predominated in the discussions:

Access Issues We have a fair amount of state lands, BLM lands. We have a lot of it that you can’t get to—it’s landlocked…. So, hunting and/or fishing becomes much more of a wealthy man’s game if we don’t have public access available. Where the water rights laws don’t allow access…it changes access for everybody. If you don’t have a boat, now you’re limited to where you can potentially fly fish and do those things. —Cheyenne resident I don’t think private landowners should be able to make public land theirs without at least allowing one road through to get to public land. If you have a nice block of public land surrounded, it should be accessible. Otherwise, they [landowners] just pretty much bought that whole section of BLM land too, without paying for it. —Rock Springs resident Where I go elk hunting, across the mountain, they’re a bunch of tyrants—the landowners. They lock gates on county roads…. You get hounded and harassed when you try to get through the gates that they lock on public roads. The game warden’s called on you. I think it’s pretty important to get a hold on that issue, because it’s getting worse. —Gillette resident People move in, they buy property. They [say,] “We just love your lifestyle out here; we love Wyoming. ‘No trespassing.’” [It’s] the first thing they put on their fence. —Cody resident I’m seeing property owners buying adjacent to national forests. I think the access is pretty poor. There’s places I like to go in to hike, but I look on the property tax records to find out who owns it. —Cody resident

Across the five focus group locations, access was discussed more than any other single issue. The discussions suggest that access issues pervade almost every outdoor activity about which the research touched on: most problematic are access issues affecting hunting, but there were also mentions of difficulty accessing areas for fishing, trapping, hiking, and wildlife viewing. It is noteworthy that access to land and water for recreation was often brought up by participants in seemingly unrelated discussions (the initial discussion on issues facing Wyoming’s wildlife and natural environment, for example).

The prevailing concern among hunters seemed to be the restriction of access to public land by private land owned by ranchers and other landowners. Hunters across the five groups described instances in which they had inadvertently trespassed by crossing private land in an effort to reach public land. Others described landowners blocking access to public land by locking gates to access roads. By comparison, there was more satisfaction with fishing access in Wyoming, although a number of participants commented about the need for easements in areas where private land prevents shoreline fishing along lakes, streams and rivers—it was noted that many anglers do not own boats and so must fish from the shoreline or not at all.

A lack of public access was also said to affect hiking and wildlife viewing in some areas, especially in places where public roads have been closed due to a lack of maintenance (some participants noted that certain areas are now accessible only by horseback). Finally, a number of participants had concerns about the prospect of federal lands being transferred or sold to state or private entities (it was speculated that such scenarios would result in even less access).

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The survey of residents should assess access from both the recreationist and landowner perspectives: among landowners, the survey should explore the incidence of problematic encounters with hunters, anglers, and other recreationists; among recreationists, the survey should examine satisfaction with access by activity, region of the state, and various respondent characteristics. Specific reasons for dissatisfaction with access should also be probed.

Large Carnivore Management Issues I would like to know why they’re in such denial that the wolves are down here. They’re all through the Hoback. I’ve seen their tracks on Pine Mountain. They’ve [Game and Fish] in total denial that they’re down there. —Rock Springs resident Game and Fish’s biggest problem is money. But part of their money problem is because they’ve got to manage wolves, they’ve got to manage bears, they’ve got to manage all these non-game species and it’s costing them some bucks. They’re taking over all these federal programs. —Rock Springs resident The wolves are here because of decisions that were made by people not from Wyoming. Grizzlies are still not hunted for reasons from people who are back east or not part of Wyoming. —Riverton resident They’re not wolves [that are] originally from Wyoming. They’re timber wolves from Alaska. They’re bigger, they’re meaner, and they’re not native and they can take down a full-grown elk without a problem. And they’re not the ones that were here…. I mean, it’s a tight subject. —Gillette resident For me it [the wolf issue] is personal safety. I have wolves and bear in my backyard, where my kids play. I have some great pictures of my little girl playing in the snow right next to bear tracks that were [there] earlier that morning. Bear spray can only go so far, and when it comes to my little kids it’s not just going to be bear spray that’s going to protect them. I should be able to feel safe with my kids outside…. I love living outside; I love coming to the park and seeing the bears. I love to see them on the North Fork. But when a bear can think that it can walk through my backyard because it wants to go sniff my neighbor’s trash, something has to happen. —Cody resident

Following access issues, large carnivore management was the other most commonly discussed topic in the focus groups, with attitudes becoming more pronounced the further north the focus group: the most concern was in Cody and Gillette, with moderate concern in Riverton and somewhat less concern in Rock Springs and Cheyenne. There was substantial discussion about the perceived overpopulation of grizzly bears around Yellowstone and other areas of the state, as well as problems arising from the reintroduction of wolves to Wyoming (the most important being perceived impacts to the state’s deer and elk populations).

It appears that many residents consider bear and wolf management to be an obligation of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department mainly because of decisions made on the federal level (many people noted that the Department had not been involved in the decisions to release wolves or designate the grizzly bear as an endangered species, but was now left to manage the species). Many focus group participants also acknowledged what they assumed to be substantial amounts of money and effort required to address problems associated with bears and wolves. Despite these allowances, numerous residents in the northern part of the state spoke with concern about grizzly bear management (often from a public safety perspective) and wolf management (often Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings v

out of alarm about the likely effect of wolves on ungulates and the overall ecosystem). The groups suggest that a certain segment of residents may be particularly frustrated by the perception that wolf and bear issues are not being sufficiently addressed by the Department.

The survey of residents should examine attitudes toward and perceptions of large carnivore management in Wyoming, as well as rates of problematic encounters with wolves and bears. The survey should also examine the importance of large carnivore management to residents relative to other agency priorities.

Other important topics and themes covered in the groups included the following:

Balancing Conservation and Recreational Priorities I think they should talk about their conservation and management. …I think the hunting and angling and everything is a byproduct of the conservation and management. —Rock Springs resident It’s a balancing act for them [Game and Fish] too because they’re there to regulate the state’s wildlife, and yet there is a need or a mandate to create an income off of it. …There’s a tension there that I don’t know if you’d ever completely overcome that. —Riverton resident I would think if they [Game and Fish] would manage the wildlife, the recreation comes. I think wildlife first—like build it and they will come. —Cody resident

Comments from the discussions suggest that nearly all residents are aware of the extent to which Wyoming’s natural resources are an important economic driver of the state, most notably from the standpoint of nonresident expenditures. But as demonstrated by the comments above, there is a distinct attitude among many residents that the Department’s highest priority should be the conservation and management of the state’s fish and wildlife and other natural resources, with the management of recreational opportunities being an important but less critical priority. On this point, many residents pointed out that quality nature-based recreational experiences are only possible given healthy and sustainable fish and wildlife resources. This concept may be explored further in the survey by examining residents’ attitudes toward the relative priority of programs addressing fish and wildlife management and conservation, and programs addressing recreational opportunities.

Balancing the Interests of Residents and Nonresidents You see where it says “world-renowned” [hunting, angling, and other wildlife-based recreational opportunities in the vision statement]? You don’t need that. [They should be] providing hunting and angling privileges to the citizens of Wyoming. —Riverton resident “World-renowned” invites outsiders [that] we don’t really want in our backyard. —Riverton resident The top part [of the vision statement] sounds like a reflection of what we said about Wyoming. The bottom part acts like they’re in charge of the public outreach and “world-renowned hunting, angling, and wildlife-based recreational opportunities.” —Gillette resident vi Responsive Management

The focus groups suggest that while residents are mindful of the economic importance of nonresident recreationists to Wyoming, many people nonetheless feel that opportunities to hunt, fish, and engage in other wildlife-related recreation should be afforded first and foremost to Wyoming citizens, rather than out-of-staters. Early discussions in the groups about the importance of wildlife to residents suggested that most Wyoming residents have a strong sense of pride and even ownership with regard to the state’s natural resources. Many Wyoming residents also pride themselves on knowing the right ways to behave around wildlife, as well as being well versed in the regulations for hunting, fishing, boating, ATV riding, and other forms of recreation. As such, there were occasional suggestions of antipathy toward nonresidents, particularly in comments addressing the failure to draw a tag for a species (with the perception being that most tags are going to nonresidents) and observations of people behaving inappropriately around wild animals (the perception being that some nonresidents act out of ignorance).

In this respect, the reactions to the Department’s vision statement were illuminating. Most people were generally favorable toward the statement, “Wyoming is home to an abundant and diverse array of wildlife and wildlife habitat which plays an integral part in the State’s culture, economy and quality of life.” However, a number of participants questioned the second statement: “The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is dedicated to providing world- renowned hunting, angling, and other wildlife-based recreational opportunities…” Some participants recommended omitting the phrase “world-renowned,” with some people suggesting that this wording too heavily emphasized Wyoming as a tourist destination for out-of-state recreationists.

Department Communication with Public You don’t really hear that much about Game and Fish. —Gillette resident They [Game and Fish] do quite a bit of research and things like that…. Everybody [refers to] them as “game wardens,” but they do a lot more than that. But they don’t do a very good job of communicating what they’re doing. —Gillette resident

Despite overall positive attitudes toward the Department, some comments from the focus groups indicate that residents would prefer that the agency take a more proactive approach to communicating with the public about its programs, initiatives, and accomplishments. One tendency during the discussions was for people less familiar with the Department’s work (casual hikers or wildlife viewers, for example) to assume that the agency has failed to provide information on certain topics; more avid recreationists would then point out that while the Department has indeed made available the information in question, it is not presented in a way Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings vii that many people would know where to look for it (e.g., certain information exists on the agency’s website but is hard to find). As an example, some hunters wondered whether the Department makes publicly available a breakdown of resident and nonresident licenses and tags sold: it was mentioned by others that the information is available but not readily so.

It emerged in other portions of the discussions that many specific topics exist about which residents would like more clarification or explanation: for example, the Department’s policies on large carnivore management, or the Department’s role in helping to balance natural resource extraction with ongoing habitat management. The comments below provide additional examples of information needs:

I think this is where Game and Fish kind of fails also is in areas [where] there’s too many does, but you can’t shoot a doe. Area 78—to be specific—[has] a lot of does and you can’t shoot them! You can’t draw a buck tag either. I haven’t been able to draw a buck tag, yet there’s does all over. I’m going, “Why don’t they sell some doe tags?” —Cheyenne resident One of the biggest things is the numbers drop in deer populations. If Game and Fish continues in the direction that it’s going, deer herds are going to get to a point where they won’t recover. They’ve got to change something. —Rock Springs resident They’ll poison non-native fish. … It’s frustrating when you take a fishery that’s working and good [and do something like that]. It seems like [you should] focus on places that aren’t [working] first if you’re going to even do it. The idea of poisoning some of these streams, it strikes me as a bit odd. It seems like it costs a lot. —Cody resident

Data from the survey of residents should help to clarify specific public information needs and topics of interest; the survey should also examine basic support or opposition to various Department management decisions and policies affecting fish and wildlife in Wyoming.

Hunters’ Perceptions of Private Land Wildlife Issues The challenge I have, as a hunter, [is] when those landowners turn in crop damage and they gain our Game and Fish dollars back and yet they won’t let you go harvest a cow or a calf off those properties. It seems to me [to be] simple common sense that if you don’t allow people in there to move those herds off your property, then you don’t get access to hay damage or anything. We’re losing our dollars that could go [toward] buying access for other places. —Cheyenne resident There’s a lot of out-of-staters that come from Minnesota and Michigan that are wanting to pay for a deer tag that’ll pay these ranchers $1,000 for a deer. So, they’ll make sure that the trophy ones stay on their land by pushing them on and spooking them off. —Gillette resident I’ve been on both sides of this. We were always pretty open to let anybody come in and hunt on us. Part of it was you’d get guys leaving gates open and stuff and then you have bucks get in the wrong time of year and you’re lambing in February. The other side [is] ranchers went through hard times here several years ago. It’s still hard to make a living at it. So if you can get $5,000 for a deer or something like that, you can’t blame them for doing that. —Gillette resident I have a problem with these guys [landowners] that will let you come on and shoot a cow elk for $500, but if you want to shoot a bull they’re going to charge you $5,000. It seems to me like they’re selling wildlife and they don’t own the wildlife. —Cody resident viii Responsive Management

If landowners are getting damage compensation for wildlife damages, then landowners need to be letting hunters onto their property to help manage those animals. And if they’re not going to allow hunters onto their land…then they should not be getting any kind of damage compensation from [the agency]. —Cody resident

The focus groups suggest that a segment of hunters perceive that some landowners are unfairly profiting from Wyoming wildlife: according to these hunters, certain landowners accept compensation from the Department for property damage caused by wildlife, and then charge hunters exorbitant access fees to hunt trophy animals on their land (note that hunters seem further frustrated by the perception that compensation for property damage is funded through license dollars). This was sometimes referred to as “double-dipping,” in that landowners are perceived to be receiving income from two wildlife-related sources. A few hunters even suggested that landowners make efforts to drive valuable trophy animals onto their properties in order to offer lucrative hunting opportunities—some hunters referred to this as a form of “ownership” over wildlife (which, they said, rightfully belongs to all residents of Wyoming). In short, many hunters, already frustrated by a scarcity of access, are further irritated at the notion of landowners making money off wildlife that resides on land inaccessible to most hunters.

At least a few participants throughout the groups argued that it was reasonable for landowners and ranchers to be entitled to compensation for property damage; some also noted that landowners are justified in their reluctance to open their lands to hunters more readily, due to poor behavior from some hunters in the past.

It may be worth exploring in the survey, through a comparison of the responses from hunters and landowners, whether there are areas in which the Department should act as a mediating presence between hunters and landowners. Another possibility is to examine whether there are public information needs that would help to curb problematic or inaccurate perceptions.

Frustration with Tag Drawings They claim that we have less hunters, and yet you can’t draw a permit. I haven’t drawn antelope [tag] for seven years. The guy next door is drawing an antelope permit every year for seven years—same area. —Rock Springs resident The ability to draw tags is tough. My son just did hunter safety a year and a half ago. We can’t draw a tag. He just wants to shoot a muley buck. It’s just a little frustrating, especially when you go where you see a lot of out-of-state trucks up and down. I know they bring some economic benefit, but it’s irksome. —Cody resident You see tons of people from California, Michigan, Minnesota, and a few from Montana and Colorado. How come out-of-staters get so many tags and people that live in the state [have more difficulty]? If you try to draw a moose or a bighorn sheep or something a little harder to get, you get preference points for 12 years and after that you get into another section [where] you get a better chance for the draw? That’s crazy. Somebody my age will be 95 before I get a tag. —Cody resident

As previously alluded to, a notable number of hunters in the focus groups communicated frustration with the tag draw process for certain big game species. Several hunters seemed to question the fairness of the process, with some sharing anecdotes of personally failing to draw Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings ix

tags while people they knew drew tags year after year. A few hunters suggested that the Department disqualify from tag drawings hunters who draw a tag the previous year or a certain number of tags within a set time period (i.e., to provide better chances for hunters who have not yet drawn a tag). As demonstrated by the quotations above, a number of people connect the inability to draw a tag to the assumption that more (or even most) tags are going to nonresident hunters. (A few people suggested that the higher cost of nonresident hunting privileges incentivizes the Department to offer more licenses and tags to nonresidents.)

Depending on the Department’s management plans moving forward, it may be worth using the survey to explore, to some extent, big game hunters’ opinions on preference points and alternative ways of conducting the draw process for hunting privileges.

Attitudes Toward Hunting and Fishing Regulations and Licensing Requirements When I first looked at how to apply for hunting licenses—what a confusing mess of crap that is. Hunt area 25 for elk is hunt area 65 for antelope, and then it’s [hunt area] 92 for deer [for example]. It’s all the same area! And then you’ve got to figure out what hunting type you’re going to do—type two or type six or type four or type eight—well, what the heck are you even [talking about]? —Riverton resident That right there is why I gave up big game hunting. It is impossibly complicated to figure out. —Riverton resident I’ve got issues with the rules. If you’ve ever taken a Wyoming book of the area regulations for each type of animal, it’s thick and it’s confusing. You’re going all through and you’re like, “Where do I go hunt?!” It takes you about three to five years to really understand [how] to hunt where you want to go. …To a person who’s never hunted before, it is way confusing—too many rules, you’re always worried you’re going to do something wrong and get caught at it. —Gillette resident No! They [regulations] are not easy to understand! —Cody resident It [fishing regulations] can be kind of weird to know which drainage you can fish in. You have to be smart enough to study. —Cody resident

Many participants indicated that hunting and fishing regulations are too complex (it was generally agreed that hunting regulations are more complicated and harder to understand than fishing regulations, although a number of participants had comments about the latter as well). Interestingly, some people seemed to appreciate the complicated nature of regulations, feeling that it is incumbent on hunters and anglers to figure them out as part of the privilege of hunting and fishing in Wyoming: several people in the Cody focus group commented that complex regulations help to “weed out” hunters who do not care enough to go to the trouble of studying the regulations. However, there tended to be much support for the simplification of regulations, especially for hunting, as well as simplification of the process of purchasing licenses via the Department’s website (some people worried about the effect of complex or confusing regulations on the recruitment of new hunters and anglers).

The upcoming survey of residents will be able to more reliably assess the degree to which regulations constitute a reason for dissatisfaction with hunting and fishing in Wyoming, or a barrier to participation among prospective participants. x Responsive Management

Attitudes Toward the Department Website The big thing [for my kids] was, “Ok, here’s a website. But it isn’t all that useful.” It didn’t give all kinds of information that you would need. They said they’d like to see a better explanation of how the lottery works for getting big game and the spring or pheasant hunt tags. The website’s confusing. —Cheyenne resident I like to kayak, but I find it a bit confusing. I don’t know if they could make it less confusing, where you have to get your AIS sticker—invasive species sticker—and a whole array of other things. And it’s also kind of confusing on the website when you’re trying to get your sticker for the next year. —Cheyenne resident Most of the things I found on the [Game and Fish] website were from a few years ago…. I could not find fishing reports. —Rock Springs resident I had a little problem with the website. It seems like you’re going in circles. —Gillette resident I have gone on [the website] for preference points, too. Just the site in general is not easy to navigate and look yourself up and find your stuff. —Gillette resident

Numerous residents throughout the five focus groups described the Department’s website as confusing and difficult to navigate, especially when it comes to finding answers to specific questions such as licensing or decal requirements. A lot of participants acknowledged that while the agency appears to make available a great deal of information on its website, much of it seems buried and hard to find. The survey should explore not only basic ratings of the accessibility and user-friendliness of the Department’s website, but also how these ratings differ by age, gender, residence type, education level, and other key characteristics. Exploration of this topic by audience may help the Department fine-tune adjustments to its web presence.

Department Enforcement Presence and Poaching The reality is that there’s not enough [law enforcement] to accomplish the job for as populated as we are. There’s just not enough dollars to cover the areas that need to be covered. —Cheyenne resident I think they need to have harsher penalties for poaching and those egregious acts that people commit. I think that would send a better message. Because the amount of poaching that has happened through the elk and deer population throughout this southwest corner this season has been awful. —Rock Springs resident They [Department game wardens] are spread thin. —Riverton resident They have a tip line for poachers. I’ve called in friends. I was raised to hunt responsibly; if they don’t feel the same, I’m like, “I’ll turn you in.” —Riverton resident Maybe there [should] be more education too, in teaching people what to look for, what to watch for as far as us being advocates in places where they [Game and Fish] can’t be. Kind of helping conserve and protect our own wildlife, where the Game and Fish can’t be there at all times. —Gillette resident

Many residents throughout the groups acknowledged that because Department game wardens have a great deal of ground to cover, certain areas tend to be patrolled less than they ought to be. In making this observation, participants generally appeared sympathetic to the law enforcement Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings xi

demands of the Department’s work, with many people emphasizing the need for recreationists to practice good ethics by self-policing and reporting any instances of improper or dangerous behavior, especially poaching. A few residents called for the Department to provide more education on when and how to report illegal behavior in the field. It is also worth noting that a number of residents throughout the groups suggested that there has been an increase in poaching in Wyoming in recent years. Regardless of whether poaching has actually increased, the group discussions suggest a rather widespread perception of an uptick in such incidents (at least in some areas). The survey of residents should examine attitudes toward the Department’s law enforcement presence, including opinions on enforcement as a priority of the agency, satisfaction with enforcement coverage and, potentially, attitudes toward penalties for poaching.

