WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former Wyoming Game and Fish Department chief Brian Nesvik was in front a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday to be grilled on why he should lead the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“We say whiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting. And it’s true,” Nesvik told the committee.
Spoken like a true Westerner, and no stranger to water allocation wars. Nesvik made the remark in response to a question from Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California — and drew a knowing chuckle from the senator.
Certainly Nesvik is no stranger to the lands and waters of Wyoming and the species that inhabit them. Not after a 30-year career with the state’s Game and Fish Department, where he ascended to director before retiring last year.
He said his experience taught him the balance — often tense — between state and federal environmental laws. It also taught him about competing stakeholder interests at local levels.
His next challenge will be navigating those dynamics from the federal side, delving into diverse ecosystems — and diverse policy battlegrounds — spanning the country.
Spotlight On Wyoming
Nesvik’s confirmation to the top FWS post is not in doubt. First, the Environment and Public Works Committee will vote to send his nomination to the full, Republican-controlled Senate.
No committee vote was immediately scheduled, but Nesvik sailed through Wednesday’s hearing held by the panel — a hearing which was all about Wyoming for a while.
He was introduced by Gov. Mark Gordon and U.S. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso. U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a committee member, joined her fellow Republican Wyomingites with praise for Nesvik.
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, issued a statement to Cowboy State Daily in support of him as well.
Gordon said Nesvik was looking forward to ranching after retiring from the state government — but instead answered the call to oversee the USFWS.
“Brian could not be more qualified, and suited, to serve in this important and pivotal role,” the governor said. “I really did not think Brian would ever consider this position having just retired from the Game and Fish. But I knew he was the right person for the job.”
Barrasso echoed those remarks and said USFWS is “critical to Wyoming and the nation.”
“It’s an agency that plays a crucial role in the conservation and management of our nation’s natural resources,” Barrasso said. “This agency serves as the cornerstone of our efforts to protect wildlife while following the best available science. Over the past four years, politics has driven much of the agency’s decisions, rather than following the science.”
Lummis, Hageman, Sierra Club
Lummis touted Nesvik’s experience as director of Wyoming Game and Fish and his numerous roles at the agency earlier.
“You know it from the ground up,” she told him. “You were a boots-on-the-ground game warden. And that’s the kind of person I want in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: someone who has held [roles concerning] every aspect of game and wildlife management.”
Added Lummis: “This is a state that loves and respects and nurtures its wildlife, and Brian Nesvik has been a true leader in that regard.”
She also praised his 35 years of service in the Wyoming National Guard, which included two combat deployments. He retired as a brigadier general.
Nesvik faced criticism over Wyoming Game and Fish’s handling of Chronic Wasting Disease — which afflicts deer, elk and moose — as well as the agency’s response to the much-publicized torture-killing of a wolf.
Leading environmental advocacy group Sierra Club issued a statement Wednesday opposing Nesvik, saying President Donald Trump’s administration has a “pro-polluter agenda” with “no interest in protecting wildlife.”
But Nesvik has no shortage of defenders.
Hageman, as a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said she looks forward to working closely with Nesvik. She chairs the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries.
“I have appreciated working with Brian Nesvik for years on a variety of wildlife issues,” she said in the statement to Cowboy State Daily. “He brings decades of experience and a deep understanding of what truly works at the local level.”
She applauded his service in a group called Intermountain West Joint Venture, which aims “to foster the public-private partnerships the Fish and Wildlife Service needs to succeed.”
Added Hageman: “As one of the strongest advocates for delisting the grizzly bear, he’ll continue to be a voice for Wyoming and the West in Washington.”
Grace, Humility
Nesvik was joined at the hearing by some of his family members and other supporters.
“I am honored to be here today to discuss my nomination by President Trump to serve as the 19th director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service,” he said, going on to thank the Wyoming delegation for their support.
“I grew up in Wyoming and was blessed by my parents, who provided me outdoor experiences at a very young age,” he said. “I know how to put tire chains on a four-wheel-drive pickup in a snowstorm, how to classify deer from a helicopter, and how to patrol some of America’s most remote and wild country from a horse.
“In my dual careers both as a wildlife manager and a soldier, I earned the privilege to lead and embraced the responsibility that came with that honor.”
He said his military and civilian experiences “have prepared me well to work complex, convoluted problems into decisive action in uncertain environments.”
He said he was proud of his work on bird migration corridors as well as “protecting my state from the scourge of invasive species and working with the public and talented wildlife managers to recover species listed under the ESA,” meaning the Endangered Species Act.
He pledged, if confirmed as head of the Fish and Wildlife Service, to work with “ranchers, farmers, sportsmen and women, tribes, and all people who care about natural resources.
“These people, citizens of our great nation, are the ground level of our government and the foundation of the mission of the Service — and my personal leadership mission.”
Sean Barry can be reached at sean@cowboystatedaily.com.
