Some Wyoming outdoorsmen said they were surprised by the sudden resignation of Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Angi Bruce on Friday afternoon, amid longstanding rumblings of discontent with the department.
There is no clear explanation as to why Bruce suddenly left the helm at Game and Fish for an appointment as director of special policy initiatives for Gov. Mark Gordon’s office, a job she started Monday.
“I think that was a surprise to everybody. I didn’t see that one coming. I thought she would at least be there until Gordon was gone, but I guess that’s not the case,” prominent Wyoming outdoorsman Guy Eastman of Cody told Cowboy State Daily.
“I think it was getting really bad, and she had to get out of there (Game and Fish), for whatever reason,” added Eastman, who represents the third generation of the outdoors multimedia family behind Eastmans’ Hunting Journal.
Bruce, the department's first female director, did not respond to a request for comment Monday morning.
Gordon picked Bruce as Game and Fish director in July 2024 to succeed Brian Nesvik, who retired that September. She started with Game and Fish in 2019 after 17 years with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Nesvik was tapped by President Donald Trump as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year.
New Job Description
Gordon’s office announced Friday afternoon that Bruce was resigning from Game and Fish and was set to take her new position.
Game and Fish deputy director Eric Wiltanger was chosen interim director.
A statement emailed from Gordon’s communication director, Amy Edmonds, to Cowboy State Daily on Monday provided a description of Bruce’s new job but no explanation why she left her old one.
“The Director of Special Policy Initiatives in the Governor’s office will focus on leading the Governor’s key federal natural resources topics, including but not limited to grizzly bears, sage grouse, shared stewardship, and feedgrounds management. These are topics the governor has been focused on throughout his administration and has prioritized making significant progress on for the remainder of the year,” Edmonds wrote. “Bruce comes to this office with unique experience, talent and knowledge on such topics.”
It wasn’t clear whether Bruce will retain the position after Gordon leaves office in January 2027.
“Bruce will be responsible for working closely with our federal executive and congressional partners to ensure Wyoming continues our strong position on wildlife management, conservation, and state-led policies that benefit the people on the ground who work and live in the state,” Edmonds concluded.
‘Bring In More Wyoming Kids’
While Game and Fish has maintained an overall good reputation, Eastman said, aspects of the department’s direction have been troubling hunters and anglers, even before Bruce became director.
Bruce was among numerous newer Game and Fish employees from outside Wyoming and the West, he said.
“I can’t believe that they can’t bring in more Wyoming kids,” he said. “I’m not alone in thinking that, but I’m the one who will say it.”
Meanwhile, it seems that “a lot of the older, red-shirted guys” have been retiring or resigning from the department, Eastman said.
Most recently, Cody region senior wildlife biologist Tony Mong resigned.
He cited concerns over how the Wyoming Shooting Complex near Cody might affect mule deer habitat as one of his reasons for leaving, the Powell Tribune reported.
Eastman said he doesn’t have anything against Bruce personally, but rather the wider pattern of out-of-staters in the department’s leadership.
“I think she was out of her league, coming from the Midwest, coming to Wyoming, where it’s a lot more complicated, where we have grizzlies and wolves,” he said.
Wyoming has one of the highest per capita percentages of hunters and anglers among the state’s population, which puts Game and Fish under considerable scrutiny, he said.
While not everyone is pleased with the department’s administration, its field personnel are highly respected, Eastman added.
“Wyoming has the best game wardens in the country, I believe, and I feel comfortable saying that,” he said.
A Shift Away From Wildlife?
While it’s not unusual for Game and Fish directors to be replaced with a new governor taking office, it was highly unusual to see Bruce suddenly resign while the governor who appointed her is still in office, avid hunter Buzz Hettick of Laramie said.
“She (Bruce) wasn’t hard to work with, or anything like that,” Hettick, co-chair of the Wyoming chapter of Backcounty Hunters and Anglers, told Cowboy State Daily.
Among rank-and-file Wyoming hunters, there’s an impression that Game and Fish has started to favor landowners and outfitters, he said, adding that he didn’t blame Bruce personally for that.
Like Eastman, he said Game and Fish field personnel remain highly respected, but many hunters question the direction of department administration.
“There’s been this shift away from doing what’s best for wildlife and best for people,” he said.
Game and Fish should focus on thriving wildlife populations, and not only for hunters and anglers, but also for wildlife viewers, birdwatchers, and the like, Hettick said.
Departure Of The ‘Old Guard’
Outfitters have also watched shifts in Game and Fish with some trepidation, said Dustin Stetter of Dubois, president of the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association.
“As an industry, we’re sorry to see so much of the old guard leaving all at once,” he told Cowboy State Daily.
Stetter said he doesn’t blame Bruce for that.
“I liked Angi personally. She was good to work with,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