Interactions Between Recreationists When you go hiking, they’re everywhere—ATVs, four wheelers. So to go hiking in a general place, it’s dangerous when you have all these ATVs up there. And a lot of them are kids, driving crazy. It’s dangerous to hike. —Riverton resident I just had some issues with jet skiers. [I’m] sitting there jigging or something and they just don’t respect how close they want to get to you or anything like that. —Gillette resident We do see a lot more jet skiers than we have in the past years. They chase your boat for the wake. You think they’re going to run into you because they’re chasing you because that’s where the wave is. —Gillette resident

On the whole, comments from the focus groups suggest that problematic interactions between recreationists in Wyoming are few and far between. While some people brought up instances in which personal watercrafts had bothered other boaters, or ATV riders had disrupted hikers or hunters, these incidents did not appear particularly common or widespread. A few hunters noted that general hunt areas in the state are sometimes overcrowded but, again, the issue was brought up only sporadically. Still, it may be worth exploring in the survey the extent to which these issues vary by region, or whether specific areas are in need of a greater enforcement presence.

MAJOR FINDINGS FROM THE QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT The bulleted findings below are concise summaries of the major themes in the qualitative assessment responses. The reader is encouraged to examine the complete findings from the qualitative assessment, which begin on page 49 of this report.

Most Important Goals of the Project Among internal employees:  Educate the public and garner their trust.  Develop a useable and measurable strategic plan.  Assess and improve employee morale.  Increase funding.  Manage all wildlife, not just game and sport fish species.

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Among external stakeholders: These respondents agreed with internal employees on the importance of developing a strategic plan and engaging the entire public, not just sportsmen, on priorities regarding wildlife. In addition, stakeholders mentioned the following goals:  Determine how the Department can adapt to changes in the number of hunters, revenues, climate, and other factors to maintain quality habitat.  Improve efficiency.  Obtain funding from all users, not just through license sales.  Pursue opportunities to collaborate with other agencies on projects.  Provide a balance of conservation with population growth and energy development.  Grow youth participation in outdoor recreation.

Most Important Outcomes of the Project Among internal employees:  Public support for Department activities.  An actionable strategic plan.  Robust fish and wildlife populations.  Other desired outcomes mentioned by internal employees include improved employee retention, more research on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), increased participation at public meetings, trust and partnerships with nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and data to show the public and Governor’s office.

Among external stakeholders: The desired outcomes listed by external stakeholders largely coincide with those listed by internal employees. Stakeholders provided additional emphasis that revenue should be generated by all users, not just sportsmen, and that data should clearly support management decisions on product, policy, rules, and procedures.

Specific Issues to Explore in the Research Among internal employees: Employee responses to this question were diverse and did not coalesce into a few top categories as in previous questions. Therefore, the most common responses are shown below:  Consider how to engage non-consumptive users.  Encourage a higher profile for nongame wildlife; consider renaming Game and Fish to the Department of Wildlife (or similar) to show that all species are of concern.  Show the proportions of Department resources that go to specific functions (e.g., fish, habitat, nongame, research).  Consider proactive functions by personnel such as research, networking, and training.  Improve information sharing—email is not a good way to communicate to employees.  Embrace the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.  Seek alternative funding.  Educate the public on the Department; for example, it does not just consist of game wardens. Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings xiii

 Compare Department practices to those of other states.  Control predators.  Manage feedgrounds.  Avoid preferential treatment of outfitters, agriculture, and nonresident hunters.  Mitigate CWD and Brucellosis.  Compare public desires to legislative requirements.  Increase motivations for youth participation.  Address bias, favoritism, and unbalanced workloads in the Department.  Evaluate the degree to which politics has driven policy.  Gauge resident and nonresident knowledge of big game management, diseases, fish stocking, and the inner workings of the Department.  Consider how to fund more game wardens and digital wildlife investigators.  Consider how to address the escalating pace of energy development in the state.  Simplify the licensing process.  Incorporate more advanced mobile apps to engage the younger generation.  Obtain the public’s long-term wildlife goals; Department professionals will best know how to achieve goals once they are known.  Establish career paths for employees.  Determine how to address political and institutional limitations.  Ensure that the public knows where to find information.  Educate the public on science if it differs from their preferences; invest in ad campaigns.  Provide more law enforcement, particularly regarding ATVs on public land.  Do not fall behind on technology/IT.  Eliminate exploitation of animals.  Manage mule deer and other herd sizes.  Have accurate hunting boundaries in GIS.  Work with other agencies to implement best scientific practices.  Acquire public land with oil and gas royalties.

Among external stakeholders:  Study the studies; a lot of research exists but big game populations other than elk continue to decline.  Increase cooperation between agencies.  Establish incentives for landowners to preserve or enhance habitat.  Share biological data between agencies.  Establish socioeconomic profiles of users and non-users.  Establish liaisons with agencies and federal partners.  Identify specific opportunities that can be elevated for the visitor economy.  Determine how all users can help pay for fish and wildlife management.

Key Strengths of the Agency Among internal employees:  Committed and knowledgeable employees. xiv Responsive Management

 Abundant natural resources.  Strong relationship with the public.  Current financial stability.  Good relationships with other entities.  Success stories.  Autonomy.  Other key strengths mentioned by internal employees include a strong communication framework (e.g., social media, I&E officers, the Department website, and Wyoming Wildlife magazine), years of research to provide a scientific basis for management decisions, flexibility for employees to seek training and involvement with organizations to strengthen skills, and a small state population.

Among external stakeholders: The key strengths mentioned by external stakeholders basically match those mentioned by internal employees. Stakeholders also stated that the Department is proactive on fish and wildlife issues and that it has advanced lab work capabilities (a new facility in Laramie).

Key Weaknesses of the Agency Among internal employees:  Inflexible leadership and structure.  Low morale among some employees.  Limited funding base.  Lack of engagement with non-consumptive users.  Favoritism toward landowners.  Poor communication.  Other key weaknesses mentioned by internal employees include too little focus on nongame species, lack of a formal research section, a need to better manage the Wyoming legislature to get favorable outcomes, an insufficient IT and licensing system, too much focus and money going to western Wyoming, and threats to wildlife habitat from privatization and development.

Among external stakeholders: Most weaknesses listed by stakeholders correlate to those listed above. Stakeholders also mentioned extreme weather and long winters, the small state population, legislative meddling, a lack of control over fish and wildlife issues, and the state’s reliance on the energy industry at the expense of the environment.

Key Opportunities for the Agency Among internal employees:  Public interest in wildlife.  Partnerships with other entities.  Existing research.  Pending employee turnover. Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings xv

 Other key opportunities mentioned by internal employees include the following: o Excellent workforce. o Abundant natural resources. o Leadership development program. o Social media. o Outsource expertise such as computer programming or the licensing system. o More digital technology for hunters, anglers, and Department employees. o Video conference capabilities. o Develop volunteer program. o Extraction industry is at a low point (an opportunity for the wildlife recreation industry). o Elk and deer hunting opportunity is very good right now. o Mobile technology for data collection. o Some freedom to make decisions without political pressure (not under general state fund). o School presentations. o Booths at home shows and state fairs. o Create entry-level positions. o Cross-train employees to help in different areas. o Unite public groups to discourage poor hunter behavior

Among external stakeholders: External stakeholders also cited the Department’s quality workforce, partnerships, existing data and institutional knowledge, and the world-class resource of Wyoming’s natural environment. To those they added the following opportunities:  Increased public comment and input.  Use of Governor’s tags and/or Commissioner’s tags to increase poaching reports.  Evaluate consumptive users and non- consumptive users to market holistically (i.e., not just targeting one objective).  Public meetings.  Task forces to hear the public and meet with Department leadership.

Key Threats to the Agency Among internal employees:  Lack of funding.  Habitat loss.  Disease.  Political influence.  Other key threats mentioned by internal employees include the following: o Loss of institutional knowledge from upcoming retirements. o Nongame species are underrepresented in agency priorities. o Manipulation by vocal special interests. o Employee turnover and morale. o Lack of opportunity for employee growth. xvi Responsive Management

o Time demands (reporting, meetings, planning, NEPA, grant management). o Outdated software. o Cyber security/all data at risk of being breached. o Any needed change will have those opposing it. o Anti-hunting/fishing/firearm sentiment. o Vandalism. o Have not followed through on plans in the past. o Residents want to restrict nonresidents. o Lack of trust between Director’s Office and employees. o Endangered species litigation. o Campaigns to change hunting season structure. o Unrealistic public demands (kill wolves, stock walleye everywhere, charge nonresidents more). o Litigation to block state management authority over recovered species (grizzly bear, wolf, trumpeter swan).

Among external stakeholders: External stakeholders listed several of the threats covered above, as well as the following:  Highway wildlife fatalities.  Drought.  Locals frustrated by marketing to nonresidents.  Reduced roadside maintenance.  Federal unfunded mandates.  Public attention on other priorities like education.  Cost of managing bear and wolf.

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings xvii

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction and Methodology ...... 1 Focus Group Overview ...... 1 Focus Group Participants and Locations ...... 2 Focus Group Recruiting ...... 2 Focus Group Discussion Guide and Analysis ...... 2 Qualitative Assessment Overview ...... 3 Qualitative Assessment Questionnaire ...... 3 Qualitative Assessment Implementation and Analysis ...... 3 Focus Group Results ...... 4 Attitudes Toward the Importance of Wildlife in Wyoming ...... 4 Major Issues Facing Wyoming’s Wildlife and Natural Environment ...... 6 Major Issues Facing Wyoming Recreational Opportunities ...... 11 Hunting ...... 11 Fishing ...... 14 Trapping ...... 16 Boating ...... 17 Hiking ...... 19 Wildlife Viewing ...... 21 Attitudes Toward the Wyoming Game and Fish Department ...... 22 General Department Priorities...... 22 Department Vision Statement ...... 28 Current Performance of the Department ...... 29 Importance of Providing Recreational Opportunities ...... 32 Importance of Recruiting New Recreationists ...... 34 Interactions with Department Personnel ...... 35 Licensing Requirements and Regulations ...... 37 Opinions on Access Issues in Wyoming ...... 39 Knowledge of and Opinions on Department Funding ...... 43 Qualitative Assessment Results ...... 49 Most Important Goals of the Project ...... 49 Most Important Outcomes of the Project ...... 51 Specific Issues to Explore in the Research ...... 52 Key Strengths of the Agency ...... 54 Key Weaknesses of the Agency ...... 56 Key Opportunities for the Agency ...... 58 Key Threats to the Agency ...... 60 Additional Comments ...... 62 Appendix: Focus Group Discussion Guide...... 64 About Responsive Management ...... 67

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 1

INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY This report details the findings of an initial phase of qualitative data collection conducted for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (the Department) as part of a larger multi-phase project to develop a new agency-wide strategic plan. The overall research process that will be used to develop the strategic plan includes assessments of Department employees and stakeholders (including a quantitative survey of employees); various methods of engagement with the Wyoming public (including two series of focus groups, a series of public meetings, and a survey of Wyoming residents, as well as an online forum for additional input); and extensive meetings with Department leadership to review the data and develop the framework for the strategic plan.

The initial qualitative component of the study entailed five focus groups with a diverse selection of Wyoming residents in Cheyenne, Rock Springs, Riverton, Gillette, and Cody; and an open- ended questionnaire administered to permanent and non-permanent Department employees, Game and Fish Commissioners, members of the Governor’s Fish and Wildlife Task Force, and directors of other Wyoming agencies. Below, specific aspects of the focus group methodology are discussed first, followed by the methodology for the qualitative assessment of agency employees and stakeholders.

Focus Group Overview The focus groups entailed in-depth, structured discussions with small groups of Wyoming residents (generally between 9-12 individuals) about their outdoor recreation experiences, their perceptions of important conservation issues, and their attitudes toward the work of the Department. The use of focus groups is an accepted research technique for the qualitative exploration of attitudes, opinions, motivations, and behaviors. Focus groups provide researchers with insights, new hypotheses, and understanding through the process of interaction.

Focus groups allow for extensive open-ended responses to questions; probing; follow-up questions; group discussion; and observation of emotional responses to topics—aspects that cannot be measured in a quantitative survey. Qualitative research sacrifices reliability for increased validity. This means that, although focus group findings cannot be replicated statistically as can a survey (high reliability), they provide researchers with a more valid understanding of the topics or issues of concern in the study (high validity).

The focus groups were conducted using a discussion guide that included questions on a number of topics relevant to the Department and the key areas in which it works. Each focus group was moderated by one of Responsive Management’s trained moderators. The moderator, through the use of the discussion guide, kept the discussions within design parameters without exerting a strong influence on the discussion content. In this sense, the focus groups were non-directive group discussions that exposed the spontaneous attitudes, insights, and perceptions of Wyoming 2 Responsive Management

residents regarding the Department and related issues of importance. Each focus group discussion was recorded for further analysis. At the end of each focus group, any questions that participants had regarding the study were answered.

Focus Group Participants and Locations Each focus group consisted of a mix of Department constituents who engaged in one or several forms of outdoor recreation relevant to the Department, including hunting, fishing, trapping, boating, hiking, and wildlife viewing/photography (note that most group participants engaged in more than one of the activities, meaning many hunters also fished, many boaters also hiked, etc.). Additionally, most groups included at least one landowner of 10 acres or more, with some groups having several landowners. Responsive Management recruited participants to ensure a wide variety of ages and roughly equal representation from both males and females.

The focus groups were conducted in November 2017; group locations included Cheyenne, Rock Springs, Riverton, Gillette, and Cody. Responsive Management coordinated the host facilities and reservations and ensured that each focus group room was set up appropriately, including seating, recording equipment, and food arrangements. Dinner was provided to focus group participants, and each group lasted approximately two hours.

Focus Group Recruiting Responsive Management recruited participants for the groups using a random sample of general population residents in each of the five locations, as well as databases of hunting and fishing license holders provided by the Department. Potential participants were contacted by Responsive Management recruiters by telephone and through email and given a summary of the purpose of the research study. Those who expressed interest in participating in a focus group were then screened using a questionnaire that captured participation in the various activities of interest, as well as pertinent demographic details such as gender and age.

Confirmed participants were e-mailed or mailed (by personal preference) a confirmation that included the date, time, and location of the focus group, as well as a map and directions to the focus group facility. Each participant was offered a reminder call the day before the focus group and provided a telephone number for directions or last-minute questions. To encourage participation, a monetary incentive was given to participants. During the recruiting process, the recruiting manager maintained a progress table for each focus group that included participant name, address, contact telephone number, and essential participant characteristics. Each focus group’s target was approximately 9-12 people. The recruiting manager ensured that all confirmation e-mails or letters were sent promptly to participants and that reminder telephone calls were made, as necessary, the day before the focus group. Reminder calls and interaction with potential participants helped ensure their attendance, resulting in quality participation.

Focus Group Discussion Guide and Analysis Each focus group was conducted using a discussion guide that allowed for consistency in the data collection (the guide is shown in the report appendix). The discussion guide included top- of-mind questions pertaining to residents’ perceptions of the Department and the agency’s work, among other topics. Qualitative analyses of the focus groups were conducted through direct Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 3

observation of the discussions by the moderator as well as through later observation and analysis of the recordings by other researchers. The organization and development of findings entailed a third review of the focus groups as part of the overall qualitative analysis. Throughout the report, verbatim quotations from focus group participants are shown in the relevant sections.

Qualitative Assessment Overview The purpose of the qualitative assessment was to establish a foundation of data from employees and stakeholders pertaining to the study goals, outcomes, and key agency characteristics relevant to the upcoming strategic plan. Conducting the assessment with a formal, open-ended questionnaire allowed for the systematic exploration of project needs and expectations. The assessment findings will help to shape content for the upcoming survey of Department employees; they will also help to inform the framework of the eventual strategic plan.

Qualitative Assessment Questionnaire The assessment questionnaire was developed cooperatively by Responsive Management and the Department. It included a brief introduction explaining the overall strategic direction study and the purpose of the qualitative assessment specifically. It then posed the following questions:  What do you see as the most important goals of this project?  What do you see as the most important outcomes of this project?  What specific issues related to the Department’s work (biological, human dimensions, etc.) should be explored in the research with Wyoming residents and nonresidents, Department employees, and other agency constituents? Thinking about the direction of the Department over the next 5 to 10 years...  What key strengths should the agency take advantage of? (Strengths are characteristics that give your agency an advantage over others.)  What key weaknesses should the agency strive to address? (Weaknesses are characteristics that place your agency at a disadvantage relative to others.)  What key opportunities should the agency take advantage of? (Opportunities are elements in your work environment that, if mobilized, the agency could use to its advantage.)  What key threats should the agency plan for? (Threats are elements in your work environment that could cause trouble you would have to address.)  If you have any additional comments about the planned research or the upcoming strategic plan for the agency, you may share them here.

Qualitative Assessment Implementation and Analysis The questionnaire was coded using an online surveying platform; a link to the questionnaire was then distributed to employees and stakeholders by email using a database of email addresses provided by the Department. Respondents were able to complete the questionnaire anonymously at their convenience. The data were collected between October and November 2017. Responsive Management obtained a total of 223 completed responses from among all employees and stakeholders. The data were then analyzed based on the following breakdown of respondents: internal employees, which includes all permanent and non-permanent Department employees; and external stakeholders, which includes Game and Fish Commissioners, members of the Governor’s Fish and Wildlife Task Force, and directors of other Wyoming agencies. 4 Responsive Management

FOCUS GROUP RESULTS Findings specific to various topics are summarized at the beginning of each section; representative comments from participants across the five locations are then shown in italics.

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE IMPORTANCE OF WILDLIFE IN WYOMING Each focus group began with a discussion regarding the relative importance of wildlife in the lives of participants. These initial discussions suggest that, almost without exception, wildlife is greatly important to Wyoming residents: consistently across the five locations, participants indicated that they placed significant value on wildlife in their own lives as well as the lives of their family members. A number of participants who said they had moved to Wyoming from other states commented that the abundance of wildlife in Wyoming was a major factor in their decision to move to the state (Wyoming’s wildlife was sometimes said to set the state apart from other areas in the country). Others stressed the importance of wildlife to their children, while a few people discussed the importance of deer as a source of healthy meat for many residents.

We take for granted that, wherever you go in Wyoming, you see wildlife. Whether it is to stop on the side of the road and watch the antelope fighting for position, or seeing the elk in Yellowstone. From the viewing side, I agree that there’s lots of beautiful places in Wyoming. But I don’t know that we’d explore nearly as much of it if we weren’t looking for animals, watching animals, chasing fish, those kinds of things. —Cheyenne resident

For my kids, it’s important that they can go hunting here. Just to be able to do that and not have lots of restrictions is a good thing for them. Where I live, there’s lots of rabbits running around. Sometimes we see some foxes. So, specifically, with my kids, if they can go deer, elk, and moose hunting—those are the biggies out here. —Cheyenne resident

Wildlife is Wyoming, whether you’re hunting or out taking pictures or just going out to watch. Nothing’s greater than to sit on the hill out south and be looking for deer and see a herd of elk come over the hill. Then you look again, and above the elk, here comes a herd of antelope. And you’re sitting on one spot, seeing all three at the same time. You go down the hill and there’s some coyotes running. That’s just a big part of Wyoming and being here. It’s not just the hunting and the killing. It’s important that we conserve it all. Game and Fish [Department]—that’s their responsibility. —Rock Springs resident

I really enjoy seeing deer around hunting season. I like seeing deer just when I’m out and about, but I hate to see them on the roads. —Rock Springs resident

When I think about the importance of wildlife, it’s very important. It’s one of the reasons we moved to Wyoming—to appreciate all aspects. Our family grew up eating [game]. We hunt and fish to consume. I think it’s a huge part of the healthy living in Wyoming—that we can consume wild, grown animals. Appreciating the beauty of them is a plus as well. You don’t just live for hunting season, and you don’t just get out in the woods and hunt to fill your tag or to put it on the table. The things that you see in the wild…are irreplaceable…. So, Wyoming wildlife is up there. —Riverton resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 5

I can say that, coming out here from the city and just being able to appreciate the animals and see them, we have a herd of antelope in our yard at any time. I feed the chukars up there. Every morning, there are my little buddies—I go out and I feed them. I don’t know if I should or not, but I do and I enjoy it. You see the babies come up with their moms. When we drive to Jackson, just [seeing] all of the buffalo and the elk is beautiful. —Riverton resident

For a lot of people, it feeds their families—a lot of people can’t afford to buy beef and it’s really important to them to get their deer tags filled so they can eat. Other places in the United States, that’s not always an option. I think we’re fortunate to have that. —Gillette resident

It means everything. I look out my window and I have deer and antelope in my backyard and my kids get to grow up seeing that and watching the baby deer in the spring. The fishing and the wildlife is everything around here. That’s what makes it as beautiful as it is. You get the rolling hills and the beautiful sunsets, and you get beautiful wildlife that not everybody gets to see right in your back yard. —Gillette resident

It’s everywhere around me, so much so that I think my kids take it for granted. When I drive to the bus stop, we get elk jams, literally. We stop and the elk are passing and my kids are looking at their iPhones. I have to remind them, “This isn’t normal, children. We’re lucky.” —Cody resident

I think it’s what makes living around here kind of special and different. There’s a lot of little mountain towns around, but we have so many animals and we have a variety of animals. It’s not just like down in Colorado where you have some sheep and some elk. We have everything here, and it’s really easy to take for granted. And sometimes it’s a pain in the butt with bear and cougars and stuff, but it’s nice having that variety. —Cody resident

6 Responsive Management

MAJOR ISSUES FACING WYOMING’S WILDLIFE AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT Participants were asked by the moderator in a nonspecific, open-ended question what they saw as the major issues currently facing Wyoming’s wildlife. On this topic, participants from multiple focus groups indicated that large carnivore management (i.e., wolves and grizzly bears) is an important issue in Wyoming that demands attention. Several people questioned the wisdom of reintroducing wolves to Wyoming (a decision that had been made by people “not from Wyoming,” according to some) while others commented on wolves’ effect on elk and deer herds.

