Big Piney hosts WyRED

The Sublette County Conservation District hosted the Wyoming Resource Education Days all week last week, with the focus of the session multiple use and effects on renewable natural resources. It was a great chance for young people to learn about Wyoming rangelands and use and management of those lands.

Students at WyRED were welcomed to Sublette County, "where oil, gas, livestock, wildlife and people coexist."

The Shafers of Big Piney were hosts for the five-day range camp event for students from eighth grade up to the age of 18, as well as adults. Students stayed at the Shafers', journeying out every day for hands-on learning opportunities in the field.

Students compiled range plant collections for use as study tools, while getting practical experience in rangeland management with a holistic emphasis, as well as plant identification and a range-judging contest.

Educational workshops focused on a wide variety of topics, with typical rangeland aspects including plant anatomy, range sites, range condition and stocking rates, ranch planning and wildlife resource management.

Students traveled to the Middle Piney area to learn about forest recreation management, grazing and recreation conflicts, and studying trees, including a local beetle infestation. Cultural resource management was discussed as well as various aspects of wildlife management and species identification.

Other field trips took the students to observe an operating drilling rig, electro-fishing and water quality sampling, before heading to the Budd Ranch to learn about livestock management, soils and geology.

Sponsors for the event included the conservation district, the Wyoming Section of the Society for Range Management in cooperation with Budd Ranches, University of Wyoming, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Natural Resources Conservation Service.