WG&F Briefs

Manning considers job offer

Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Brent Manning has received a job offer from an agency in Illinois and is currently considering the offer.

WG&F's Tom Reed of Cheyenne is fielding calls about the issue for Manning. He said Monday that Manning has decided to take a few weeks to mull all his options, so an announcement won't be forthcoming for a while.

Manning was appointed to the Wyoming's top wildlife management position in March by Governor Dave Freudenthal.

The Casper Star-Tribune reported Friday that Manning had received the offer, with the potential for a much higher rate of pay, and that Manning hadn't made a decision.

Wildlife projects picked

The Governor's Big Game License Coalition has selected and approved the first 20 wildlife conservation projects funded by the sales of Governor Dave Freudenthal's 20 complimentary big game licenses.

The sales this year generated slightly more than $325,000 for the wildlife conservation projects.

By state statute, the governor of Wyoming each year receives 20 licenses from the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. In February, Freudenthal turned his 2003 licenses over to the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of Wyoming to administer their distribution. The sales proceeds will be reinvested into Wyoming's wildlife resources through the priority projects selected by the Big Game Coalition. Members of the coalition include representatives from Wyoming's many wildlife conservation organizations and species specialists from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

"Excellent project proposals totaling over $310,000 were presented to the coalition this year for funding," said Mo Brown, executive director of the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of Wyoming. "The first 20 projects selected this year address wildlife conservation work on many levels, from habitat improvements such as prescribed burns and riparian area restorations to research and conservation education."

The 2004 governor's licenses will soon be available for purchase. The licenses will be auctioned or raffled by the Wyoming Chapter of Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, National Foundation for North American Sheep, North American Moose Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, and also through partnerships with other interested conservation organizations. Additional information is available on Freudenthal's web page at http://www.state.wy.us/governor/huntpermits.asp.

Among the 20 projects receiving funding are several in this area, including the Sublette Deer oil and gas study phase II, Blackrock/Spread Creek Allotment, Jackson sheep disease monitoring, Half Moon wildlife habitat management area improvements, Wyoming Range bighorn sheep summer distribution.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the Governor's Big Game Licenses Coalition, submitting project requests, or bidding on future licenses can contact Marlene "Mo" Brown at the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of Wyoming at (307) 777-4529.