Another topic frequently addressed by participants across several of the groups was access: this issue was alternately discussed in the context of hunting and fishing access, access to land for hiking and wildlife viewing, and specific problems with access, such as public land being blocked by private land (or private landowners). The fact that many participants immediately mentioned access as an issue facing wildlife is notable, given that most of these comments dealt with the effect of access issues on recreationists and not necessarily on wildlife—this suggests that access may be a pervasive concern among many.

Additional issues mentioned, either directly or indirectly related to wildlife, included poaching, the perception of a decreasing deer population (which at least a few participants attributed in part to excessive hunting pressure in certain areas), and the need for increased management of wildlife habitat. In general, the majority of participants across the five locations seemed to assume that active wildlife management is integral to the health and sustainability of many different species.

I think that habitat is very important. Let’s make sure that there’s enough good quality habitat. I think that the Game and Fish is doing the right thing with their Wildlife Management Units. It’s habitat. If they have good habitat, the animals can take care of themselves. —Cheyenne resident

We have a fair amount of state lands, BLM lands. We have a lot of it that you can’t get to—it’s landlocked…. So, hunting and/or fishing becomes much more of a wealthy man’s game if we don’t have public access available. Where the water rights laws don’t allow access…it changes access for everybody. If you don’t have a boat, now you’re limited to where you can potentially fly fish and do those things. So, more access—both hunting and fishing—or at least maintaining it [current access] [is important]. —Cheyenne resident

I see encroachment—the growth of everything, and people. Again, that’s the access [issue], so the land needs to be kept available for use. —Cheyenne resident

I don’t know if it’s just social media [putting] it in our face, but poaching has always been a problem. It seems like it’s been a lot more this past few months. The newspaper’s been putting it out there that there’s all these elk that they’ve found [poached]. —Rock Springs resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 7

One of the biggest things is the numbers drop in deer populations. If Game and Fish continues in the direction that it’s going, deer herds are going to get to a point where they won’t recover. They’ve got to change something. I’ve never read anything where they’ve specifically said why the numbers are dropping. When you turn loose specific areas and say, “Shoot as much as you want,” in time, if there’s any kind of environmental change where the deer populations may drop normally—while you have people hunting open season—those numbers are going to keep dropping. I heard some people talking that they’ve [Game and Fish] gotten some phone calls asking about doing away with the general areas and making it a limited-quota. The Wyoming range, right now, is just ridiculous with the amount of hunters up around the La Barge-Big Piney area. It’s just overrun. —Rock Springs resident

I would like to know why they’re in such denial that the wolves are down here. They’re all through the Hoback. I’ve seen their tracks on Pine Mountain. They’ve talked to me down there, but they’re [Game and Fish] in total denial that they’re down there. They’ve turned the elk herds this year almost nocturnal and kept them up high—it’s what it’s seemed like to me from being out there…. But the elk are a totally different pattern this year. I’ve seen more wolf-sign than I’ve ever seen before this year. —Rock Springs resident

Wolves. The wolves are here because of decisions that were made by people not from Wyoming. Grizzlies are still not hunted for reasons from people who are back east or not part of Wyoming. —Riverton resident

My husband deals with that [wolves] a lot on Shoshone Forest, because they take the sheep up there. Last year, quite a few of them got killed…. He took pictures and then called his buddy from Game and Fish. They come and I think pay like $100 per sheep. But they do have to have a lot of evidence. The Game and Fish go up there and trap them [wolves]. Or he [my husband] stays until they can figure out what they can do. —Riverton resident

[Concerning] the whole idea of predator management, the thing was, the wolves were not extinct. The wolves they moved here were from Canada. In one spring, the wolves killed 1,400 moose in northern Michigan, and they tried to blame it on the residents. They said the residents poached them [the moose]. Well, it wasn’t true. They were trying to rebuild the moose and the elk population in Michigan, then they reintroduced the wolves and the moose and elk populations went down. [It’s] the same thing here. They caught the federal Fish and Wildlife guys introducing wolves up by Meeteetse...under the cover of darkness. So, you deal with that. The excuse they used to put wolves here was to reduce the over-population of elk in the park. —Riverton resident

Where I go elk hunting, across the mountain, they’re a bunch of tyrants—the landowners. They lock gates on county roads…. You get hounded and harassed when you try to get through the gates that they lock on public roads. The game warden’s called on you. I think it’s pretty important to get a hold on that issue, because it’s getting worse. —Gillette resident 8 Responsive Management

There’s a lot of out-of-staters that come from Minnesota and Michigan that are wanting to pay for a deer tag that’ll pay these ranchers $1,000 for a deer. So, they’ll make sure that the trophy ones stay on their land by pushing them on and spooking them off. —Gillette resident

And when they lock the gates, they block the access to every one of us in here to go in there and potentially get one of their $25,000 animals. —Gillette resident

They’re not wolves [that are] originally from Wyoming. They’re timber wolves from Alaska. They’re bigger, they’re meaner, and they’re not native and they can take down a full-grown elk without a problem. And they’re not the ones that were here…. I mean, it’s a tight subject. If you’re up hunting and they’re [wolves are] hungry, they hinder the hunting. I just don’t think they should have brought them back because they’re not the right wolves. They have bigger animals [in Alaska to match the size of] the Alaskan wolves. —Gillette resident

For me it’s [the wolf issue is] personal safety. I have wolves and bear in my backyard, where my kids play. I have some great pictures of my little girl playing in the snow right next to bear tracks that were [there] earlier that morning. Bear spray can only go so far, and when it comes to my little kids it’s not just going to be bear spray that’s going to protect them. I should be able to feel safe with my kids outside…. I love living outside; I love coming to the park and seeing the bears. I love to see them on the North Fork. But when a bear can think that it can walk through my backyard because it wants to go sniff my neighbor’s trash, something has to happen. —Cody resident

We went out to North Fork the other day to fish. Every [area] we walked up had a grizzly bear in it. Something’s got to be done about that. I like to see the bears—I don’t want to eradicate [them]—but I do want them shot at like we used to do back in the ‘70s. We could shoot at them and that would keep some fear in them. [Now], they have no fear. We live in the lower South Fork and would hate to even consider this, but something’s going to happen where one of these little girls are going to go out to see their lamb and that grizzly bear comes out and gets that little girl. Then you’re going to see something going on, especially if it’s somebody that’s well-to-do. —Cody resident

I like having grizzly and wolves around here, but I think I would like a season on them. I would also say, that’s part of the trade-off of living here. We all live here and we all know that we don’t live in the suburbs of Philadelphia. There are down-sides to [living here], and we have to be aware of that. We can all move. If you move to Florida, you have to deal with alligators. Or if you live in Arizona, you have to deal with scorpions in your boots. There’s always things you have to worry about. —Cody resident

I’m seeing property owners buying land adjacent to the national forest. I think the access is pretty poor. There’s places I like to go in to hike, but I look on the property tax records to find out who owns it. I’m like, “Well, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to access that trail that’s maybe a few acres away from where I live because it’s private property.” —Cody resident Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 9

In a separate question, participants were asked about the most important issues pertaining to Wyoming’s natural environment. On this topic, a number of participants mentioned pollution and littering: this was generally discussed in the context of water regulation and management as well as littering in and around camping areas and on hiking trails (some people called for more enforcement of littering laws). Other topics included the obligation for the Department to coordinate with federal resource agencies (especially on management efforts spanning state and federal lands in Wyoming) and to balance natural resource extraction efforts in the state with the interests of wildlife and conservation in general.

Wyoming’s an amazing state, from corner to corner. Just in this corner of the state, there’s some amazing waterfalls to go find. But they take work, and there’s no real trail management. —Cheyenne resident

Beetle kill, for one. The forests here are toast—they’re done. You can’t walk through them. You’re climbing over house-sized piles of sticks trying to elk hunt. Game and Fish do what they can on the state land and they interact with the Forest Service and BLM, but they’re so handcuffed by the politics that come into it. I think Game and Fish does what they can on the landscape management, but it’s so much farther above them that they’re out of the loop sometimes. —Cheyenne resident

People that just dump their trash everywhere, loads of it. —Rock Springs resident

We here in Wyoming have to be careful. We have to strike a balance between our oil, our gas, our wildlife. If we say it’s the oil and gas industry that’s wiping out the wildlife— which it isn’t—and we have to close all this land off or let the federal lands go to the state—which isn’t a very smart idea—our economy is based on these minerals. If it weren’t for the Trona mines, there would be no Rock Springs right now. After the coal mines closed, that’s all there was here. Then, the oil and gas production started up and really built up. So, we’ve got to be careful. We can’t say, “Let’s close off everything for conservation or wildlife.” We’ve got to strike a fine balance, and there is a balance. —Rock Springs resident

I think he hit the nail on the head when he said that federal land should not be turned over to the state because once that happens, and it gets sold off for money, then we’ll never have any of our land rights ever again…. That’s the problem Idaho is having right now, because they had huge chunks [of land] sold off and now all of that land is completely cut off in huge sections. They don’t have any access to it anymore. —Rock Springs resident

Water regulation really screws with the fisheries around here. I know that people downstream in other states need water released from this area too…. They talk about trying to save the wildlife and things like that, but…any fisheries that was up in there [the Middle Fork area] has to resurface every year to try to build itself. Boysen Reservoir drops about the time the walleye are in there laying their eggs, so that leaves them high and dry. —Riverton resident

10 Responsive Management

We don’t have a ton of it around here, but pollution with our waterways [is an issue], seeing as how all the water pretty much runs from there all the way here and heads on down into South Dakota. A lot of our fisheries had a big thing here with a fishing lake and the wastewater system running into there and into Keyhole. Thank God we don’t drink it—South Dakota does. —Gillette resident

I’ve had some issues with camping. A lot of times, you go to a campground and people are trying to throw all their pop cans in the fire, or they’ll leave a couple bags of trash tied to a tree or something. We wind up packing it out because we don’t want to leave it in there, but it seems like it’s getting pretty bad. —Gillette resident

People are getting to be slobs. They think somebody else is working for them, I think. We see that—people go, “Well, that’s their job, to clean this up.” So, they don’t feel a responsibility for our land. I don’t know how that’s ever solved, because I think that’s society relaxing and not enforcing it. So, maybe [there needs to be] better law enforcement on that. When I see somebody throw a cigarette out the window, I want to take a picture and have them arrested. —Gillette resident

I think the bears have actually affected more people hunting; I’m one of them. I used to hunt the thoroughfare all the time; now, I don’t even want to go in there. The last five years I was in there, I used to have to sleep with a shotgun. That’s no fun, so I just said, “The heck with it.” I hunted in there [for] 20 [or] 25 years…. When we hunt now, even down in the lower area, we take a pack horse with us, because [if] you’re going to shoot that elk, you’d better get it out of there because it won’t be there tomorrow. That change[s] your whole way of thinking and your whole way of hunting. —Cody resident

Do you usually have somebody guarding it [the elk] while you’re quartering it, too? That seems to be the new thing. —Cody resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 11

MAJOR ISSUES FACING WYOMING’S RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES Participants were asked what they saw as the major issues facing hunting, fishing, trapping, boating, hiking, and wildlife viewing in Wyoming (each activity was asked about separately). In general, there tended to be more discussion on issues related to hunting and fishing, perhaps because these activities tend to be viewed as more “actively managed” by the Department and, as a result, touch on a number of related issues (species management, terrestrial and aquatic habitat, regulations, interactions with landowners, etc.).

Hunting The cost of hunting licenses was discussed by a few hunters across the groups (sometimes with the observation that middle-income people are being “priced out of hunting” in Wyoming), as was the Department’s website (described by a handful of participants as rather poorly designed and not user-friendly)—on the latter topic, a few people mentioned that the process for purchasing a license online or looking up hunt areas on the Department’s website is not as convenient and simple as it should be. Some people talked about crowding from other hunters in general hunt areas, with a few comments addressing crowding from nonresidents specifically. Other comments addressed confusion from draw areas, especially the concept of a single hunting area having different numerical designations depending on the species being hunted.

There was also discussion about the ratio of resident and nonresident licenses, permits, and tags issued, with a number of hunters commenting that higher-priced nonresident privileges bring in more revenue for the agency than do resident privileges, and that this price difference may incentivize the Department to offer more licenses, permits, and tags to nonresidents. Landowners affecting hunting access and other access issues were again discussed rather extensively by hunters across the five locations.

A number of participants across the groups commented on the perceived complexity of Wyoming’s hunting regulations, especially big game hunting regulations. Some noted that the regulations seemed unnecessarily complex and are therefore counterproductive to encouraging prospective hunters to take up the sport (it was mentioned that newcomers are less familiar with long-standing regulations and may be put off by the apparent complexity). Regarding licensing, a notable number of hunters expressed frustration at seldom drawing tags for big game hunts— some hunters in the groups again speculated that the Department may offer more tags to nonresidents in order to generate maximum funding for the agency.

The price of the [hunting] license keeps going up. The ability to get back in—especially where the beetle kill is—to where the elk are is impossible. [This goes] back to the access issue. —Cheyenne resident

I asked my kids [about hunting issues]; I’m basically not a hunter. The big thing [for them] was, “Ok, here’s a website. But it isn’t all that useful.” It didn’t give all kinds of information that you would need. They said they’d like to see a better explanation of how the lottery works for getting big game and the spring or pheasant hunt tags. The website’s confusing: how to sign up for tags, the PDF lists on the areas for big game hunting. Put a hyperlink to the area on the map, so you know where that is. So…if you pick something [an area to hunt] that’s far away, it would be nice to look on the map, 12 Responsive Management

click on a link to get to where you need to be. Or, make an interactive webpage instead. —Cheyenne resident

They claim that we have less hunters, and yet you can’t draw a permit. I haven’t drawn antelope [tag] for seven years. The guy next door is drawing an antelope permit every year for seven years—same area. They have to finally realize that they’ve got to do the same type of thing they’re doing for out-of-state hunters for in-state hunters, whether it’s a point system or…something. You take the young people that you’re trying to recruit into hunting and they can’t get a permit for four or five years. What are those kids going to do? They’re going to find some other sport or some other activity. —Rock Springs resident

They pulled this with the moose here years ago. They went on a strict [policy of, if] you draw one, then you can’t put in for five years. And then that cut all the young hunters coming up. So, they were nineteen years old before they stood a chance of getting a moose license. That was with the preference points and stuff, because moose was all preference points at that particular time. So, they did get smart and change it so that 25% of the permits now are on a draw basis, along with the preference points. —Rock Springs resident

When I first looked at how to apply for hunting licenses—what a confusing mess of crap that is. Why can’t they have maybe 50 or 100 hunting areas and then issue tags for [various kinds of animals] instead of micromanaging? Hunt area 25 for elk is hunt area 65 for antelope, and then it’s [hunt area] 92 for deer [for example]. It’s all the same area! Why not just regulate the area and call it “hunt area 95” or whatever you want to call it? And they can issue a certain amount of tags for each species in that area. It’s the hunt area, and then you’ve got to figure out what hunting type you’re going to do—type two or type six or type four or type eight—well, what the heck are you even [talking about]? —Riverton resident

That right there is why I gave up big game hunting. It is impossibly complicated to figure out. —Riverton resident

Before I came here, I was in eastern Idaho. The influx of out-of-state people into another state [caused me to] almost quit hunting over there. There were so many Utah and California people coming to hunt in Idaho. I’m starting to see that happen here a lot [more]…. Obviously, the out-of-staters bring more revenue to Game and Fish. So, for a tag per person, why not focus on bringing more out-of-staters in, because they’re getting a lot more money [for those licenses]? —Riverton resident

They issue too many general licenses. The people that don’t draw on their areas can go buy a general tag and they flood those two or three general areas in the whole state. There’s way too many people [in those areas]. —Gillette resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 13

It would help if there weren’t so many draw areas. [Before,] you never heard of a draw area—everything was [for] general tag and it dispersed people a lot more, too. I also understand why they do it—to manage the game a little better. But, I think there could be a few more general areas. That, and if they would expand their access into different places even though they have to buy it. I think there’s ranchers open to [letting] you through too…. They bought a right-of-way up through that ranch and they went to the walk-ins. Still, you’re got to walk a long ways to get [to anywhere for hunting]. —Gillette resident

I’ve got issues with the rules. If you’ve ever taken a Wyoming book of the area regulations for each type of animal, it’s thick and it’s confusing. You’re going all through and you’re like, “Where do I go hunt?!” It takes you about three to five years to really understand [how] to hunt where you want to go. My first few years of hunting were so confusing, I just picked a spot, called Game and Fish, spoke with them, and they basically relayed it to me like, “How hard is it? It’s not that hard.” But to a person who’s never hunted before, it is way confusing—too many rules, you’re always worried you’re going to do something wrong and get caught at it. I think they need to get rid of about 80% of them [the regulations], get back to general areas, and start [over]. —Gillette resident

The ability to draw tags is tough. My son just did hunter safety a year and a half ago. We can’t draw a tag. He just wants to shoot a muley buck. We can do a general, but it’s a harder deal, especially with a kid. It’s just a little frustrating, especially when you go where you see a lot of out-of-state trucks up and down. I know they bring some economic benefit, but it’s irksome. —Cody resident.

You see tons of people from California, Michigan, Minnesota, and a few from Montana and Colorado. How come out-of-staters get so many tags and people that live in the state [have more difficulty]? If you try to draw a moose or a bighorn sheep or something a little harder to get, you get preference points for 12 years and after that you get into another section [where] you get a better chance for the draw? That’s crazy. Somebody my age will be 95 before I get a tag. —Cody resident

It’s been my recent experience that when Game and Fish was asking some years back for an increase in tag prices, a lot of people started to speculate that because the legislature didn’t authorize the increase, that Game and Fish [would] start issuing more nonresident tags because they can get more money for it than resident tags. I know [hunting] is an industry, but it seems to be more of a revenue-generator for Game and Fish than a management [tool]. And, when you start looking at places like Johnson County and Sheridan, where you’ve got so many deer that are running around on Chronic Wasting Disease [and] Blue Tongue and other issues that are starting to come up with mismanagement, it makes you wonder, as an individual hunter, what’s really going on. In the absence of Game and Fish providing numbers to inform the public about how many tags are being issued to residents, how many are being issued to non-residents, people start to speculate and rumors start to fly. So, I think it’s incumbent upon Game and Fish to start getting those numbers out. —Cody resident 14 Responsive Management

Fishing While access difficulties were also said to affect fishing for some residents, the degree of frustration did not appear as pronounced as it was for hunting. One key access issue mentioned was water bodies that are owned by multiple stakeholders (e.g., a private landowner owning a portion of an otherwise-public river). Some anglers in the groups expressed frustration with fishing regulations (although again, not to the extent of the apparent frustration with hunting regulations), while a few others questioned the management of non-native fish populations (on this topic, several people questioned the money and effort spent to eliminate certain non-native species in order to bring back native species in some areas).

