Briefs

Water board

The Upper Green River Basin joint powers water board will meet next week in Pinedale. It's the second meeting of the water development group, which includes representatives from Sublette, Lincoln and Sweetwater counties. The meeting will be held Thursday, Jan. 15, at 3 p.m. in the county commission's chambers, upstairs in the Sublette County Courthouse. The group will discuss its mission, goals and bylaws as well as talk about the Church Reservoir and Viva Naughton projects.

GYIBC

The Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee will hold its tri-annual meeting on Jan. 13-14 at the Best Western GranTree Inn in Bozeman, Mont. The technical and information and education subcommittees will meet from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 13. The executive committee meeting is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 14. All meetings are open to the public.

The GYIBC is a multi-state and federal interagency effort to collectively identify and implement equitable solutions to concerns about brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area while moving towards the elimination of the disease that is not native to wildlife. Topics for this meeting will include scientific presentations and discussions on brucellosis in a Boulder cattle herd, agency updates, Jackson bison and elk EIS, revisions to the memorandum of understanding which establishes the GYIBC, and a possible executive officer.

The GYIBC is made up of representatives from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Idaho Department of Agriculture, Montana Department of Livestock, Wyoming Livestock Board, USDA Forest Service, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA Agricultural Research Service, USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, USDI National Park Service, USDI Bureau of Land Management, USDI Geological Service.

It is the goal of the Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee to protect and sustain the existing free-ranging elk and bison populations in the Greater Yellowstone Area and protect the public interests and economic viability of the livestock industry in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

More information on the GYIBC is available on the Internet at www.nps.gov/gyibc/index.htm.