Game & Fish recognizes landowners of the year

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Seven landowners from across the state were recognized by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department with the 2021 Landowner of the Year awards.

Now in its 26th year, the awards honor the outstanding practices in wildlife management, habitat improvement, access for hunters and anglers and conservation techniques by these individuals and families.

In Wyoming half of all land is privately owned, which means landowners have a significant impact on wildlife conservation. With that in mind, each year the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission and Department acknowledge Wyoming landowners’ conservation efforts. These landowners also cooperate with Game and Fish to provide access to hunters and anglers on their properties.

Wyoming Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik said the Landowner of the Year award is a way to say thanks to landowners.

“Today’s landowners are more than ranchers or farmers, they are key partners,” Nesvik said. “Landowners preserve critical migration corridors, they improve habitat through costly enhancement projects, and they provide important access which allows for our hunting and angling heritage to continue into the future. Thank you.”

Award recipients are nominated by Game and Fish employees and selected by the regional leadership teams as model citizens for the conservation, ethical use and stewardship of Wyoming’s natural resources. The WYldlife Fund sponsored this year’s event.

Landowners who received recognition this year are:

• The Lankister Family, Duncan Ranch – Casper Region
• John and Judy Rueb, Double JR Ranch -Sheridan Region
• Belle Butte Grazing Partnership – Green River Region
• James and Pam Buline, Buline Ranch – Lander Region
• The Hauge, Laughlin and Resor Families, with Ranch Manager Kurt Klukas, Snake River Ranch – Jackson/Pinedale Region
• Peter and Teresa Taylor, Cozy Canyon Ranch – Laramie Region
• The Duncan family, with Ranch Managers Curt and Karen Bales, TE Ranch – Cody Region

Snake River Ranch

The Snake River Ranch has partnered with Game and Fish for nearly 100 years on various projects, is the largest deeded ranch in the Jackson Hole area and is located on the west side of the Snake River.

The ranch was placed under conservation easements in the 1980s to help protect and preserve wildlife and wild places. Most of the land consists of irrigated pasture, which provides food and cover for many wildlife species. It has assisted Game and Fish’s management of private-land elk herds in the Snake River bottom, and in recent years the ranch has hosted a hunt for Wounded Warriors.

The families have provided access to monitor Snake River cutthroat trout, and have worked with Game and Fish and other agencies to better understand fish loss into irrigation ditches and the timing of water delivery. The ranch also works with organizations to improve stream function and riparian habitats along the Snake River.