I would say, access, once again [is a major issue affecting fishing]. —Cheyenne resident

We have a river where [people fish for] blue ribbon trout; you can only go on certain spots. Don’t put your anchor down, don’t even get out of the boat…. If you don’t have a boat, forget fishing the river. —Cheyenne resident

The land is owned on both sides [of the river]. —Cheyenne resident

The first time I fished in Wyoming, people [were] back rowing through [the river]. I thought, “Why don’t they just get out of the boat and fish?” They’re like, “You can’t.” I’m like, “This is the dumbest thing, ever.” —Cheyenne resident

Wyoming’s got some of the best fishing, first of all. You can fish all over the Gorge. You go to just about any lake in the state of Wyoming and you can catch off the bank or get in a boat. Good fishing and good eating. Good camping, too. —Rock Springs resident

The only place that I knew of burbot was up there by Riverton…. Somebody illegally transplanted burbot, and I think they put them in Big Sandy Reservoir to start with. They have almost overtaken the Flaming Gorge. There is absolutely no limit on them. Why anybody would do that is beyond anybody’s imagination. But the money they have to spend now to try to get them out of there [is significant]… because it’s about to change the entire habitat, the environmental situation. —Rock Springs resident

What we have now is all the encroachment with the fish that aren’t supposed to be there like the burbot in the Gorge, and…the macks they threw up there in Jackson Lake, or Yellowstone Lake. Game and Fish is doing a lot now to get rid of a lot of the stuff. They’re getting rid of the brookies and going back to the cutthroats and going back to a lot of their natural habitats. So, they’re trying to improve a little bit. The biggest problem is going to be all the fish that aren’t supposed to be there. —Rock Springs resident

I would say the water regulations. I’m only speaking for Boysen because that’s the only big lake I’ve fished…. Walleye’s bad fishing there now, too. I think they should be regulating the water levels so that the fish crops don’t get [too diminished]. They lay the eggs and then the water level drops. —Riverton resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 15

Like the walleye, they lay the eggs at a certain temperature. Then, when they lower the lake…the eggs get too warm and then don’t hatch. The Boysen is primarily for irrigation. So, fishing is secondary. So, that kind of takes it out of the Game and Fish market because they have regulations for water disbursement. —Riverton resident

Plus, the snow melt issue [affects things]. [Depending on] how much snow is up in the mountains, some years they might have to lower it [water levels] a lot more than others because there’s not much snow. —Riverton resident

[I see the] same issues [with fishing as with hunting regulations]. You take Lewis Lake [for example]. I don’t know how many folks fished up there, but there’s bacteria in the wake. You can’t even eat the fish out of the wake. It’s the same way with Boysen. Our lakes are getting poisoned up here and I don’t know where it’s coming from but you guys need to look into it. —Riverton resident

I think it’s the harvesting laws. I really think there should be some sort of weight limit to get it to a nice reproductive age before you’re allowed to harvest, when it comes to the walleye. I’m an avid walleye fisherman—I love nothing more than to go out and catch my limit of big fish every day, or at least fill the freezer…. There are no [slot limits right now]. South Dakota and North Dakota have slot limits. —Gillette resident

When I was younger, you used to be able to kill the trout. You would just watch trout all day long. Now, I take the kids down there. They’re only bringing bullhead out of there for the most part. If you’re using anything with worm… you’re going to just pull bullhead all day. You’ve got to use trout lures only. —Gillette resident

I think the rules are pretty good. I don’t want to get into where they change them every year. [Then] you’re always failing because they set you up to fail when they do that. Then they can get you. I’ve had several encounters with the game warden at Keyhole. They come and check you and they’re avid [about] checking, but they’re real respectful as long as you do things legally. —Gillette resident

A couple of years ago, there was this stupid idea that they were going to kill all the fish on Eagle Creek and replace them with something, which was asinine. They didn’t end up doing it, so good for them. —Cody resident

They’ll poison non-native fish. I don’t have a strong opinion [on that]. It’s frustrating when you take a fishery that’s working and good [and do something like that]. It seems like [you should] focus on places that aren’t [working] first if you’re going to even do it. I just don’t know the necessity of it at this point…. The idea of poisoning some of these streams, it strikes me as a bit odd. It seems like it costs a lot. I don’t know if I agree with poisoning them [fish]. I know they’re trying to restore the native cutthroat…. The explanation I’ve heard is Game and Fish at the state level is fearful that [U.S.] Fish and Wildlife is going to try to get the cutthroat listed as endangered if we don’t put them back into these streams. Then you’re not going to be able to fish half of the fisheries out here. I wouldn’t be that surprised [if that was the case]. —Cody resident 16 Responsive Management

Trapping As a whole, participants had less to say about trapping than about many of the other activities. There were fewer active trappers in the focus groups than hunters and anglers, although a number of participants personally knew other individuals who trapped. Apart from access issues and the occasional theft of an animal trap, there were few major concerns raised about trapping in Wyoming.

My friend’s biggest issue was getting to it. Access is the biggest challenge of those guys. You can’t just put it [a trap] anywhere, you know what I’m saying? You’ve got to have access to it. Some landowners are very forthright and helpful on that kind of thing. They’d just as soon have a lot of the predator species taken off their land as anything else. But some do charge for that. —Cheyenne resident

There’s plenty of opportunities. There’s plenty of places to go. There’s plenty of fur out there—no shortage. As the winter goes on though, there’s a lot of coyote contests and aerial gunning that goes on…so they really get thinned out very, very fast. Some of the aerial is the feds. Plus, you can come from out of state and do it…. It gets harder and harder, but it’s [opportunities are] there. —Rock Springs resident

I know they’re trapping more because the price of furs are going up. —Riverton resident

I haven’t had the problem here. My mom’s got some acreage—she’s got some fox out there. I just mess with that spot. Back in Kansas, I had people on public land [who] would steal my traps. As soon as they’d see something, boom, they’ve got it. So then, instead of shooting the animals, they take everything. So, now I don’t want to trap public land [here].…It goes on here, too—people stealing your traps…. I used to trap a lot. Now, I don’t trap much. That, and it’s just so far for me to go to any public land around here. —Gillette resident

It’s kind of a vague thing—I don’t know if there are many trappers. Fifty years ago, there was a lot of trappers. —Cody resident

You don’t really hear about it too much until someone’s dog gets in a trap, and they [the owners] write an angry letter to the newspaper, saying, “Screw you, people. Why did you put that trap there when people are walking their dogs?” —Cody resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 17

Boating One issue related to boating in Wyoming was discussed to varying degrees in each group: the Department’s required invasive species decal. A notable number of participants felt that it is unnecessary to require the inspection (and decal) for kayaks and other small non-motorized craft, or for watercraft that are used exclusively on Wyoming waters (i.e., not used on any out-of-state waters). Some people commented that the inspection process by the Department is scattershot and seemingly randomly enforced at times, with a few people suggesting that the program does not seem likely to prevent the spread of invasive species as a result. Others mentioned confusion in trying to learn from the Department’s website which decals are required and when. Another boating issue brought up was interactions between boaters and personal watercraft operators: a number of boaters and anglers in the groups mentioned instances in which PWC operators had approached them too fast or too close (or both), or had behaved in an otherwise discourteous manner. Such mentions would often lead into a discussion about the need for more education on recreational etiquette and ethics.

I like to kayak, but I find it a bit confusing. I don’t know if they could make it less confusing, where you have to get your AIS sticker—invasive species sticker—and a whole array of other things. I went kayaking up in Grand Teton…. There are all these different stickers that you have to have; it’s kind of confusing. And it’s also kind of confusing on the website when you’re trying to get your sticker for the next year. —Cheyenne resident

Renewing boat stickers—if it’s something you have to have, why not make it part of the fee instead of an optional thing? That’s what gets confusing, because you have to have it. Fine. But if you don’t have to have it, well that’s different. Why not just make it one fee instead of two or three different other fees? Just make it one fee. —Cheyenne resident

On state waters, when they’re dragging the lakes, it would be kind of a nice idea to know how much it’s dumping out. When you go to the marina, [maybe have] something posted. My wife and I camped out a nice little secluded deal…and it was really nice, private, nobody else came in. That morning, I had one pontoon out of the water. So, I had no concept that it was coming out that hard, that fast. So, I said, “Okay, I guess we’ll have to come back next spring and get the boat.” I was able to beat it into submission. But, it’s a state-run information deal. I had no concept that it would drop a foot and a half just overnight…. I don’t blame them, I’d just kind of like to know. —Cheyenne resident

I think the fishing and boating is one of the best-ran programs that Game and Fish does. From what I remember as a kid and from talking to my brother about his [boating], he never has anything to complain about, especially when it comes to that type of thing. —Rock Springs resident

You have to be careful as a recreational boater sometimes. They don’t have much respect for the fishermen. Fishermen will be out there trolling and they’ll come by in these yachts doing full-out and almost swamp you. But you’re going to have that problem no matter where you go. We’ve probably got less of it [that problem] than any place in the whole world. —Rock Springs resident

18 Responsive Management

It’s down to the point where you almost have to have an invasive species sticker on your inner tube. —Riverton resident

That’s very true. We have a bunch of little dingy boats and we have to get a separate license for every single one of them. And then we have to get them all inspected, and it’s [just] a dingy boat. What is the point of this? It’s a paddle boat, it’s a kayak, and I understand that we don’t want this invasive species coming in, but we don’t take them out of state. —Riverton resident

They don’t even bother to look at your boat—they just want to sell you the sticker. —Riverton resident

If you bring a boat from Boysen Reservoir and go up to Fremont Lake, they will literally check your boat—inside and out. If there’s any algae or anything on the hull, you’re not getting on that lake free. —Riverton resident

I just had some issues with jet skiers. [I’m] sitting there jigging or something and they just don’t respect how close they want to get to you or anything like that. —Gillette resident

You’re doing everything in your power to keep your boat from crashing off of the steep cliffs at Keyhole while somebody’s [a jet skier] out ten feet from you bopping you in there [toward the cliffs, and you’ve] got nothing but a half-dead trolling motor and you’re trying to keep yourself off the rocks. —Gillette resident

We do see a lot more jet skiers than we have in the past years. There used to be a lot, then there wasn’t so many. Now, there are a lot of them back with jet skis, and they chase your boat for the wake. You think they’re going to run into you because they’re chasing you because that’s where the wave is. —Gillette resident

I think that invasive mussel—the zebra mussel—you’ve got to get your boats inspected [for it]. It’s kind of a pain in the neck time-wise. —Cody resident

Same thing. Even if you take your boat to Yellowtail and you were there the week before, you’ve still got to go through the line and it’s just a hassle. I agree with trying to keep the invasive species out, it just seems bureaucratic. They don’t give the officers there any real authority to make a good commonsense judgment. They’ve got to go through a lot of paperwork all over again. —Cody resident

When it comes to boating issues, everybody’s heard “boat” is an acronym—Break Out Another Thousand? I’ve got a friend who’s got a kayak. They required him to get a zebra mussel inspection. I’m looking at this thing and thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me, man.” It’s like, where is a zebra mussel going to be in this thing? But he had to get an inspection and they give you a sticker for it also. I think they just need to keep it a little more reasonable. —Cody resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 19

Hiking Most hikers in the groups expressed appreciation for the extensive and picturesque opportunities for hiking in Wyoming. Like the other activities, discussions on hiking also touched on access issues to some extent, with some participants commenting that access roads in their areas have deteriorated or have been closed in recent years. A few people in the Riverton group mentioned the presence of ATV riders on secluded and otherwise quiet hiking trails (some claimed that ATVs have become more prevalent in hiking areas). A consistent point of concern in the Gillette and Cody groups was the need for hikers to be prepared for potential encounters with bears. Finally, a small number of people touched on the concept of requiring hikers (and other non- consumptive users) to contribute funding for the maintenance of hiking opportunities, similar to how hunters and anglers help fund Department activities through license purchases (note that some of these people said they were unsure of what a hiker funding model should look like or how it could be enforced—a few people mentioned state and national park fees on this topic).

Make them [hikers] buy a conservation stamp. Hunters and anglers put everything in this state. If you’re out using the state of Wyoming’s resources, buy a conservation stamp. If I hunt elk up in Sublette County, I have to buy a stamp because I’m up in that area. I think if anybody is taking part in recreation in Wyoming, [they] need to foot part of the bill. I have no idea [how to enforce that]. —Cheyenne resident

Whenever you enter a state park, you pay a fee. And if I am at one of the state parks camping or hiking, I have paid a fee to get into that state park. National forests are federal, not state. —Cheyenne resident

Regulations, too. Sometimes we are just too over-regulated. All those things can be looked at. —Cheyenne resident

I don’t think there’s any issues [with hiking in Wyoming]. I like to look at bears really far away. I prefer that the bears stay far away. That’s the only thing about hiking: bears. —Rock Springs resident

I think they do a really great job of marking out trails; that’s always fantastic. —Rock Springs resident

If you have a problem [with trails], get Mitchell’s book. He’s marked every one of them. —Rock Springs resident

The access to the maps is good, too. Now, off of the website, you can order any area map that you want for $10 and they [Game and Fish] send it to you on waterproof paper…. They’re mostly hunting [maps], but they do have the walk-in areas and all your hiking trails are numbered, Forest Service road, and BLM roads. If you get lost off of one of them, you deserve it. —Rock Springs resident

Can we spread it out to just general land access? “No Trespassing” signs are multiplying like rabbits. Every year, [when] I want to go out somewhere, there’s less land that’s accessible. I like their Access Yes [program], I like the walk-in areas, but 20 Responsive Management

there’s an unending push for more wilderness areas, which just shuts everything off—you can’t get in there unless you’re a macho hiker or you have your own herd of horses. Roads are getting shut down left and right, so you don’t have to put up a “No Trespassing” sign to make land inaccessible. —Riverton resident

When you go hiking, they’re everywhere—ATVs, four wheelers. So to go hiking in a general place, it’s dangerous when you have all these ATVs up there. And a lot of them are kids, driving crazy. It’s dangerous to hike. —Riverton resident

Unless you get up into the wilderness, you’ve got ATVs all over. —Riverton resident

Even up in the wilderness, you’ve got it too. [If] you go down to Yamaha, they’ll sell you a sticker for $25—it tells you that you can go up on the forest and ride BLM and all that. [It’s] just like a boat registration [but for ATVs]…. I’ve seen a lot of people making their own roads up there too. —Riverton resident

I haven’t had any issues [with hiking]. —Gillette resident

That’s the one thing that’s free-range, there’s nobody there doing it with you, you’ve got endless miles to walk and hike and everything’s usually pretty beautiful. —Gillette resident

You do have a lot of opportunity to hike in Wyoming. When you go up [toward] Yellowstone, people have to be careful of the bears. That’s a remote [area]; there’s been some crime with hikers because it is so remote. I don’t like to go out hiking by myself. —Gillette resident

You really need to be armed [for bears] if you’re going to go hiking or do photography. —Cody resident

I enjoy going out hiking and the thing I’ve found [is] if you’re going out and it’s just strictly public lands, it’s not a problem. There’s plenty of access—you can go to your heart’s content. But if you want to try and do something locally, you really start running into issues with private property and access. Then, you’re looking for a place where you can get access. —Cody resident

When you do a comparison here in the Bighorn Basin as far as access goes, if you try and access the mountains on this side of the basin, it’s fairly difficult. Whereas, if you go into the Big Horns to the east, it’s considerably easier. We’ve left out the National Forest Service also, where they’ve blocked off a lot of access into the forest on the Shoshone side. They’ve closed off a lot of roads; you have trouble getting access into those areas. But if you go into the Big Horns, it’s like night and day from the eastern and western side of the basin…. When you can access a two-track and ride back five miles. The road ends, and then get off your ATV and then hike in even further—it’s a lot more of an enjoyable experience. —Cody resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 21

Wildlife Viewing Many comments on the topic of wildlife viewing were positive, focusing mainly on Wyoming’s abundant and diverse wildlife viewing opportunities. A few people throughout the groups noted that some wildlife viewers (particularly those from out of the state) seemingly do not have the proper respect for the animals they are viewing (e.g., they attempt to capture inappropriate or dangerous photos or attempt to closely interact with or touch wildlife). It was mentioned that such inappropriate behavior can result in injury or property damage that could otherwise be avoided through responsible behavior and reasonable precautions.

It’s a lifestyle. My whole family wouldn’t live back here. Without the animals, it would be less. Seeing the animals fills me with joy, whether I’m doing pictures or hunting for food. All of that works together with my entire family. All my children hunt and fish; my grandchildren are starting [to]. It is a legacy that must be taken care of to make sure that the future generations have that available to them as well. —Cheyenne resident

It’d still be [an] access [issue]. —Riverton resident

What I find frustrating [are] the tourists…. It frustrates me to no end when you see, year after year, someone got mauled or killed by an animal because they don’t respect the wildlife no matter what you tell them. I can’t feel sorry for them. —Riverton resident

People that don’t know anything about animals [will] think that they can do whatever. But the animals are wild and you have to respect that. —Gillette resident

[They] try to get close to a bull moose and they just don’t know. —Gillette resident

People take it for granted, even [with] deer and antelope…. You have a lot of deer. This time of year, those bucks get nutty. That’s why I hate seeing them so much in town, you know, with little kids [nearby]…. They’ll [deer] stomp somebody’s dog, so they could do the same to a little kid. That’s why I wish they could figure out a way to [reduce the deer] a little bit in the populated areas [like towns]. —Gillette resident

22 Responsive Management

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT General Department Priorities Following the discussion on issues related to specific outdoor recreational activities, participants were asked about major issues and priorities that should be addressed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. In these discussions, participants across the five locations suggested a number of priority areas on which the Department should focus. In emphasizing the need for the Department to generate revenue to fund its management and enforcement activities, a number of participants recommended the strategic issuance of tags for people to hunt overpopulated species in specific regions throughout the state. Many people emphasized the importance of management focused on the ecosystem as a whole, meaning the management of both game and non-game species (including large carnivores); at the same time, others said that game species represented a higher priority. Several participants remarked about the interconnectedness of wildlife management and Wyoming’s natural environment, with a few people suggesting that hunting and fishing regulations are written by Department employees who are far removed from the field. Others commented about the general need to maintain healthy habitat for all species.

They need that revenue from out of state…. I think this is where Game and Fish kind of fails also is in areas [where] there’s too many does, but you can’t shoot a doe. If you like venison, doe’s a better-eating meat anyway…. Area 78—to be specific—[has] a lot of does and you can’t shoot them! You can’t draw a buck tag either. I just say that for recent years—I haven’t been able to draw a buck tag, yet there’s does all over. I’m going, “Why don’t they sell some doe tags?” —Cheyenne resident

If you’re looking at habitat, you have to have all the species that are supposed to be in that habitat [to be] healthy. If you want to have deer or whatever in there, you’re going to have to have a healthy habitat. And maybe that’s the little worms that help make the soil good for the trees to grow…. If we have a healthy habitat, with all the non-game things, then you’re going to have the game. It’s all interconnected, from the little ground squirrel clear up to grizzly bears—and us included in there. We all need each other to survive. —Cheyenne resident

Something I’d be interested in is having a fishing report. Lately, I was trying to find a place to go pan fishing and I had the hardest time finding any reports on an ocean lake. I called the local sporting goods stores; nobody knew anything. I called Game and Fish and couldn’t get a hold of anyone for a couple of days. Finally, I did get a hold of someone. Most of the things I found on the [Game and Fish] website were from a few years ago…. I could not find fishing reports. —Rock Springs resident

They’re [Game and Fish] in charge of the huntable species, but they indirectly get shoved into the non-huntable species. They can’t really separate them. They get that [non-huntable] whether they wanted it or not. Even your smaller animals—birds and all that kind of stuff—they’re indirectly responsible for, [including] the reintroduction of the ferret. That all fell [on] the Game and Fish. Those are expensive programs. Grizzly bear management fell on Game and Fish…. They’ve got to do all of it and what those programs do is pull personnel, pull money, and that’s the reason there aren’t more game wardens. You’ve got more biologists than you have wardens. —Rock Springs resident Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 23

The individual game wardens are great. The administrators [within Game and Fish] I’m not so sure [about]. They’re the ones that write the regulations. This comes from upper management—the game wardens don’t produce this kind of stuff [regulations]. —Riverton resident

My dad was a rancher for years. So, I’ve seen cows die [by] coyotes, wolves, [and] all kinds of stuff up there. Mom had a pet deer for years…. But people just need to leave the animals alone, and if they’re going to hunt them, hunt them for the meat, not for the trophy. These people going out here and killing trophies just makes me madder than hell…. Just to leave the meat laying there? —Riverton resident

It seems like the non-game species are doing fine. They don’t need protection. —Gillette resident

I heard…that the antelope had a disease. And I wondered how they [kept] people from hunting and eating them who maybe don’t have the newspaper [to stay informed]. —Gillette resident

They put enough money into fish hatcheries and stuff like that to get the population back up. I don’t know if you consider them wild fisheries or not. —Cody resident

Just the overall health of the game population is very important. The other point I would raise is hunting, fishing—all of that—all of Game and Fish is a tremendous, positive economic impact on this area that you don’t have any place else. Then you’ve got the hiking and the photography in the mountains, which is unparalleled. I think all of those things combined—including having Yellowstone in your backyard—are really important for the health of our economy here. —Cody resident

They’re all kind of interrelated: you can’t just manage deer and elk. You try to manage the wolves that are obviously affecting the elk. So you can’t just make decisions in a vacuum when it comes to wildlife management. Whether you’re hunting them [a particular species] or not, you need to think of how it’s impacting the wildlife we are hunting. —Cody resident

24 Responsive Management

Numerous participants noted that there are too few game wardens to adequately address the state’s enforcement needs. A few participants called for harsher penalties for poaching—an issue that many participants noted is ongoing throughout the state. Overall, participants suggested that Wyoming game wardens are doing the best they can to enforce laws, given fairly limited resources (manpower and otherwise). As a result, some participants suggested the need for recreationists to “self-enforce” while in the field as responsible and ethical recreationists. In connection, a few participants suggested increased education efforts to encourage vigilance and reporting as necessary among hunters, anglers, and other recreationists.

