Wildlife trust board approves 17 projects

The Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust Fund board stayed within its $900,000 spending target, approving 17 projects across the state -- but also showing some discomfort with some new types of projects.

While a number of projects sailed through with full funding and unanimous support, the board split on several projects and deferred others during its meeting in Casper this week.

The board was deeply divided on whether to help the city of Cheyenne with its planning on how best to use two new properties -- the Belvoir Ranch and the Wyoming part of the Red Mountain Ranch properties.

Board member Robert Anderson of Casper said he couldn’t believe that if Cheyenne could spend millions of dollars to acquire the land, the city couldn’t muster money for planning what to do with it.

Mike Abel, the planning services director for Cheyenne, explained that the city had obtained Belvoir and Red Mountain as key pieces of the sprawling Warren Livestock Co. property that once occupied a good-sized chunk of southeast Wyoming and northern Colorado.

The old Warren ranch was broken up and sold off over the years, and Cheyenne was able to purchase some 18,000 acres (including state section leases) of the Belvoir Ranch west of the city. Initially, Cheyenne was interested in the site for water development, a wind farm and a future landfill, but as time went on, there was growing interest in the property for its recreational and wildlife habitat opportunities, Abel said.

This past spring, the city bought the Wyoming part of the Red Mountain Ranch that straddled the Colorado/Wyoming border -- the rim pasture that overlooks the Big Hole pasture. Cheyenne leaders are primarily interested in the recreational and wildlife opportunities, Abel said emphatically.

Funding for planning has been limited, he added.

Anderson asked for, and couldn’t receive, assurances from Abel that Cheyenne would never use these properties for housing or commercial development. Abel countered that he didn’t see that in the cards, but noted that the Red Mountain property included a conservation easement that precluded development.

Board member Debbie Smith of Laramie said the board shouldn’t be afraid of planning. “A lot of the things we fund wouldn’t be necessary had there been planning early on,” she said. She also noted that most projects funded by the trust involve multiple use -- as does Cheyenne’s plans for the Belvoir Ranch.

“Unless you get a conservation easement on every project we fund, we’re talking multiple use,” she added.

In the final 5-4 vote, the board approved $40,000 to help Cheyenne’s planning efforts.

More planning?

The Wildlife Trust board visited the planning issue with the Moskee land exchange with the Black Hills National Forest.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation initially requested $130,000 on a $199,000 proposal to facilitate a land exchange between the owner of Moskee land (previously owned by Homestake Mine) and the U.S. Forest Service. That proposal was later amended to $10,000 to cover title expenses as a first step toward the land exchange.

Steve Kozel, the Forest Service ranger based in Sundance, said the owner of Moskee wanted to consolidate his property by acquiring 400 acres of Forest Service inholdings, trading them for private bottomlands along nearby creeks in Weston County.

Board member Gwyn McKee defended the land exchange, saying that if the board could support the purchase of conservation easements, why not land exchanges? She said the land exchange would be of “tremendous public benefit to northeast Wyoming, increasing recreation and hunting opportunities.

“I think there’s minimal risk we’ll lose our $10,000,” she said.

A majority of the board agreed with her, supporting the land exchange by a 6-3 vote, with Anderson, Mike Baker and Steve Meadows dissenting.

Elk payments deferred

The Trust board voted to defer several proposed projects, but only one was subsequently scheduled for the next board meeting.

The situation at the U Lazy U and the JH Hereford ranches in Teton County is complicated, said board member Meadows. The two ranch families used to support 50 to 70 elk wintering on the banks of the Snake River, but now have 400 to 500 elk. Neighbor Harrison Ford doesn’t allow hunting, and a nearby golf course eliminated a hay field that used to support lots of elk. Less hunting and less nearby hay have led to rapid growth of the herd, which hammers the riparian area along the river, Meadows said.

He added that both ranches, which maintain open space as working operations, are under incredible pressure to sell out to developers.

“The ranchers would like us to compensate them ($150,000 over three years) for keeping their cattle out of the river bottoms in the winter,” Meadows said. Other board members said there were too many unanswered questions to approve the project, but welcomed the opportunity to revisit the issue in depth at the next board meeting.

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