Wyoming Wildlife Federation would like to present Governor Freudenthal with a thank you letter in appreciation for his efforts to protect our state’s wildlife heritage. This letter addresses Governor Freudenthal's specific actions that have helped wildlife and discusses how we hope to continue to have both energy development and quality hunting and fishing opportunities in Wyoming. We hope that you will read it and add your name in support.

SCROLL DOWN to read the letter or READ A PDF VERSION of the letter here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Governor Dave Freudenthal
Office of the Governor
State Capitol, 200 West 24th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82002-0010

RE: Wyoming Sportsmen Concerned about Oil & Gas Development

Dear Governor Freudenthal:

The State of Wyoming is blessed with some of the richest and most spectacular wildlife and fish habitat in the world. Wyoming’s sportsmen and women take great pride in our wildlife resources, both game and non-game, and we look toward passing this legacy on to our children and grandchildren.

As Wyoming residents, we are growing increasingly concerned with both the scope and pace of energy development on Wyoming’s public lands and its impacts on our wildlife resource and sporting heritage. We write to thank you for your past and current advocacy on behalf of Wyoming sportsmen and wildlife, and to ask for your continued and intensified leadership efforts to ensure that development in Wyoming proceeds on Wyoming’s terms.

We utilize our public lands for recreational, commercial, and professional activities related to fish and wildlife. We are not opposed to energy development, and we recognize and support the role of the energy industry in both our state and national interests. We are, however, concerned that current and planned development activities are not proceeding in a manner that adequately respects and protects the core values of Wyoming’s citizens and sporting public and the long-term needs of our fish and wildlife populations.

As Governor, you have represented sportsmen well regarding energy development on our public lands. We thank and commend you for your leadership and advocacy regarding protection of the Wyoming Range. We applaud your key role in the Western Governors’ Association’s (WGA) adoption of Policy Resolution 07-01, Protecting Wildlife Migration Corridors and Crucial Wildlife Habitat in the West, as well as your decision to convene a Sage-grouse Symposium and to appoint a team to provide firm recommendations leading toward immediate efforts to conserve this species. With your support, the state’s wildlife management expertise and on-the-ground knowledge is exhibited in the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission’s Mitigation Policy and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s (WGFD) Recommendations for Development of Oil and Gas Resources within Crucial and Important Wildlife Habitats.

Sportsmen look toward your leadership and pledge our support in following through on these and other efforts that can ultimately strike a Wyoming balance between energy development and our wildlife and sporting heritage. We ask that you use your influence with federal agencies to maintain the momentum of progress toward the protection of migration corridors and crucial habitats as outlined in WGA Resolution 07-01. We urge you to take firm action to ensure that sage-grouse do not become a listed species by following the recommendations of your Sage-grouse Implementation Team and Science Advisory Group, particularly the protection of core areas and the implementation of stipulations that will conserve the species in the face of increased development. Additionally, we encourage the use of the WGFD’s Recommendations (as referenced above) as a guide in all decisions to permit oil and gas development on public lands in Wyoming. Finally, we ask that you continue to stand for no further oil and gas leasing in the Wyoming Range, and to work toward the cancellation of the 44,700 acres of currently contested leases in that Range.

Thank you for taking a stand in support of protecting our state’s wildlife heritage. Your influence on public land policy is considerable and we seek your continued leadership to promote responsible energy development that is consistent with Wyoming values. This is a pivotal moment in determining the future of Wyoming’s wildlife heritage, and your role is crucial. Collectively, we believe the economic and recreational values of hunting and fishing must be safeguarded for future generations. Your foresight and actions, and those of other western governors, have the potential to preserve the outstanding outdoor quality of life which makes living in the Rocky Mountains so desirable. Wyoming’s sportsmen’s community is here to support you in your efforts to protect our fish, wildlife, and hunting and fishing traditions.

Respectfully,

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------