The reality is that there’s not enough [law enforcement] to accomplish the job for as populated as we are. There’s just not enough dollars to cover the areas that need to be covered. Therefore, we have to police each other. It has been that way since I was young. A lot of times, you see [communication about] poaching. There’s a lot of that—people shooting critters for no reason, just because they can. The reality is that not a lot of them get caught. But when they do, they get prosecuted. There just is not enough [enforcement]. Again, how do you fix the dollar issue? You just can’t. There’s no easy answer to any of this. —Cheyenne resident

I think they need to have harsher penalties for poaching and those egregious acts that people commit. I think that would send a better message. Because the amount of poaching that has happened through the elk and deer population throughout this southwest corner this season has been awful…. You hear one or two cases [in past seasons], but they’re up to like thirteen or fourteen [cases of poaching] just within the last month, just in this area. —Rock Springs resident

If you see somebody doing something illegally, it affects everybody [who is] legally hunting. —Riverton resident

They have a tip line for poachers. I’ve called in friends. I was raised to hunt responsibly; if they don’t feel the same, I’m like, “I’ll turn you in.” —Riverton resident

Maybe there [should] be more education too, in teaching people what to look for, what to watch for as far as us being advocates in places where they [Game and Fish] can’t be. Kind of helping conserve and protect our own wildlife, where the Game and Fish can’t be there at all times. —Gillette resident

[They need] to get the poachers. I have definite opinions on what people should do to poachers. [They need] stricter penalties on poaching. —Cody resident

I think the penalties are more than sufficient, especially when you do a comparison about what happens in court here. You get some guy who gets caught poaching and he gets six months in jail, loss of his gun, loss of his car, significant fine, loss of hunting and fishing privileges for three years. Then, you get an attorney who’s stealing from the Bar Association [who] gets 20 days home arrest and 15 days in jail at his own convenience. I think the Game and Fish penalties are pretty significant and they’re more than adequate. —Cody resident Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 25

At least a few participants in almost every focus group noted difficulty with purchasing licenses online through the Department’s website. One participant in Rock Springs plainly stated that the Department has lost “an entire generation of people” due to the complexity of the agency’s online license purchasing system (this participant seemed to be referring to older residents less familiar with online purchases). On the subject of tags, one participant in Riverton suggested designating a few areas for “pioneer tag owners” (i.e., hunters of a certain age), including women who may have difficulty packing out an entire animal over a long distance on foot. Regarding the big game tag draw process, one person suggested a rotating schedule to disqualify people who had a drawn a tag one year from applying again the very next year—this recommendation stemmed from frustration over observing some people drawing tags year after year while others fail to draw a tag many years in a row.

Costs keep going up, so back to that magic question—do we keep raising costs or figure out how to do more with less? If you start to look at families, you’re looking at $300 or $400 in licenses before you ever fire a bullet for goose hunting. It makes you think about it. Is that what our goal is? It makes you think about the price of those [licenses] continually going up. —Cheyenne resident

As far as licensing, the state of Wyoming has lost an entire generation of people because they don’t have computers and they can’t use the bloody things. I’m 71 years old and I have trouble with them. —Rock Springs resident

Sometimes you [have difficulty] before you’re 65, if you’re a female. I struggled to pack out an elk. Sometimes I wish it were easier and more accessible. It would be nice to have one area that senior people, or weak females could go and hunt and have it accessible. Then, when you get your game down, you can four-wheel in this far and call friends to help you come bring it out. It would be nice to have an area or two in the state where you could draw that tag—if you were a pioneer tag owner. —Riverton resident

I had a little problem with the website. It seems like you’re going in circles. And that map that they say is interactive for the elk hunt areas—there’s no way that you could use that map to stay in the right area. You have to have some other resource. —Gillette resident

I have gone on [the website] for preference points, too. It was a big deal. My husband tried [his] computer [and] phone, this, that, back and forth, trying to look up sportsman’s I.D. “Do it this way. Do it that way.” Just the site in general is not easy to navigate and look yourself up and find your stuff. —Gillette resident

I think what bugs me more is [when] you put in for a draw. I know a person that has drawn an antelope tag three years in a row. A lot of other people go for years before they can get one. I would like to see something where, if a person draws a tag, they get it and then maybe have to skip a year before they can go again. —Cody resident

I’m all for it [where] if you draw, you’re on some kind of rotation…. I’m in the same boat. I look at friends on Facebook who get the tag like three or five years in a row. I can’t draw that much. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. —Cody resident 26 Responsive Management

Once again, the issue of access pervaded the discussions in every focus group. The general consensus seemed to be that access is worse for hunters than it is for anglers, hikers, and other outdoor recreationists. (Note that a later section of the report covers access issues in additional detail.) Another major issue brought up in several groups was the concept of landowners receiving compensation from the Department for property damage from deer or elk, and then limiting access to their properties to only those hunters who are willing to pay exorbitant fees for the privilege to hunt on them (this was sometimes referred to as “double-dipping” because of the two sources of money for landowners). A few hunters throughout the groups said that landowners who received compensation for damage done by wildlife should be obligated to allow hunters in general onto their properties to thin the herds.

Land access is huge. You could say a lot of bad things about the Feds…but [when] you get to the state management, and Wyoming can’t pay to fight those forest fires, what are you going to do when you need money and you don’t have your income? The fear is that they’ll sell those public lands. So, I think public access is huge and probably the biggest issue. —Cheyenne resident

I’m going to put my kids in for Saratoga next year.... That place is running rampant with antelope, but it’s all checkerboard. You’ve got to watch what you’re doing. There’s a couple ranches that we know we could probably get on, but it’s nearly 100% drive-ons. So you’ve got to really look at those type of things when people keep telling me, “I could never draw a tag.” One of my customers up in Cody is like, “I can never get an antelope tag.” Well, where are you putting in? “South of town.” Well, yeah. Come on, you’ve got to look around and see where your opportunities lie. They do need to have some type of point system. —Rock Springs resident

If you go up to South Pass and Frye Lake, [it was a] beautiful drive. About four years ago, they put the highway in, cut all the trees back—it makes me sick. I go up there to get away from everybody. I’ve seen fifth-wheeled trailers—triple-axle, Colorado, California—all these idiots that don’t know nothing about our mountains. They paved the road up there. I signed it “no”—I didn’t want the road paved up there because of that reason right there…. That’s one of them [areas] that you wanted inaccessible. —Riverton resident

There’s a lot of places, especially for fishing, that’s fantastic…. It would be a horrible thing to not have that [access]. The Platte has places like that, where you can get in to the river through private lands. —Gillette resident

Fishing access is awesome—you can go about anywhere. The hunting [access] is not [as good] because there’s big money involved. —Gillette resident

Multiple participants noted the widespread deadwood in Wyoming’s forests as a fire hazard. They emphasized the need for logging and the removal of excess deadwood, thereby allowing more undergrowth to grow. A few people also expressed concern over the perceived mismanagement of Russian olive and sagebrush.

A few years ago, they were taking out all the Russian olives, just past Thermopolis. It was destroying the environment—the banks were about to erode, and a lot of animals lived there…. They decided to remove all these trees and it left scarred river banks. It didn’t make any sense. —Riverton resident

I think they overdo some of their sagebrush…. For whatever reason, the Game and Fish is just sure that sagebrush is the best habitat there is for anything. —Gillette resident

They need to log Shoshone National Forest. The beetle kill and the fallen timber is incredible. —Cody resident

Why don’t they go into Yellowstone? Every time I go in through the east entrance, I’m like, “Look at this. All this dead stuff here.” Sell permits for it and you can make money on this. The national park is screaming they’re broke. Well then, do this and then people can harvest the firewood, and then you get more sunlight in there and more growth. It’s common sense. It’s fifth grade biology. —Cody resident

A number of participants across the five groups indicated that the Department’s most important priorities center on wildlife management and conservation of the state’s fish and wildlife resources. Along with this, many people affirmed that quality wildlife-related recreational opportunities will only be possible if the state’s natural resources are well managed.

I think they should talk about their conservation and management. …I think the hunting and angling and everything is a byproduct of the conservation and management. —Rock Springs resident

It’s a balancing act for them [Game and Fish] too because they’re there to regulate the state’s wildlife, and yet there is a need or a mandate to create an income off of it. When you talk about the state legislature having to approve increases in licensing and different things, well that’s one side of it. The other side is the Game and Fish people want to hire more people, so [they] need to up the ante here, and they can’t. There’s a tension there that I don’t know if you’d ever completely overcome that. —Riverton resident

They [Game and Fish] do quite a bit of research and things like that…. Everybody [refers to] them as “game wardens,” but they do a lot more than that. But they don’t do a very good job of communicating what they’re doing. —Gillette resident

Personally, I think the management [is an issue]: the whitetails forcing the muleys out. Or, taking care of the fish—with the invasive species there. That’s what they need to be doing—concentrating on controlling that stuff, if we’re going to have “world-renowned” whatever it is. Stewardship. —Cody resident 28 Responsive Management

Department Vision Statement In general, participants were ambivalent about the wording of the Department’s vision statement. Overall, most people were generally favorable toward the statement, “Wyoming is home to an abundant and diverse array of wildlife and wildlife habitat which plays an integral part in the State’s culture, economy and quality of life.” However, a number of participants questioned the second statement: “The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is dedicated to providing world- renowned hunting, angling, and other wildlife-based recreational opportunities…” Some participants recommended omitting the phrase “world-renowned,” with some people suggesting that this wording too heavily emphasized Wyoming as a tourist destination for out-of-state hunters and anglers; others questioned whether it was accurate to describe Wyoming’s hunting and fishing opportunities today as “world-renowned.” A few others questioned the phrases “stakeholder engagement,” wondering how the Department defines “stakeholder,” and “science based management,” seemingly distrustful of the potentially impermanent nature of science.

It sounds like it’s a good goal; I don’t think we’re there yet. I don’t think they’re to that level yet [in reference to the second sentence]. I don’t think they’ve got the people or money to do it yet. It’s all challenging that way [with resources]. —Cheyenne resident

It is a good vision statement, but a hard one to live up to. —Rock Springs resident

You see where it says “world-renowned”? You don’t need that. [They should be] providing hunting and angling privileges to the citizens of Wyoming. —Riverton resident

“World-renowned” invites outsiders [that] we don’t really want in our backyard. —Riverton resident

That’s one reason I like Wyoming: it’s not overpopulated, there’s not an awful lot of outsiders coming into it. —Riverton resident

The top part sounds like a reflection of what we said about Wyoming. The bottom part acts like they’re in charge of the public outreach and “world-renowned hunting, angling, and wildlife-based recreational opportunities.” —Gillette resident

Here, it says, “world-renowned hunting.” I moved here seven years ago, but started coming out here in the early ‘70s to hunt. I would say, then, it was world-renowned hunting, but not now. Because when you introduced the wolves—an animal not indigenous to this area—look what it’s done to the elk herds [and the] moose. My brother’s been here 45 years, and he tells me, “Every time you go in this area or that area… we’d always see moose in there, or we’d see all these elk. You could pick and choose what bull you wanted out of this elk herd.” Not anymore. It’s because of the wolf [re-introduction]. —Cody resident

Where you say “the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is dedicated to providing world-renowned,” how about “providing once-world-renowned”? Be honest about it. —Cody resident Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 29

Current Performance of the Department The majority of participants were strongly approving of the Department’s performance as an agency. There seemed to be an assumption among many participants that the Department is doing the best it can with a limited budget. The perception of a limited budget seemed to stem from the often-observed lack of a more widespread game warden presence throughout the state. Others framed their comments in terms of the Department’s ability to work within constraints and through challenges imposed by federal agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A small number of people drew a contrast between Department game wardens (who spend a great deal of time in the field) and office-based administrators (often perceived as lacking intimate knowledge of Wyoming’s wildlife and natural environment).

I think the Game and Fish does what they can with the resources they’ve got. They’re so handcuffed by the federal government and their management practices. —Cheyenne resident

When you hear about other states and their management programs, and you see what we do for our conservation and [for] everybody who wants to hunt, I think the Game and Fish does a phenomenal job of making sure that they appease everybody within the state of Wyoming. Because some of these other states you just have no chance—there’s nothing. —Rock Springs resident

I actually think Game and Fish does a fair job. Could they do better? Sure. Could we do better? Every one of us could do a little bit better when we’re out to country. Sure. How many people have taken off to track and started a new road out through the sagebrush on their four-wheeler or side-by-side? —Rock Springs resident

The game wardens know what goes on in our state. The other guys [administrators] are sitting in an office saying, “Let’s make this law this way, or that way.” —Riverton resident

I would think if they [Game and Fish] would manage the wildlife, the recreation comes. I think wildlife first—like build it and they will come. Maybe then we’ll be that “world- renowned” place they’re talking about. —Cody resident

I truly believe that Game and Fish is responsible—and it should be one of their priorities—for promoting hunting, because hunting is part of management. If we look nationwide, the number of hunters are on a decline. Because there’s a decline in hunting, managing these animals is becoming more and more difficult. A lot of people would say [that] because we have more homes and people living in these areas the animals are being pushed and there’s less and less animals, but to the contrary, there’s more of these animals, and they need to be managed. I think Game and Fish should be out there promoting hunting more, especially to younger folks. I’m not just talking about those kids in the single digits, but to those kids in their teens, twenties, and thirties—trying to get them to come out there and do hunting, and having mentorship programs and things like that. —Cody resident

30 Responsive Management

One important reason for participants’ general appreciation for the work of the Department was interaction with agency game wardens, biologists, and other personnel. Despite a few exceptions, most people who had interacted with Department personnel spoke of the experiences in positive terms, often describing wardens as courteous, friendly, helpful, and prompt in replies and responses. A very small number of participants in a few of the groups had had negative interactions with wardens; it was suggested by a few people that younger, more inexperienced wardens (who may have “more to prove”) are more likely to be aggressive or rude, while older, more experienced wardens are more likely to laid back, friendly, and approachable in the field.

I’ve got nothing but the greatest respect for the way they come across—very friendly; not mean like in Colorado. I had a bad experience [there]. —Cheyenne resident

I love their public relations approach when you’re in the field. —Cheyenne resident

They [Game and Fish] are some of the finest. When they contact somebody—especially out-of-staters who aren’t used to them—they’ll sit and explain things to them, talk to them. When they leave people, people are happy. Just the way that they communicate with people and interact [is good]. I don’t know if they take special courses in how to interact with people or not, but they do a fine job of it. —Rock Springs resident

I think the major strength of the Game and Fish is the personnel they have in the field. They work extremely hard, they are extremely dedicated people, and they’re what everybody sees. I think that’s one of their biggest strengths. As far as programs, they’ve run some wonderful programs. They’ve got that black-footed ferret back. It was almost extinct and they happened to find one little family of them and they brought them back and have actually started releasing them in the wild. —Rock Springs resident

I haven’t heard anything bad in all my experiences with anybody to do with the Game and Fish. They’re all very nice and polite. They’ll do anything to help you. I’ve talked to biologists on sage hen hunting…. [The biologist was] a very nice guy [and he] told me all kinds of places to go and hunt. And he was correct. —Riverton resident

I think the strength for them [Game and Fish] is their people. They are friendly; they do know us. I think that’s what resonates. They’re part of the community. You always have nice conversations with them. —Riverton resident

I do read every year about [Game and Fish] wanting information about poaching. So I know they are active. I read and I do see that they are making arrests and they are trying to solve mysteries about a dead animal. I see that they’re on the job. —Gillette resident

I had a really good rapport with [a certain warden] and I used to have some fascinating conversations with him—the man was a wealth of knowledge. When I would converse with him, it was always about, “Hey have you seen any animals in this area? Have you seen any here?” He would go in depth and talk about, “Well, you know, there’s not much forage in this area; you might want to try over in this area here.” So, I’ve had some good discussions with him, especially about fishing, too. —Cody resident Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 31

Two criticisms of the Department’s performance were insufficient coverage by game wardens (some attributed this to insufficient funding for the agency) and a relative lack of communication about agency programs, accomplishments, and initiatives. For some people, this lack of communication came down to experiences on the personal level, with a few people mentioning instances in which they had to wait for long periods for a response from a Department employee or from a field office. Others requested more proactive outreach on the Department’s part, especially by communicating and explaining to the Wyoming public (and recreationists in particular) budgetary and regulatory decisions that affect outdoor recreation and wildlife.

Our agency does a great job of getting kids in like “Take a Kid Fishing Day.” But we don’t do a lot of other things to promote low-cost [education and recruitment opportunities]. —Cheyenne resident

I think you can get slightly negative just because there’s so many people out there and limited resources. As the amount of people go up, the resources don’t get any bigger. Then, what happens is…you can’t get a permit and then you look disappointedly at the Game and Fish when it’s not their fault. It’s just that you’ve got too many people after a limited resource. That just keeps going. Twenty years ago, a game warden told me, “If you even draw a tag, you should feel lucky in the future. If you draw one; that’ll be your hunting experience.” So I didn’t believe him, but we’re here. —Rock Springs resident

Game and Fish’s biggest problem is money. But part of their money problem is because they’ve got to manage wolves, they’ve got to manage bears, they’ve got to manage all these non-game species and it’s costing them some bucks. They’re taking over all these federal programs. —Rock Springs resident

They could put a page or a page and a half in the regulations [detailing the agency’s budget]—nothing major. You could break it down that way, so people are informed, because everybody gets that book. —Rock Springs resident

We went camping up to Slate Creek and prior to that, the bears had gotten into the camp. As soon as we got there, they [Game and Fish wardens] were right there, talking to us [about precautions]. We went two weeks later, to the same spot, and never saw one [Game and Fish warden]. Like you said, I think they are spread kind of thin. —Riverton resident

They’re spread thin. —Riverton resident

They’re not easy to get a hold of. —Gillette resident

You see a truck with a little triangle once in a while. You’re over at the lake and you see it zip by, or you’re out hunting and you see it and they may come up and talk to you or they may not. —Gillette resident

32 Responsive Management

Importance of Providing Recreational Opportunities Discussions regarding the importance of the Department’s efforts to provide wildlife-based recreational opportunities tended to focus mostly on ways of making it easier for residents to hunt and fish. Key suggestions included making more hunting tags and licenses available to residents (and potentially minimizing efforts to attract nonresidents hunters and anglers) and simplifying regulations. A few people suggested other ideas for reinforcing the link between residents and Wyoming’s natural environment, such as stewardship initiatives that would allow people to assist with land improvements while also creating access opportunities.

