Wyoming Range Deer public workshops
Community meeting in Marbleton August 23
by Wyoming Game & Fish
August 16, 2010
After a series of four community meetings held in June, The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will now be hosting a second round of public workshops on the Wyoming Range mule deer herd. The purpose of these meetings will be to further discuss the issues raised by the public in the first round meetings and explore possible solutions to the issues raised. These are the second of three rounds of public meetings designed to work toward a new management plan for the Wyoming Range mule deer herd. All meetings will be from 6:00PM - 9:00PM at the following locations:
August 23: Marbleton Town Hall
August 24: Afton Civic Center
August 25: Kemmerer, Best Western
August 26: Green River, Western Wyoming Community College
The public involvement process for the Wyoming Range Mule Deer Initiative is being conducted by the Game and Fish through the help of a hired facilitator and is designed to engage the public in a meaningful way. The first round of meetings were both well attended and well received by the public. After a presentation on the current status and management of the herd, the public was asked to provide what they believed to be the most important issues facing the herd today. The public feedback was grouped into three main themes which were: Habitat, Population Management and Partnerships.
This second round of meetings is designed for local Game and Fish managers to provide additional information on those main theme issues through a short presentation followed by a question and answer panel discussion. After that, the public will again be engaged in small group discussions to provide possible solutions those problems, or issues, challenging the mule deer herd today.
With the information gained from this second round of meetings, Game and Fish field personnel will develop a draft management plan for the Wyoming Range mule deer herd. The third and final round of meetings will be designed to review the draft plan and gather public feedback on it. As a final step, the final management plan will be presented to the Game and Fish Commission at a future meeting.
The resulting Wyoming Range Mule Deer Management Plan will be the first herd-specific plan developed under the auspices of the Wyoming Mule Deer Initiative. The Wyoming Mule Deer Initiative is a statewide framework designed to address declining mule deer populations, particularly over the last two decades. These declines are not unique to Wyoming, but have been seen throughout the West.
"We’ve gotten lot of positive feedback from people who attended the first round of meetings, so we feel real good about the way the process is going," said Wyoming Game and Fish Department Assistant Wildlife Division Chief, Bill Rudd. "I would encourage people to join in and attend one of the upcoming meetings on this important mule deer herd, even if they were unable to attend the first round."
To learn more about the Wyoming Range deer herd and the ongoing public input process, visit the Game and Fish website and click on the "Wyoming Range Public Input Process" link under "What’s New" or click on the following link:
http://gf.state.wy.us/wildlife/WyRangePublicInput/index.asp
Once there, one can view the slideshows presented at the first round of meetings on current management of the Wyoming Range deer herd as well as the results of a hunter attitude survey that was completed recently. Also provided is the complete set of public feedback provided at each of the first four meetings.
If you have any questions feel free to contact Susan Boston at 307-777-4661 or your local Game and Fish regional office. The State of Wyoming supports the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Anyone requiring auxiliary aids, regarding this Public Notice, should contact the Green River Game and Fish Office at 307-875-3223 or the Jackson Game and Fish Office at 307-733-2321. Every effort will be made for reasonable accommodations.
|
