Dear editor:
Brian Nesvik’s record of failure leading the Wyoming Game & Fish Department (WGFD) is a precursor for how he would run the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Our public wildlife, lands, waters and everyone who cherishes these incredible resources will pay the price.
Throughout his tenure leading WGFD, he oversaw disease spread among big game including deer and elk, disgraceful treatment of wolves, and a stained image of our state in the eyes of people around the world who value wildlife and wildlands. Now as Trump’s pick to run the USFWS, Nesvik would bring his record to the nation.
He oversaw WGFD reviews of the 21 elk feedgrounds throughout northwestern Wyoming, where the large ungulates are concentrated as they’re fed hay or alfalfa pellets in a policy that can only be described as backwards. That’s because concentrating animals creates a breeding ground for wildlife diseases. Yet year after year under Nesvik’s leadership, they’ve done nothing to phase out the feeding.
The results are showing up. Two years ago, half of the elk calves on the Horse Creek feedground near Hoback Junction died of hoof rot. And now, always-fatal Chronic Wasting Disease is rapidly spreading on four feedgrounds in Wyoming. And these feedgrounds are also prone to spreading numerous other diseases, including brucellosis, bovine tuberculosis and scabies.
This policy also shows a gross contradiction in policy for the state of Wyoming. In other areas of the state, Wyoming is paying ranchers $30 an Animal Unit Month (AUM) for elk on their land, while they’re getting public land grass for $1.35 an AUM. And Wyoming Game and Fish is culling elk in some of these areas, which is disgraceful.
Speaking of disgraceful, just look at Wyoming's treatment of wolves. The state under Nesvik manages for the absolute bare minimum number, with a “predator zone” allowing year round killing by nearly any means. That led to a wolf being run over by a snowmobile last year, and tortured alive in a bar in Daniel before it was finally killed. Nesvik called this an isolated incident, but in truth it happens often.
As if his record on wildlife wasn’t abhorrent enough, we also know that Nesvik places the interests of the oil and gas industry above our public lands. Nesvik asserts that oil and gas lessees are critical partners in mitigating impacts to wildlife, but we know that rarely does the industry’s interests overlap with the best interests of wildlife.
Nesvik touts his record as a success, but we see abject failure. Every decision has been meant to cater to outfitters who sell trophies, and ranchers who graze livestock on public lands. Everyone else – those who love Wyoming’s wildlife and wildlands, hunters, anglers, hikers – has paid a price. It’s no model for wildlife nationwide.
Sincerely,
Kelsey Yarzab Yates,
Field organizer for Sierra Club Wyoming Chapter
Jackson, Wyoming