If Game and Fish could potentially bridge the gap where people could go out and help maintain an area—like the Adopt-a-Road thing. If we go help do those things to help get access to some of those [places] so that they’re not being abused by trash buildup, the Game and Fish has a way to do that. They have potentially the conversation—the linking point—to where some of us would go do that. We’ll come out and clean up, so we’ll have a corn field to hunt [on]. —Cheyenne resident

There are two things. I think it’s a great thing that the state of Wyoming offers a lifetime fishing license. I’ve been here 10 years, and you can buy a lifetime conservation stamp. On my end, I look down the road 20 years—they may have wished they didn’t do that because they raised the price and they need that revenue. But I truly appreciate that— that’s a great idea. —Cheyenne resident

If we don’t bring the kids into it, the anti-hunters are going to step right in and we do have that problem in the state.... [It’s] not near as bad as some states, but it is present. —Rock Springs resident

They should it make it harder [to get a tag] for out-of-staters. —Riverton resident

I think if they changed their licensing structure [it would help]. My family put in for nine different tags. We got nothing. Again, to the out-of-staters, I don’t think they need to give out or promote any more. I think they need to provide more [opportunities]. —Riverton resident

I think it’s important for them [Game and Fish] to help people be able to do it [hunt and fish, etc.] responsibly: for them to be able to do the classes and provide those for people.

My husband would like to start hunting; he’s never hunted big game. He’s pretty much said to me, “I think we need a lawyer before I go where I can go.” Again, he has the equipment, but he’s talked to guys at work who have said, “I think you need a lawyer to hunt in Wyoming” [due to the difficulty of understanding public and private land boundaries and related access issues]. —Cody resident

The state issues a certain number of permits, but the state feels that it’s a healthy number of permits they’ve issued. —Cody resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 33

Participants were asked what should be done to improve other recreational opportunities besides hunting and fishing, and a number of comments addressed the need for improvements to the Department’s website as well as trail and road maintenance to ensure accessibility for hikers, wildlife viewers, etc. Additionally, a few people suggested outreach and programmatic initiatives geared toward youth.

Maybe make the website a little easier to navigate. —Cheyenne resident

[As an example,] the Muley Fanatic Foundation was started by two young guys. All the money stays in the state or even in the area where they collect the money. They work hand-in-hand with the Game and Fish [and] with the Forest Service. It’s beautiful, what they do for organizations. —Rock Springs resident

There’s tons of trails to hike here in Wyoming, but I imagine the Forest Service has had their budget cut too and some of the trails are pretty hard to access…. [With] some of them you’re constantly stepping over deadfall. So, a lot of the trails are not maintained. —Riverton resident

They maintain all those roads [near Big Horns] at the beginning of the season, when the snow melts, but then it’s done pretty much from then on. They get ruts and people can’t get back there. I think if they would concentrate more on maintaining the roads to these places, accessibility [would be easier]…. Find some extra funds or go out to federal help for funds for hiring people just to grade roads and make sure they’re safe and passable. [Some roads have] a 1,000 foot drop on one side and there’s no railing all the way up there…. —Gillette resident

I’d like the focus on resident kids. I don’t think they can have an advertising campaign for every Californian to come out here. If you want to come out here and pay your fee and give us our economic boost [that’s great]. —Cody resident

34 Responsive Management

Importance of Recruiting New Recreationists In discussions regarding the importance of the Department making efforts to recruit new recreationists (particularly hunters and anglers), many participants appeared supportive of the general concept of getting kids outdoors (whether hunting, fishing, hiking, or other activities). Suggestions included making it easier for young and prospective sportsmen to obtain hunting and fishing licenses, increasing the availability of hunter safety courses, continuing to improve public access, and (again), improving the Department’s website as a go-to source of information. Also during these discussions, a few people returned to concerns about private landowners effectively being allowed to control hunting opportunities for certain sought-after species. Note that at least a handful of people across the groups suggested that the Department should concentrate first and foremost on the management and well-being of the state’s and wildlife resources and not necessarily on the recruitment of new recreationists.

Maybe make the website a little easier to navigate. —Cheyenne resident

There’s some things going on here that scare me. One ties into the beetle kill and…all of these access roads up in the mountains. Because, if the federal government decides that they can’t afford to fund the forest department and keep some of these roads open, we’re going to totally lose the [access]. Not all of us have horses. That’s an issue. —Cheyenne resident

Maybe they ought to make it easier for kids to get permits. I have a son [who] I took hunting the year before last, and he wanted to go hunting this year. So, I figured I’d get him an antelope tag, but he didn’t have any success. It was kind of discouraging—he got his first rifle the Christmas before and wanted to use it. —Rock Springs resident

To make it more accessible [is important]. —Riverton resident

[For Game and Fish] the youth and mentoring programs are good. If you don’t grow up in a hunting family, it’s hard to get it started. So, if a young person wants to hunt...and they don’t have anybody to take them, the mentor program or whatever…would be good to help them get started. —Riverton resident

I think they do have a responsibility right now [to try to bring more people in]. Hunter safety classes are very hard to get into; they’re very limited and they’re full and it’s very hard to get your children into a class. And if they get turned down, they might get turned off by it and choose not to become a hunter. —Gillette resident

I don’t think it’s their responsibility to go out and try and recruit people to go hunting and fishing. I don’t think that’s their problem at all. —Gillette resident

[Game and Fish should] try to reach out to these kids, show them there’s other things than a video game. But I have a problem with these guys [landowners] that will let you come on and shoot a cow elk for $500, but if you want to shoot a bull they’re going to charge you $5,000. It seems to me like they’re selling wildlife and they don’t own the wildlife. —Cody resident Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 35

Interactions with Department Personnel As previously discussed, the large majority of participants across the five groups who had had personal contact with game wardens and other Department personnel spoke quite positively about these experiences. Only a very small number of participants shared stories about negative encounters (interestingly, two focus group participants in separate locations who spoke somewhat negatively about their interactions with game wardens were both former law enforcement officers themselves). Department personnel were specifically commended by a number of people for being easy to contact, especially by phone (several people mentioned examples of game wardens who had provided their personal mobile phone numbers to recreationists so as to be easily reachable). A few people in the Cody focus group said that they had better luck getting questions answered through the main Department office in Cheyenne rather than through smaller regional offices.

Very positive [interactions], every time. —Cheyenne resident

I’ve got probably 10 of their phone numbers right here in my phone. Game wardens, biologists—[all were] very helpful. —Cheyenne resident

I’d say wonderful. I bet you I’ve had 30 or 40 confrontations with them that I loved. —Cheyenne resident

I see them [in the] summer, the winter, [and] had good response from them. I have reported violations to them. —Rock Springs resident

Now I’m going to tick everybody off. As an ex-law enforcement officer, I’ve got absolutely no use for the game wardens. They violate more constitutional rights than you could shake a stick at. If a street cop did what the Game and Fish wardens do, they’d be in court so often. [They do things like] illegal searches and seizures. They go overboard. —Rock Springs resident

They’ve [my interactions with Game and Fish] all been positive. [They’re] friendly guys. Just this last season, he just pulled up and was chatting with us. He didn’t even ask for a tag or anything, which I thought was weird. —Rock Springs resident

I don’t think I’ve run in to any of them [Game and Fish wardens] that’s got a bad attitude yet. Some of them know how well that’d go over with the locals. Most of their attitudes are pretty good, considering what they’ve got to put up with. —Riverton resident

My friend and I were horse camping on one of the high mountain lakes. A Game and Fish agent came by—very nicely—and said, “You’re a little too close to the lake.” We were probably 100 yards. She said, “Can you move your camp?” She sat and had a cup of coffee with us. She was real nice. It was a fine interaction. She wasn’t pushy. —Riverton resident

36 Responsive Management

I wish they were easier to get a hold of. I did try to contact them this year because over in Oshoto they’re drilling for bentonite. Well, I knew I could hunt it last year. This year, I go up there and now they’ve got “No Hunting” signs all over the place. So, I thought maybe they changed it because they’ve got workers in there—I understand that. And I tried to call the [local Game and Fish] guy, and I don’t think I heard from him until like two days later. —Gillette resident

I’ve never really had a bad one [warden] that I interacted with. But the ones that I’ve been around have been mostly the older ones. It’s usually the newer ones—the younger ones—they want to flex their muscles and show their power. It’s just like the police department. The younger ones come in [like that], but the veterans are like, “Really? You guys, just stop.” —Gillette resident

Easy [to contact them]. —Cody resident

I think someone gave me like personal cell phone numbers. —Cody resident

I have two game wardens’ cell phones. —Cody resident

I find it easier to call Cheyenne—their information line. They’ve been pretty quick as far as being able to answer my questions. I have had occasions with Game and Fish here in Cody and over in Sheridan where the people just didn’t know the answers to my question and they ended up calling Cheyenne. I just asked them, “Can I have that phone number, too, for the future?” —Cody resident

And that’s [calling the Cheyenne office] what seems to work best. —Cody resident

All my encounters with Game and Fish…always seem to be adversarial. They [Game and Fish] always seem to be trying to find you doing something wrong…. They ask you for your license, they ask you for your tag—that’s fine and well. But when they start playing 20 questions and trying to trap you up, it’s like, “Just go away, leave me alone. You saw my license, you saw my I.D., now go away. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” —Cody resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 37

Licensing Requirements and Regulations A fair number of hunters and anglers in the groups had moderate concerns about the perception of rising costs of hunting and fishing licenses; there was also concern about the sheer number of licenses, tags, and stamps required for certain hunting and fishing activities. At the same time, at least a few people said they would be willing to pay higher prices for resident licenses and tags if it meant better chances of being drawn for certain hunts. One person in the Cheyenne group mentioned some moderate difficulty in trying to figure out the decal requirements for kayaks.

Many participants indicated that hunting and fishing regulations are too complex (it was generally agreed that hunting regulations are more complicated and harder to understand than fishing regulations, although a number of participants had comments about the latter as well). Interestingly, some people seemed to appreciate the complicated nature of regulations, feeling that it is incumbent on hunters and anglers to figure them out as part of the privilege of hunting and fishing in Wyoming: several people in the Cody focus group commented that complex regulations help to “weed out” hunters who do not care enough to go to the trouble of studying the regulations. There was support for the simplification of regulations, especially for hunting, as well as simplification of the process of purchasing licenses via the Department’s website.

With the kayak thing, just going through that process—figuring out what I needed to have was frustrating and it was confusing initially. I spent time [figuring it out]. —Cheyenne resident

I still think, if you’re a hunter or a fisherman or whatever, it’s on you to figure out what you need to have. They [Game and Fish] are very accessible [even though] the website might not be great. It’s your burden to call up and make sure you’ve got it [what you need]. It’s not their job. —Cheyenne resident

Especially [with the younger kids], I know my kids are challenged with day-to-day survival with just plain economics. And you look at different licenses and the more involved you get, the more it’s going to cost—I understand that. Sometimes, I’ve had to help them out a little bit, just so they could get the licenses to do it [hunt]. On the fees issue, it’s important—you’ve got to have it—but at what point does it mellow out a little bit? You’ve got to catch up with inflation. —Cheyenne resident

I would gladly pay more for an in-state license so that they’d sell [fewer] out-of-state licenses. —Rock Springs resident

Something they did this year that was different from the past is they sent you your license and no maps. Later on, you get the whole brochure with everything in it—maps, etc. Generally, if you got an elk license, they sent you a set of regulations for the elk, with a map of all the areas. This year, they didn’t do that. They just sent you a booklet later that had all of them—elk, deer, all the animals in it—with the maps in it. —Rock Springs resident

I think it’s the person. In the last full weekend of general elk season…[we were] trying to figure out where the boundaries ran. I said, “Let me see the regs.” And my friend goes, 38 Responsive Management

“Oh, that’s just gibberish.” Really? I sat there and read it [the regulations] and we followed it right around on the map. —Rock Springs resident

A good thing about licensing is, after you hit 65, you get a pioneer license. —Riverton resident

Even if they had to come up with some kind of system on your tag [where] you had certain days that you could hunt—they would know exactly who damaged your property. —Riverton resident

They’re [licenses] too high-priced. —Gillette resident.

No! They [the regulations] are not easy to understand! —Cody resident

The high bar of the difficulty of the regulations weeds out the crappy hunters. If you didn’t have that high bar, you would have the shit-show that you do in the south. So, there is a benefit to having a difficult [regulatory bar]. You have to educate yourself— you have to work to [hunt]. —Cody resident

It [fishing regulations] can be kind of weird to know which drainage you can fish in. [It’s the] same thing: you have to be smart enough to study. —Cody resident

Anybody can pull up the state statutes and read through those. It’s when you start to get into the Commissioner’s regulations for hunting and fishing. The Game and Fish Commissioners elaborate on state statutes and they make regulations. Unless you really know where to go to research that and find those regulations, it’s very difficult…. I was shocked the first time I found those and started to read those Commissioner’s regulations…. With the commissioners, they make their decisions and they make these changes. For the most part, the public doesn’t even know about it. —Cody resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 39

OPINIONS ON ACCESS ISSUES IN WYOMING Access was a prevalent topic of discussion in each focus group. The prevailing concern among hunters seemed to be the restriction of access to public land by private land owned by ranchers and other landowners. Hunters across the five groups commonly described instances of inadvertent or unintended trespassing as a result of needing to cross private land in order to reach public land. Along these lines, there were numerous stories from hunters about confrontations and other encounters with ranchers and landowners whose lands prevented direct access to nearby public land (landowners were often described as being unwilling to allow access through their properties to adjacent Bureau of Land Management areas or other public lands).

A further source of frustration was the observation by hunters in some of the groups that some landowners charge high fees in exchange for the privilege of hunting big game species on their lands (trophy deer and elk were commonly named as examples). It was mentioned that landowners occasionally also receive compensation from the state for property damage caused by wildlife—the focus group discussions suggest that many hunters, already frustrated by a scarcity of access, are further frustrated at the notion of landowners making money off wildlife on lands that remain inaccessible to most hunters.

There was more satisfaction with fishing access in Wyoming, although a number of participants commented about the need for easements in areas where private land prevents shoreline fishing along lakes, streams and rivers—it was noted that many anglers do not own boats and so must fish from the shoreline or not at all.

A lack of public access was also said to affect hiking and wildlife viewing in some areas, especially in places where public roads have been closed due to a lack of maintenance (some participants noted that certain areas are now accessible only by horseback). Also, a number of participants communicated concern about the prospect of federal lands being transferred or sold to state or private entities (it was speculated that such scenarios would result in even less access).

It is noteworthy that public access, especially access for hunting, was a top-of-mind issue of concern for many participants, so much so that access was often brought up by participants in seemingly unrelated discussions (the initial discussion on issues facing Wyoming’s wildlife and natural environment, for example).

I believe it’s [hunting access] getting worse. —Cheyenne resident

I’d say it [access] is getting worse. —Cheyenne resident

Access [has gotten] worse…slowly, since I was a kid, all over the state. I’ve been here a long time. Back when I was younger, you could pretty much go anywhere and have a great time hunting and fishing. It was not hard to get to. But now, they can’t afford to maintain some roads, so they keep closing roads all over the place, especially on federal land. [It’s] tougher and tougher to get where you need to go, unless you’re younger and go cross-country for days on end. The older you get, the more you want to drive to get a little bit closer, but it isn’t happening. You used to [be able] to go a lot further. —Cheyenne resident 40 Responsive Management

I agree a lot with the access issue. It all comes down to dollars. People can’t afford— federal or state—to do the best job that is possible to do because the dollars aren’t there. That’s where the Feds are talking about selling all that land back to different people or just turning it all over to the state so they don’t have to worry about it. If that happens, of course, the state has a lot more territory to cover, [but] they don’t have the people and dollars to do it. You can’t maintain anything, [and] things go south. I just don’t know if there’s a simple answer to that. —Cheyenne resident

All the pheasants are running back over to the guy’s corn field anyway, but the Game and Fish aren’t putting any agriculture on the walk-in. I know somebody owns that and they’re leasing that, but…they’d probably like to have some corn on it…. I’m just saying, there are hardly any waterfowl opportunities in Wyoming unless you own a ranch or you get on a river somewhere where there’s access to them. —Cheyenne resident

The challenge I have, as a hunter, [is] when those landowners turn in crop damage and they gain our Game and Fish dollars back and yet they won’t let you go harvest a cow or a calf off those properties. It seems to me [to be] simple common sense that if you don’t allow people in there to move those herds off your property, then you don’t get access to hay damage or anything…. We’re losing our dollars that could go [toward] buying access for other places. I just don’t think those landowners should be allowed to get that fee. If they’re selling bulls for $10,000 and they never turn in and never take an ounce of our state money, I guess that’s their privilege as a private landowner. —Cheyenne resident

I don’t think private landowners should be able to make public land theirs without at least allowing one road through to get to public land. If you have a nice block of public land surrounded, it should be accessible. There should, by law, have to be an accessibility. Otherwise, they [landowners] just pretty much bought that whole section of BLM land too, without paying for it. —Rock Springs resident

I know [a number of] years ago, up at the New Fork area, there was an access road back up into the forest where some out-of-state millionaire bought the ranch and bought the road off. They built a road around him to get access through that. —Rock Springs resident

Years ago, everybody’s grandpa had a farm you could hunt on, and now a lot more people are living in the cities and don’t have relatives [with access to land]. If they don’t grow up in a hunting family, it’s hard to get started. —Riverton resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 41

I know the state has stepped in in certain areas, especially up by South Pass where there’s an out-of-state owner. They have forced him to have gates open so you could pass through his land. I don’t know how far they can go that way, but the Game and Fish did that…. There’s some pretty big sections that you can bird hunt on…. You had to go across…[so] they made him open the gates. It’s public access across private land—you had to stay on the trail, which is fine. —Riverton resident

These ranchers are pissing and moaning about all the elk tearing down their fences and eating all their feed, and they want Game and Fish to issue more tags for those areas. But then they won’t let you on that area…. So why is the Game and Fish even putting out tags in an area we can’t even access? That’s kind of frustrating. —Riverton resident

There are ranchers who actually paid for that access—the county putting a road through them—but then they lock it in anyway, even though it’s BLM land. —Gillette resident

And when they lock the gates, they block the access to every one of us in here to go in there and potentially get one of their $25,000 animals. —Gillette resident

There is a ton—probably a good 40 to 60 square miles—of landlocked land that you can’t get to or access. If you pull out the map: “can’t get there, can’t get there, can’t get there.” —Gillette resident

Or they own just a little strip just to where you can’t access [the rest of the public land] just because they [ranchers/landowners] own that one little piece. —Gillette resident

BLM and Forest Service [lands are] supposed to be open to the public, and a lot of state land is too. The state tries to buy access. I think they lost their access, but that [area] above Kaycee, years ago, was a good place to hunt. But it was landlocked by private land…. I was up there one time, and took my boy up—he was about 13 or 14—and instead of driving on it because it was muddy, we parked the trailer and rode horses in there. I came back out and this lady chewed me up one side and down the other. How dare I park along her road! And it was a paid access [road]. I think the state may have lost that—I’m not sure. —Gillette resident

It would help if there weren’t so many draw areas. [Before,] you never heard of a draw area—everything was [for] general tag and it dispersed people a lot more, too. I also understand why they do it—to manage the game a little better. But, I think there could be a few more general areas. That, and if they would expand their access into different places even though they have to buy it. I think there’s ranchers open to [letting] you through too…. They bought a right-of-way up through that ranch and they went to the walk-ins. Still, you’ve got to walk a long ways to get [to anywhere for hunting]. —Gillette resident

It’s [fishing access] better than the hunting. —Gillette resident

42 Responsive Management

I’ve been on both sides of this. We were always pretty open to let anybody come in and hunt on us. Part of it was you’d get guys leaving gates open and stuff and then you have bucks get in the wrong time of year and you’re lambing in February. There is that angle too. The other side [is] ranchers went through hard times here several years ago. It’s still hard to make a living at it. So if you can get $5,000 for a deer or something like that, you can’t blame them for doing that. I still think the majority of ranchers are pretty open if you come talk to them…. [Game and Fish’s role should be] facilitating access to public ground. —Gillette resident

I don’t disagree with everything everybody’s saying. But, frankly, I felt more impacted by the fact that places I used to go are either newly locked up or there’s a house where you used to be able cross something—access issues. There’s more people. I know we’re not a huge state. —Cody resident

We’ve encroached on the critters. I remember going [to a certain region] up there and Wapiti was the biggest thing between here and Yellowstone. If you look at Wapiti Valley now, you can’t even hardly grow a crop up there let alone a garden. [It’s] access— people move in, they buy property. They [say,] “We just love your lifestyle out here; we love Wyoming. No Trespassing.” [It’s] the first thing they put on their fence. —Cody resident

I’m seeing property owners buying adjacent to national forests. I think the access is pretty poor. There’s places I like to go in to hike, but I look on the property tax records to find out who owns it. I’m like, “Well, you know, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to access that trail that’s maybe a few acres away from where I live because it’s private property.” —Cody resident

These huge ranches…tie up so much of the property that people can’t hunt…. They’re huge, huge [ranches], and they go for miles and miles and if you happen to hunt on them by mistake or something, then you’re going to get fined and stuff like that. It’s an access issue to me. I lived in Colorado for a few years, and I think you had a lot more access into the mountains than you do here…. I know some of the ranches you used to be able to hunt…went to a fee where if you paid $40 they’d let you on to hunt. Now, you can’t do that anymore. It’s [access] eroding, I guess. —Cody resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 43

KNOWLEDGE OF AND OPINIONS ON DEPARTMENT FUNDING Many participants seemed aware that at least some of the Department’s funding comes from hunting and fishing licenses. Some participants called for greater transparency on the Department’s part with regard to its funding sources and annual expenditures. In response to this, several people noted that this information is readily available online. Regardless, some felt that the Department should be more proactive in communicating such information, rather than simply making it available online (it was mentioned that the agency’s website does not make it easy to find the information).

