Briefs

Instream flow hearing

The State Engineer's office will once again hold a public hearing on the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's request for a 40-cubic-feet-per-second instream flow for an eight-mile segment of Pine Creek.

This rehearing will be held Monday, July 28, at 9 a.m. in the Sublette County Library in Pinedale. Public comments made during last December's hearing are on record and will be used in the decision-making process, so the rehearing will be to gather new public comment that was not heard at the December hearing.

The purpose of the rehearing is to receive any new comments and new evidence prior to the state agency granting or denying the instream flow applications.

One of the two applications is for 40 cfs throughout the entire year when natural direct flows are available at or near the downstream end of the segment, which is near the confluence of Pine Creek and the West Fork New Fork River.

The other application is a secondary application to use stored water to help maintain up to a 40 cfs flow rate throughout the entire year. This stored water would come from the 952.95 acre-feet owned by the WG&F Commission in Fremont Lake and from 4,800 acre-feet of the Town of Pinedale's storage in Fremont Lake.

Wolf plan

The final draft of the Wyoming Wolf Management Plan is now available on the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's website for public review. The official public comment period began on Nov. 8, 2002, and closed Dec. 12, 2002, months before the Wyoming Legislature passed legislation declaring wolves to have dual classification in the state. The final draft plan is substantially different from that proposed to the public last November, but no additional public comment is being solicited by WG&F.

Instead, the WG&F Commission will meet next week in Sheridan and is slated to take official action on the wolf plan at 10:15 on Tuesday, July 29.

According to WG&F: "Oral comments on all commission agenda items, including the wolf management plan, will be heard at the commission meeting in Sheridan on July 28, from approximately 2:05 p.m. to 2:35 p.m. and on July 29, 2003, from approximately 8:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.

"Based upon the number of people desiring to comment on agenda items, time will be limited to assure everyone present has time to comment."

The official commission agenda states: "Public comment will not be accepted during agenda item presentation."

So the public can speak about the draft wolf plan in one of the two time slots prior to the agenda item being heard, but cannot give input once the item has been presented by department personnel and prior to the official action. This is a new schedule for providing for public comment at commission meetings, instituted in the last few months.

The WG&F Commission meeting will be held at the Best Western Sheridan Center in Sheridan.

Fire information

With the recent increase in wildfires in Wyoming, several new sources of information are now available. For local wildfire information, check out www.pinedaleonline.com, and for statewide information, try a new section of the Wyoming Travel and Tourism website at www.wyomingtourism.org and clicking on Fire Info near the bottom of the page.

Recorded information regarding the East Table fire in the Bridger-Teton National Forest is available by calling 307-739-5577 or toll free 866-651-4234 and also by visiting www.tetonfires.com.