The Joint Travel, Recreation and Wildlife (TRW) Committee will have its second interim committee meetings in Casper on August 10th and 11th. Committee members will receive an update from the Game and Fish on several issues including a draft bill to allow for transferable landowner tags. The continued discussion of the regulation of commercial fishing guides will continue from the June meeting in Evanston. Members of the committee will be taken on a boat tour of the Gray Rocks area of the North Platte River. We may see the Legislative Service Office Attorneys be given some direction on a draft bill at this meeting that will start to flesh out some of the ideas on fishing guide regulation.
Looking ahead, Joint TRW will meet for a final time October 4th and 5th in Cheyenne.
Thank you !
Bill Novotny, Lobbyist
NMCOG, a member of the national affiliation Professional Outfitters and Guides of America (POGA), hosted the 2023 North American O&G Association workshop in northern NM in early July. The workshop was the first in-person meeting of O&G association executives since pre-COVID. The turnout was smaller than previous years, but attendees were overjoyed to be in-person to discuss various challenges facing the outfitting industry. Executives from Alaska, British Columbia, Colorado, Newfoundland & Labrador, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wyoming attended the event.
The workshop covered topics ranging from protecting non-resident hunter opportunity, industry threats to hunting predator species, to the movement from environmental groups to overturn the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Associations also identified strategies to effectively deal with detrimental legislation at the local and national level.
Participants shared Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats during an association roundtable. These discussions are particularly valuable in helping O&G associations brainstorm solutions to local industry as well as internal association issues. Scott Ellis, Executive Director of the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia provided an in-depth presentation on their public relations campaign “Who Cares about BC’s Wildlife”. The campaign has been very successful and has the potential to be applied to other O&G industries across the US and Canada.
SCI Outfitter and Guide Association Liaison Scott Talbott and SCI Attorney Regina Lennox also attended the event. Ms. Lennox provided the group with a presentation on the current status of SCI litigation across the US as well as a general overview of changes to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The workshop was graciously hosted at the Fishtail Ranch Lodge in Chama, NM. The beautiful setting gave attendees an opportunity to network as well as fly fish at the foot of the spectacular Brazos cliffs. The North American O&G Associations have been meeting annually since 2013. The meetings are rotated between the member states of POGA and the member provinces of the Canadian Federation of Outfitter Associations (CFOA).
The 2023 Wyoming Outdoors is coming along. There is still space available for display ads. If you have not reserved your ad, please let the office know at gro.agoyw@agoyw.
Important Deadlines:
• September 15, 2023: Bios are due and display ads reserved
• November 1, 2023: Display ads are due to Mark Schuler and payments in full to the office.
• November 20-24, 2023: Wyoming Outdoors goes to print
• December 15, 2023: Wyoming Outdoors will be mailed to the non-residents
Thank you for your continued support for this project.
The 2023 Big Game Awards have been finalized and are on the WYOGA website. Congratulatory letters have been mailed to your hunters. The letters also have the information then 2024 Annual Convention inviting them to attend to receive their award.
Additional award winners are:
2023 Honorary Lifetime Member: Lynn Madsen
2023 Agency Personnel Award: Pete Dube
2023 Guide of the Year: Kelly Glause
2023 Hunter of the Year: Kurt Packingham
Congratulations to all the winners.
Please mark your calendars to attend the 2023 WYOGA Annual Winter Retreat, December 1, 2023 at the Holiday Inn in Riverton. This will be a one-day meeting. Invitations will be mailed November 1st with the details for the meeting.