Most participants thought that hunting and fishing opportunities in Wyoming should continue to be funded by hunters and anglers. There were differing opinions as to whether non-consumptive recreational activities (e.g., hiking, wildlife viewing, boating) should be funded by the participants of these activities themselves, through another funding mechanism such as the state’s general fund, or through the agency’s current dedicated mechanism of hunting and fishing licenses. Some participants liked the idea of a wider variety of residents (i.e., people other than just hunters and anglers) helping to fund the Department’s management work, while others worried that a wider funding base could end up restricting access to certain activities (i.e., because a diverse population of recreationists could feel equally entitled to the same resources). Some people suggested applying excise taxes to hiking and wildlife viewing equipment (e.g., binoculars) in the same way that such taxes are applied to hunting and fishing equipment and then redistributed to the states as federal aid.

Comments regarding perceptions of the Department’s funding sources:

They get tax from license fees. —Cheyenne resident

It’s from the legislature. —Cheyenne resident

From all those different fees that outdoor enthusiasts pay to participate, plus the legislature. Again, I don’t know if any of that lotto money goes—I don’t think it does. I’d like to see that kind of thing added to it [Game and Fish funding] to where you have enough people to police what needs to be done. —Cheyenne resident

For the first time, a couple of years ago, they received from us some money from the state. But it was a small amount in the budget that went to Game and Fish. It was like a few hundred thousand, or something. It was a pittance. Over 85% is [from] hunting and fishing licenses and the boating tags and that type of stuff. So, it’s the hunters and the anglers [who fund Game and Fish], basically. —Rock Springs resident

Hunting and fishing licenses. —Rock Springs resident

I don’t know what their budget is, but the licenses and out-of-state fees have steadily increased. I don’t know what the [Game and Fish] revenue is, but I’d be interested to find out. They do all these different things besides just the game wardens—education, all these different things—but I doubt there’s a shortage of money. Now, how [do] you want to spend it? That’s like everything else. —Rock Springs resident 44 Responsive Management

From the licenses. —Riverton resident

From fishing and hunting licenses, but they also get money from the general fund. —Riverton resident

I don’t know if they get money from the federal government in grants. —Riverton resident

Years ago they did. —Riverton resident

I don’t know. —Gillette resident

Nobody knows. —Gillette resident

I do know it’s partly funded by speeding tickets at Keyhole. Even though you have to go in seven miles, you have to travel about 20 miles an hour. —Gillette resident

Don’t the hunting and fishing licenses pay for a lot of that? —Gillette resident

No, they’re [Game and Fish are] not self-sufficient. I don’t know what the percentages are, but I know they’re not self-sufficient. —Gillette resident

The agency, I believe, is not in the general fund, which is good because they’re not controlled by the legislature. [It’s funded by] licenses. —Cody resident

And federal aid. —Cody resident

I don’t mind the funding mechanism, but I think they need to be more transparent [about] the money that they have, where the money is going, and the accessibility of the public to see what’s going on with their budget…. Right now, it seems to be the secret budget and the public doesn’t have access to what’s going on with their budget. WYDOT was the same way until now it’s gone into the general fund because they were kind of getting abusive with their budget. —Cody resident

I think a lot of people would like to know the breakdown of out-of-state licenses to residential licenses…. It probably is out there. —Cody resident

Comments regarding how opportunities for hunting, fishing, and trapping should be funded:

They spent millions on this wolf thing. I’d hate to see how much money went on this wolf thing. I think the state probably spent most of the money, but it took people and funds from the agency as well. They fought it and they held to their guns until they finally got what the state of Wyoming considered a fair program. So that was a success for them [Game and Fish]. —Rock Springs resident Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 45

Hunters and fishermen. —Rock Springs resident

Those of us that do it [those activities], as long as we get a good say in it, like this [focus group]. If they get more state or federal money, then they’re going to want to have their fingers in it and I don’t know if I trust Uncle Sam to manage our populations here. —Rock Springs resident

Everybody—the hunters and fishers and trappers. —Gillette resident

Everybody that lives in Wyoming [should help fund it] because that is Wyoming. —Gillette resident

Maybe part of our taxes should fund [it] for those agencies that protect Wyoming. —Gillette resident

I’d like to have non-hunters and non-fishermen pay for it [Game and Fish budget] too. —Cody resident

The non-hunters enjoy the wildlife and they enjoy seeing this, so yeah, why not? —Cody resident

Comments regarding how opportunities for boating should be funded:

I think that should be Parks, Forest Service—someone like that. Hunter safety [funding] should be Game and Fish, but to make somebody wear a lifejacket and teach them how not to go fast in a no-wake zone, that should be Parks or Forest Service. —Rock Springs resident

That’s [currently] Game and Fish’s responsibility. —Rock Springs resident

They do collect the boating fees. —Rock Springs resident

You actually have the Coast Guard down on Flaming Gorge and they enforce it as well, so it’s kind of a dual-enforcement. —Rock Springs resident

Comments regarding how fish and wildlife management in general should be funded:

I think all of us should, because every person in this state profits from it. —Cheyenne resident

Every business benefits from out-of-state [hunting]. —Cheyenne resident

Game and Fish. The state. —Rock Springs resident

46 Responsive Management

Does the money from Keyhole—if you go out there and stay there—go to Parks or to Game and Fish?... Why couldn’t part of that go to Game and Fish? —Gillette resident

Goes to Keyhole [Parks]. —Gillette resident

I’m not sure that’s tied together [Game and Fish and Keyhole]. —Gillette resident

Game wardens just monitor [things there]. —Gillette resident

Comments regarding how opportunities for non-consumptive outdoor recreation should be funded:

When you start talking financing…my thought is that it’s a great idea [to charge non- consumptive users a fee that goes toward fish and wildlife management]. I know enforcement would be an issue, but right now, how are conservation tags being enforced? I mean, if you bump into a game warden [with your tag] filled, then you show them your tag. I think it’s a good idea. I think that should go down for the record. —Cheyenne resident

It [license fees] keeps creeping up on our end, but the other side is money comes into the hotels and the tourist aspect of it. But all the management end of it comes out of the hunters and anglers—they foot that bill. —Cheyenne resident

It’s not just your licenses, but all the things you buy to hunt have got a tax. That does come back to help support wildlife. But I do think that people who hike or people who view [wildlife], their equipment should also have some tax, because I don’t think that Wyoming Game and Fish can do this [without it]—the binoculars, the cameras. —Cheyenne resident

That should all come under the BLM or the Forest Service. They should be picking up payments on the trails and that kind of stuff. —Rock Springs resident

I don’t want to be charged fees for hiking and watching birds. That’s ridiculous. We pay too much tax as it is. I think [they] need to stick to [fees for] hunting and fishing. —Rock Springs resident

The way I see it [is] they’ll always find ways to raise the prices anyway. Everything always goes up. So, they’ll broaden it [fees]. The more money they think they need, the more they’ll broaden it. That’s just a matter of how much. Years ago, it was $19 for an elk license and they threw in a bear license. But it always goes up, because you’ve got all these people after a small resource and you want to manage that. They’ll find ways. —Rock Springs resident

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 47

I don’t know how you’d ever control [fees for] hikers and wildlife viewers. If somebody’s out walking in the sage brush and you say, “Well, you owe us $5 because you’re out here in the sage brush,” I don’t think that’s going to go over very well. —Rock Springs resident

Those [non-consumptive activities] are the benefit of living here. They shouldn’t be something that you have to pay for. —Riverton resident

I don’t see how you could tell a cameraman that he should have [a fee]. —Riverton resident

My absolute nightmare is having to buy a sticker to go anywhere off the highway—any state land, any forest land, anywhere off the highway you’ve got to have a sticker. —Riverton resident

Everybody [should help pay]. —Gillette resident

Local counties [should help pay]. —Gillette resident

I think it [funding] is proportionally everybody’s responsibility. People who do use those lands for hunting or recreation have a responsibility. Everybody enjoys it and breathes and watches wildlife cross their yard or looks up at the mountains—everybody has some responsibility for this planet…. Wyoming Game and Fish is not just game wardens. They conserve the different species of animals out there. A lot of people wouldn’t even know about sage grouse or that they exist. —Gillette resident

Landowners that have these huge ranches that want people to come on and pay them— maybe part of their taxes should help. I think there’s taxes that could cover [these activities]. Maybe some of the oil or gas taxes could cover some of that…. Wyoming isn’t a poor state [due to its natural resources], so I think that should be part of funding the rest of it. We have so much public land that should fund [some of this]. —Gillette resident

Let the state legislature fund it, like they do the highway department or any other government [agency]. I’m pretty sure that’s kind of how it is now. The hunting licenses and stuff probably do go straight to the Game and Fish. I’d like to keep that part as separate as you can, because then you just get wardens or whoever are trying to make money and justify their jobs, and you’ve got guys just writing tickets instead of just saying, “You shouldn’t have done this,” like the old game wardens. Now you have to have a college degree to be a game warden. Years ago, when I was a kid, game wardens were just guys that applied and some had been ranch hands or whatever and just had common sense. I find that to be lacking [now]. —Gillette resident

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The discussion on Department funding also touched on the agency’s Aquatic Invasive Species Program. While most participants seemed to appreciate the intent behind the program, a handful of people across the groups suggested that because the Department relies on volunteer participation in boat inspections, the program is unlikely to be completely successful in preventing the spread of invasive species. A few people suggested exempting from the purchase of a decal watercraft whose small size should not require an inspection, as well as watercraft that are used exclusively on Wyoming’s waterways (see the earlier section on issues related to boating for comments addressing these suggestions). While participants’ comments suggested generally strong awareness of the program itself, few participants seemed aware of the amount spent on the program annually, or that the program is run entirely by the Department.

I do appreciate the emphasis that Game and Fish has put on protecting our waters from the aquatic mussels from Nebraska…. Where they’ve maybe not put money into other things, I do appreciate the fact that, at least to this point, we don’t have them invading [the state], yet. —Cheyenne resident

Hopefully, Game and Fish has at least temporarily stopped the mussels and things from getting into the lakes. You have to have a special permit for every boat now coming from out of state or other lakes. You have to have them inspected and hopefully that’s going to help us. —Rock Springs resident

I did [know about that]. We watched it happen in Michigan.... What is the cost if they [Game and Fish] didn’t do it? Statistically, you can write anything you want and come up with any kind of answer. But what is the actual cost to the state if the invasive species proliferated, versus protecting us from it? I don’t know. —Riverton resident

The interstate regulation is smart. I think that make sense. But most boat and aquatic fun-toy owners take good care of their stuff. —Riverton resident

I don’t see what they’re spending $1.6 million on. The only thing I’ve seen is the cost of selling the stickers. I haven’t ever seen anybody inspect a boat. —Riverton resident

They have boat inspections at all points of entry [into Wyoming]. They have inspectors there from April through October. Whenever I come back from Michigan with boats, I make sure I go through there and get my stickers. And if they’re not there, I usually call [someone else for inspection]. —Riverton resident

I bought mine at [a sporting goods store] in Thermopolis before it went out of business. There was nobody there to even look at the boat. They just handed me the sticker and took the money. —Riverton resident

It’s kind of a funny program. You see a guy sitting there not doing anything for days. I don’t think it does a lot for Game and Fish’s perception. It’s a semi-inefficient program in my opinion. There’s no way they’re able to capture every boat. It relies on people stopping and participating. And they’re only there at certain times anyway. I just think it has that perception that it’s kind of a funky program. —Cody resident Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 49

QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT RESULTS This section summarizes the responses to each of the eight questions posed in the qualitative assessment. As previously mentioned, the findings are separated into two categories: internal employees (which includes all permanent and non-permanent Department employees) and external stakeholders (which includes Game and Fish Commissioners, members of the Governor’s Fish and Wildlife Task Force, and directors of other Wyoming agencies).

MOST IMPORTANT GOALS OF THE PROJECT Internal Employees Educate the public and garner their trust. Many employees stressed the importance of reaching out to the public and gaining their confidence that the Department is making the best decisions to benefit wildlife as well as recreational users and the public at large. It is important to solicit the desires of the public and make it clear that they are being heard, which in turn will make the public feel like a partner in wildlife management. This includes balanced input from the entire public—residents and nonresidents, consumptive and non-consumptive users, non-recreationists—not just the sportsmen or landowners who already attend public meetings or otherwise provide feedback (indeed, the terms “squeaky wheel” and “vocal minority” were frequently used in the responses).

This is the public’s chance to help guide the Department’s direction for the next 5 to 10 years. With that in mind, they should be enlightened on the diversity of wildlife and habitat throughout Wyoming, the ecological consequences of wildlife management policy, the sources and limitations of funding, and what can be accomplished if more funding is available. If public desires run counter to the recommendations of biologists or other professional expertise, these differences should be clearly communicated. The Department should learn about what the public wants but also what they are willing to pay for. An engaged and informed public with stakes in the Department’s success could be a valuable ally in advocating for funding legislation.

Develop a useable and measurable strategic plan. The strategic plan should clearly state the Department’s long-term goals and areas for improvement over the next 5 to 10 years. This plan should set goals for wildlife species and fisheries; address common frustrations of hunters, anglers, and the general public; address ways to increase funding; and demonstrate what the Department can achieve and what is beyond its control. The plan needs to include specific and measurable goals so that progress can be periodically assessed and, if necessary, procedural adjustments can be made. It was emphasized that the strategic plan should be a living document that is integrated naturally into the day-to-day responsibilities; the strategic plan must not sit idly on a shelf after outreach and effort is expended to create it.

Assess and improve employee morale. An important aspect of this overarching project is to determine the overall morale of Department employees, to determine the causes of and solutions to low morale, and to evaluate employees’ perceptions of the direction of management. The project and resulting strategic plan should determine how to best provide the equipment, technical assistance, staffing, and budgets needed to avoid employee burnout. 50 Responsive Management

Increase funding. Many concerns about funding limitations were raised. As demographics change, hunters and anglers are likely to become a smaller percentage of the overall constituency, so the funding apparatus needs to reflect this.

Manage all wildlife, not just game and sport fish species. Some employees questioned if the Department is doing enough to protect and conserve all species, not just those that are targeted by hunters and anglers.

External Stakeholders These respondents agreed with internal employees on the importance of developing a strategic plan and engaging the entire public, not just sportsmen, on priorities regarding wildlife. In addition, stakeholders mentioned the following goals:  Determine how the Department can adapt to changes in the number of hunters, revenues, climate, and other factors to maintain quality habitat.  Improve efficiency.  Obtain funding from all users, not just through license sales.  Pursue opportunities to collaborate with other agencies on projects.  Provide a balance of conservation with population growth and energy development.  Grow youth participation in outdoor recreation.

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MOST IMPORTANT OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT Internal Employees Public support for Department activities. As with the most important project goals, employees frequently stated that the most important project outcome is public trust and support for the Department’s critical projects. This includes support from non-consumptive users; it was suggested that the Department has rarely sought their input in the past, and that too much attention has been given to outfitters. It was noted that the public should feel comfortable reporting crimes and expressing concerns. Consider what the public wants, but clearly explain the scientific reasoning behind any requests that are unsustainable or cannot be met for other reasons. For example, if the public wants to grow a deer population, but the carrying capacity has been reduced due to habitat loss and more deer will only exacerbate winter starvation and disease, the Department has a responsibility to inform the public that habitat enhancement and expansion must first be achieved. If the public feels they have been heard and respected, they will be much more likely to support the Department’s agenda, potentially through financial support or legislative pressure.

An actionable strategic plan. The strategic plan will include long-term goals for wildlife management, but should also include tangible plans that can be implemented quickly without excessive cost. Prioritization of projects, resources, personnel, and spending; a comprehensive list of what the public and employees want; an evaluation of different avenues for funding; identification of Department shortcomings and areas for improvement; and project milestones and schedules are some but not all of the plan’s critical elements. The plan should be adjustable for future possibilities.

Robust fish and wildlife populations. Again, there was emphasis that wildlife management plans should be structured to consider all wildlife, not just game and sport fish. Sporting opportunities should be provided but not at the expense of the overall health of the ecosystem.

Other desired outcomes. Other desired outcomes mentioned by employees include improved employee retention, more research on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), increased participation at public meetings, trust and partnerships with nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and data to show the public and Governor’s office.

External Stakeholders The desired outcomes listed by external stakeholders largely coincide with those listed by internal employees. Stakeholders provided additional emphasis that revenue should be generated by all users, not just sportsmen, and that data should clearly support management decisions on product, policy, rules, and procedures. 52 Responsive Management

SPECIFIC ISSUES TO EXPLORE IN THE RESEARCH Internal Employees Employee responses to this question were diverse and did not coalesce into a few top categories as in previous questions. Therefore, the most common responses are shown below:  Consider how to engage non-consumptive users.  Encourage a higher profile for nongame wildlife; consider renaming Game and Fish to the Department of Wildlife (or similar) to show that all species are of concern.  Show the proportions of Department resources that go to specific functions (e.g., fish, habitat, nongame, research).  Consider proactive functions by personnel such as research, networking, and training.  Improve information sharing—email is not a good way to communicate to employees.  Embrace the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.  Seek alternative funding.  Educate the public on the Department; for example, it does not just consist of game wardens.  Compare Department practices to those of other states.  Control predators.  Manage feedgrounds.  Avoid preferential treatment of outfitters, agriculture, and nonresident hunters.  Mitigate CWD and Brucellosis.  Compare public desires to legislative requirements.  Increase motivations for youth participation.  Address bias, favoritism, and unbalanced workloads in the Department.  Evaluate the degree to which politics has driven policy.  Gauge resident and nonresident knowledge of big game management, diseases, fish stocking, and the inner workings of the Department.  Consider how to fund more game wardens and digital wildlife investigators.  Consider how to address the escalating pace of energy development in the state.  Simplify the licensing process.  Incorporate more advanced mobile apps to engage the younger generation.  Obtain the public’s long-term wildlife goals; Department professionals will best know how to achieve goals once they are known.  Establish career paths for employees.  Determine how to address political and institutional limitations.  Ensure that the public knows where to find information.  Educate the public on science if it differs from their preferences; invest in ad campaigns.  Provide more law enforcement, particularly regarding ATVs on public land.  Do not fall behind on technology/IT.  Eliminate exploitation of animals.  Manage mule deer and other herd sizes.  Have accurate hunting boundaries in GIS.  Work with other agencies to implement best scientific practices.  Acquire public land with oil and gas royalties.

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 53

External Stakeholders In addition to the responses previously listed, stakeholders noted the following issues:  Study the studies; a lot of research exists but big game populations other than elk continue to decline.  Increase cooperation between agencies.  Establish incentives for landowners to preserve or enhance habitat.  Share biological data between agencies.  Establish socioeconomic profiles of users and non-users.  Establish liaisons with agencies and federal partners.  Identify specific opportunities that can be elevated for the visitor economy.  Determine how all users can help pay for fish and wildlife management.

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KEY STRENGTHS OF THE AGENCY Internal Employees Committed and knowledgeable employees. A great strength of the Department is the diverse base of skills and knowledge within its employees. Personnel are talented, passionate about wildlife, diverse in their backgrounds and contributions, and experts in their fields. Furthermore, Department personnel are dispersed throughout the state and accessible to Department constituents. Strong leadership, excellent feedback on customer service, and the ability to recruit talented personnel were also cited as key strengths.

Abundant natural resources. Wyoming’s natural landscape and abundant fish and wildlife populations are a prize attraction to residents and out-of-state visitors. The tourism industry is essential to the state’s livelihood, so it is fortunate that Wyoming boasts more intact ecosystems and wildlife populations than other western states.

Strong relationship with the public. The Department has employees dispersed throughout the state. Personnel have become ingrained in their local communities; consequently, the agency can relate to the public on a personal level. Effective customer service contributes to the favorable public opinion as well. Also, nonresident hunters hold a positive view of the Department and the hunting opportunities it provides (e.g., the opportunity to hunt and choose weapon-specific seasons). The public has a passion for wildlife and is therefore invested in the Department’s success.

Current financial stability. It was noted that the state has shown an increase in hunting and fishing participation, unlike most of the country, and that there is a relatively positive budget outlook at the moment.

Good relationships with other entities. Many employees noted that the Department has a good working relationship with state and federal agencies, industry, landowners, conservation organizations and other NGOs, and the public at large. This has led to a high level of visibility and cooperation on shared goals.

Success stories. The Department can garner support for its objectives by showing examples of past successes. Examples include fish stocking, bird farms, and game and nongame species recovery. Public outreach, youth camps, and public events are worth noting, as are the hunting, fishing, and boating opportunities provided by the Department.

Autonomy. Because the Department is not supported under the state’s general fund, it has the autonomy and authority to prioritize and implement the best management practices without political interference. One comment stated that the Department is “the only game in town” and that wildlife management at the federal level has become heavily politicized and out of touch.

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 55

Other key strengths. Other Department strengths that were mentioned include a strong communication framework (e.g., social media, I&E officers, the Department website, and Wyoming Wildlife magazine), years of research to provide a scientific basis for management decisions, flexibility for employees to seek training and involvement with organizations to strengthen skills, and a small state population.

External Stakeholders The key strengths mentioned by external stakeholders basically match those mentioned by internal employees. Stakeholders also stated that the Department is proactive on fish and wildlife issues and that it has advanced lab work capabilities (a new facility in Laramie).

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KEY WEAKNESSES OF THE AGENCY It should be noted that many issues listed as weaknesses here would appear to contradict items previously listed as strengths. This reflects a diversity of opinions within the respondent categories. Note that the forthcoming quantitative survey of Department employees will provide better clarity into the extent to which certain opinions are held.

Internal Employees Inflexible leadership and structure. Some concerns were raised by a few employees that the Department is too steeped in tradition to implement change, particularly as it relates to hunting seasons. Related comments include: biologists have to plead for changes; there is a culture of ego, favoritism, group-think, and internal politics; field personnel have a distrust of administrative decisions; there are bureaucratic bottlenecks at administrative levels; there is a “we know best” attitude without buy-in from the public; and there is a lack of diversity at supervisory positions.

Low morale among some employees. Factors influencing low morale for some employees include lower pay than other state agencies, lack of job security, high employee turnover, little recourse to deal with problem personnel, and lack of internal assessment in a safe and secure feedback environment. The Department is small compared to other agencies, and there is employee burnout as a result of combined workloads; a specific example mentioned is a lack of administrative assistance, which results in employees spending much time on office paperwork, contracts, grant tracking, etc. in addition to their primary duties. It was also stated that there is no Human Dimensions specialist.

Limited funding base. The Department’s dependency on license sales to fund all programs, including those that do not bring in revenue, is seen as a considerable weakness. Employees indicated that the Department needs to find a way to generate funding from non-consumptive users.

Lack of engagement with non-consumptive users. Employees stated that there is a need for public outreach and programs for the considerable proportion of the public that does not hunt or fish. There is an inability to get the public involved in the regulatory process, apart from the vocal minority. Also, a great majority of people who visit the agency website are sportsmen and not the non-hunting public.

Favoritism toward landowners. Similar to the above item, employees noted a culture of protecting landowner interests at the expense of protecting wildlife habitat, and there is a continual creep of commodity interests into decision-making. Also noted was a culture of residents getting special treatment, although nonresident hunters fund the bulk of the agency.

Poor communication. The dispersed nature of the Department into multiple regions and offices makes coordination difficult. Some employees said the swing to decentralization has gone too far, and each division seems to be an empire unto itself. Also, the Department needs better communication within the agency and with the public to get adequate recognition of its accomplishments. The phone Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 57 center was noted as a weakness, public meetings are said to not be working, and there are no general email customer service links (only the webmaster email).

Other key weaknesses. Other weaknesses cited by employees include: too little focus on nongame species, lack of a formal research section, a need to better manage the Wyoming legislature to get favorable outcomes, an insufficient IT and licensing system, too much focus and money going to western Wyoming, and threats to wildlife habitat from privatization and development.

External Stakeholders Most weaknesses listed by stakeholders correlate to those listed above. Stakeholders also mentioned extreme weather and long winters, the small state population, legislative meddling, a lack of control over fish and wildlife issues, and the state’s reliance on the energy industry at the expense of the environment. 58 Responsive Management

KEY OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE AGENCY Internal Employees Public interest in wildlife. Although a wide array of opportunities were mentioned by Department employees, the one mentioned most frequently is the public’s passion for Wyoming wildlife. There is a desire among most people to protect wildlife, and interest in hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing seems to have increased in the state. Meanwhile, there is a growing demographic of non- consumptive users, which provides the Department an opportunity to find a palatable funding mechanism from this user base. Ultimately, people want the Department to succeed, and public scrutiny of agency work is an advantage.

Partnerships with other entities. The Department has a good relationship with many other entities, such as state and federal agencies, local conservation groups, landowners, NGOs, and academia. In particular, there are NGOs with an interest in public education and recruitment. Also, the Department can work with colleges; for example, it can institute a program through which students shadow field personnel. Existing data can be shared between the various organizations.

Existing research. The Department has developed troves of scientific data over the years. For example, fish sampling data and check station data can be presented to the public in a user-friendly format. Also, the Department has numerous success stories that can be shared with the public to enlist its support.

Pending employee turnover. Employees noted that an aging staff will result in substantial employee turnover in the next few years. This is seen as an opportunity to hire quality personnel, particularly due to the poor job market in natural resources. In addition, new and diverse staff may help the Department adjust to changing demographics and move beyond its traditional policies (for example, it can have greater focus on nongame species and non-consumptive users).

Other opportunities. Internal employees listed several other opportunities:  Excellent workforce.  Abundant natural resources.  Leadership development program.  Social media.  Outsource expertise such as computer programming or the licensing system.  More digital technology for hunters, anglers, and Department employees.  Video conference capabilities.  Develop volunteer program.  Extraction industry is at a low point (an opportunity for the wildlife recreation industry).  Elk and deer hunting opportunity is very good right now.  Mobile technology for data collection.  Some freedom to make decisions without political pressure (not under general state fund). Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 59

 School presentations.  Booths at home shows and state fairs.  Create entry-level positions.  Cross-train employees to help in different areas.  Unite public groups to discourage poor hunter behavior.

External Stakeholders External stakeholders also cited the Department’s quality workforce, partnerships, existing data and institutional knowledge, and the world-class resource of Wyoming’s natural environment. To those they added the following opportunities:  Increased public comment and input.  Use of Governor’s tags and/or Commissioner’s tags to increase poaching reports.  Evaluate consumptive users and non- consumptive users to market holistically (i.e., not just targeting one objective).  Public meetings.  Task forces to hear the public and meet with Department leadership.

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KEY THREATS TO THE AGENCY Internal Employees Lack of funding. There is a long-term decline in hunting, so with an aging user base it is imperative to recruit younger hunters (and anglers). Also, there is a potential loss in federal funding sources. At the other end, there are higher costs of administration, including IT, disease monitoring, and population monitoring. It was stated that there is currently no monetary diversification plan. The Department needs additional funding other than through license increases.

Habitat loss. Several factors contribute to declining wildlife habitat and populations, including climate change, disease, invasive species, pressure to privatize public lands, housing expansion into rural areas, and the energy industry, particularly wind energy development and reduced regulation of the extraction industries.

Disease. Many employees mentioned disease, notably CWD and Brucellosis, and warned that the Department will be blamed if a crisis occurs.

Political influence. The federal government is upending legislation that protects natural resources while simultaneously loosening regulations on energy. At the state level, there is pressure to manage wildlife for human consumption rather than for the benefit of wildlife species, and the legislature is undermining environmental protections via property rights bills. In general, anti-government sentiment was noted by several employees.

Other threats. Internal employees listed several other threats:  Loss of institutional knowledge from upcoming retirements.  Nongame species are underrepresented in agency priorities.  Manipulation by vocal special interests.  Employee turnover and morale.  Lack of opportunity for employee growth.  Time demands (reporting, meetings, planning, NEPA, grant management).  Outdated software.  Cyber security/all data at risk of being breached.  Any needed change will have those opposing it.  Anti-hunting/fishing/firearm sentiment.  Vandalism.  Have not followed through on plans in the past.  Residents want to restrict nonresidents.  Lack of trust between Director’s Office and employees.  Endangered species litigation.  Campaigns to change hunting season structure. Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 61

 Unrealistic public demands (kill wolves, stock walleye everywhere, charge nonresidents more).  Litigation to block state management authority over recovered species (grizzly bear, wolf, trumpeter swan).

External Stakeholders External stakeholders listed several of the threats covered above, as well as the following:  Highway wildlife fatalities.  Drought.  Locals frustrated by marketing to nonresidents.  Reduced roadside maintenance.  Federal unfunded mandates.  Public attention on other priorities like education.  Cost of managing bear and wolf.

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ADDITIONAL COMMENTS Internal Employees Mixed thoughts on the survey and strategic plan. Many employees view the current project as a great opportunity to take public input and develop an effective strategy for the Department moving forward. It was emphasized that the eventual strategic plan should be a living document with annual updates and clear objectives. Strategy recommendations must be feasible and actionable, not overly detailed and idealistic. Conversely, there were many employees who expressed skepticism over this entire exercise. In the past, plans have remained on shelves and/or contained onerous reporting requirements. Some employees have apathy toward more surveys and plans, preferring instead to be left alone to work on their tasks. There will need to be convincing build-up and 100% buy-in from employees for significant change to take root. Also, there were comments that this questionnaire contained “double talk” and that forthcoming surveys will need a larger sample size (“only angry, uninformed outdoorsmen speak their mind”). One employee suggested holding focus groups with nonhunters.

Outsource public relations. It is important for the Department to engage the public. Given the day-to-day responsibilities of employees, it was recommended that the Department pursue additional PR/I&E personnel. Biologists should stick to fish and wildlife, while another entity handles the social work. After soliciting public input, it is important for the Department to remain engaged with its constituents.

Manage nongame species. It was reiterated that all wildlife species need protection and conservation, not just game species or charismatic species.

Reach out to all of the public. It was reiterated that the Department needs to reach the public beyond those who purchase licenses or attend public meetings. (Some described public meetings as a faded concept, while others noted that such meetings are valuable for older generations who do not use a computer.)

Other comments. Other comments from internal employees include:  General comments that the agency is doing a great job.  Set up booths or hold meet-the-warden events.  Increase access to more lands, public or private (make landlocked public lands available).  Department must agree on challenges regarding mule deer, disease, large carnivores, and special interests.  Show the public what the Department actually does.  Need public support for initiatives with young people, wildlife management, and funding.  Valid licenses on cell phones.  Mandatory harvest reporting for all species.  Fees should be reserved for a draw rather than payment for entire license up front.  Science-based management; do not pander to vocal minority.  Address stagnant wages and high turnover. Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 63

 More leadership transparency to address disconnect between Cheyenne and the regions.  More diverse opinions in the agency than administration sees.  Do not worry so much about image.

External Stakeholders External stakeholders provided the following additional comments:  Need for public involvement, but public isn’t always up to speed and needs to be educated.  Double down on outreach and let the public know they are being heard.  Include all users of fish and wildlife in funding.  The Wyoming Department of Transportation supports the Game and Fish Department and will happily share information as needed.

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APPENDIX: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE I. INTRODUCTION A. The purpose of this focus group is to gather the opinions of Wyoming outdoor recreationists and landowners to assist in the Wyoming Game and Fish Department Strategic Planning for the next 5 to 10 years. B. We are recording the discussion, but nothing you say will ever be associated with your name; we simply use the recording to transcribe and analyze the comments. C. Focus group rules. i. Be respectful of others’ opinions, even if you disagree. ii. Please do not interrupt; everyone will have a chance to speak. D. Please introduce yourself and tell us where you’re from and how long you’ve lived in Wyoming. Please also share what kinds of outdoor recreation activities you like to do, such as hunting, fishing, hiking, boating, or watching wildlife.

II. MAJOR ISSUES A. How important is wildlife to you personally? i. Does it improve your life in any way? Does it have no effect on you? Why? B. Please tell me what you see as the most important issues facing Wyoming’s… i. Wildlife. ii. Natural environment. C. For each of these activities, please tell me what you see as the major issues that the state of Wyoming needs to address: i. Hunting in Wyoming. ii. Fishing in Wyoming. iii. Trapping in Wyoming. iv. Boating in Wyoming. v. Hiking in Wyoming. vi. Wildlife viewing in Wyoming. vii. Other outdoor recreation in Wyoming. D. What do you see as the most important needs or issues facing the conservation and management of Wyoming’s: i. Water? ii. Land? iii. Fisheries? iv. Wildlife? v. Outdoor recreationists? (This could mean the recruitment or retention of certain types of recreationists—which activities or groups do you see as being the most important?) E. For each of these areas in which Game and Fish works, please tell me what you see as the major issues or priorities that the agency needs to address: i. Fisheries. ii. Huntable wildlife, meaning wildlife species that can be hunted. iii. Non-huntable wildlife, meaning wildlife species that aren’t hunted. iv. Law enforcement. v. Licensing. vi. Access, which would include both hunting and fishing access issues. Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 65

vii. Habitat, which would include both aquatic and terrestrial habitat issues.

III. ATTITUDES TOWARD GAME AND FISH A. What have you heard about Game and Fish in recent years? i. Which things you heard are the most positive? ii. Which things you heard are the most negative? B. What do you understand to be the responsibilities of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department? C. Where have you heard of Game and Fish? (In other words, from what sources of information have you heard about Game and Fish?) D. For your information, the agency’s vision statement is as follows: Wyoming is home to an abundant and diverse array of wildlife and wildlife habitat which plays an integral part in the State's culture, economy and quality of life. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is dedicated to providing world-renowned hunting, angling and other wildlife-based recreational opportunities through public outreach, stakeholder engagement and science based management. (pass out a sheet with this information on it.) i. Is this what you feel that they actually do? ii. Is this what you feel they should be doing? (In other words, what do you think the priorities of Game and Fish should be? Why?) iii. Overall, how good a job is Game and Fish doing in meeting its vision? E. What do you see as the strengths of Game and Fish? F. What do you see as the weaknesses of Game and Fish?

IV. GAME AND FISH PERFORMANCE A. What kind of job is Game and Fish doing in conserving and managing the state’s: i. Fisheries? ii. Wildlife? 1. What could Game and Fish do to improve its performance in these areas? B. What kind of job is Game and Fish doing to provide outdoor recreation opportunities? What could Game and Fish do to improve its performance in this area? i. How important should it be for Game and Fish to get more people hunting and fishing? Why? ii. What about other outdoor activities—should Game and Fish be doing more to get people involved? If so, which activities? Why? C. What things does Game and Fish do that you think they should do: i. More of? ii. Less of? D. What do you think are Wyoming’s future needs related to these areas that Game and Fish should be planning for in the next 5 to 10 years? E. Thinking of a longer time frame, what is the long-term future of: i. Hunting in Wyoming? ii. Fishing in Wyoming? iii. Trapping in Wyoming? iv. Boating in Wyoming? v. Hiking in Wyoming? 66 Responsive Management

vi. Wildlife viewing in Wyoming? vii. Other outdoor recreation in Wyoming?

V. INTERACTIONS WITH GAME AND FISH A. Have you had any interactions with Game and Fish personnel? Please describe them—did you have positive or negative feelings about them? B. Have you ever contacted or tried to contact Game and Fish? C. If you wanted to contact Game and Fish, how would you go about it? D. Do you feel that licensing requirements in Wyoming are: i. Reasonable? ii. Are they difficult or easy to understand? E. How about regulations for hunting, fishing, and other activities?

VI. INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER RECREATIONISTS A. What needs of landowners should Game and Fish consider? B. FOR LANDOWNERS: Have recreationists affected you as a landowner? C. FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS: Have other recreationists affected your: i. Hunting or trapping experiences? ii. Fishing experiences? iii. Boating experiences? iv. Hiking experiences? v. Other outdoor recreation experiences? 1. What, if anything, should Game and Fish be doing about these issues? What should the agency’s obligation be? D. FOR LANDOWNERS: Tell me about access from a landowner’s perspective. E. FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS: Tell me about access from a recreationist’s perspective.

VII. FUNDING A. How do you think Game and Fish is funded? B. Who do you think should fund: i. Hunting, fishing, and trapping opportunities in Wyoming? ii. Boating safety and access in Wyoming? iii. Wildlife and fisheries management in Wyoming? iv. Game and Fish law enforcement activities? v. Non-consumptive outdoor recreation opportunities in Wyoming, such as hiking, biking, climbing, ATVing, or wildlife viewing? vi. Keeping aquatic invasive species out of Wyoming’s water systems? 1. Were you aware that Game and Fish runs the program to prevent boaters from bringing aquatic invasive species into Wyoming? This costs over $1.3 million per year and only brings in $660,000. The program benefits all water users though, including irrigators, municipal water supplies, and even power plants.

VIII. DO YOU HAVE ANY FINAL THOUGHTS FOR GAME AND FISH AS IT PLANS ITS PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES FOR THE NEXT 5 TO 10 YEARS?

Planning for the Strategic Direction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Initial Qualitative Findings 67

ABOUT RESPONSIVE MANAGEMENT Responsive Management is an internationally recognized public opinion and attitude survey research firm specializing in natural resource and outdoor recreation issues. Our mission is to help natural resource and outdoor recreation agencies and organizations better understand and work with their constituents, customers, and the public. Utilizing our in-house, full-service telephone, mail, and web-based survey center with 75 professional interviewers, we have conducted more than 1,000 telephone surveys, mail surveys, personal interviews, and focus groups, as well as numerous marketing and communication plans, needs assessments, and program evaluations.

Clients include the federal natural resource and land management agencies, most state fish and wildlife agencies, state departments of natural resources, environmental protection agencies, state park agencies, tourism boards, most of the major conservation and sportsmen’s organizations, and numerous private businesses. Responsive Management also collects attitude and opinion data for many of the nation’s top universities. Specializing in research on public attitudes toward natural resource and outdoor recreation issues, Responsive Management has completed a wide range of projects during the past 27 years, including dozens of studies of hunters, anglers, wildlife viewers, boaters, park visitors, historic site visitors, hikers, birdwatchers, campers, and rock climbers. Responsive Management has conducted studies on endangered species; waterfowl and wetlands; and the reintroduction of large predators such as wolves, grizzly bears, and the Florida panther.

Responsive Management has assisted with research on numerous natural resource ballot initiatives and referenda and has helped agencies and organizations find alternative funding and increase their membership and donations. Additionally, Responsive Management has conducted major organizational and programmatic needs assessments to assist natural resource agencies and organizations in developing more effective programs based on a solid foundation of fact.

Responsive Management has conducted research on public attitudes toward natural resources and outdoor recreation in almost every state in the United States, as well as in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan. Responsive Management has also conducted focus groups and personal interviews with residents of the African countries of Algeria, Cameroon, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Responsive Management routinely conducts surveys in Spanish and has conducted surveys in Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese and has completed numerous studies with specific target audiences, including Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians, women, children, senior citizens, urban, suburban and rural residents, large landowners, and farmers.

Responsive Management’s research has been upheld in U.S. District Courts; used in peer-reviewed journals; and presented at major natural resource, fish and wildlife, and outdoor recreation conferences across the world. Company research has been featured in most of the nation’s major media, including CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and on the front pages of USA Today and The Washington Post. Responsive Management’s research has also been highlighted in Newsweek magazine.

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