Supporting the Wyoming-USDA Big Game Pilot Program

Image credit: Craig Jourdonnais

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the State of Wyoming launched the Big Game Pilot Program in 2022 with the goal of supporting the conservation of migratory big game populations on private working lands across the state. The Program came after Wyoming’s designation of migration corridors as a way to provide technical and financial assistance to landowners whose properties fall within designated corridors or other priority areas. Our research is supporting the effort by surveying landowners in identified priority areas to understand their experiences with big game and interest in participating in different voluntary conservation efforts. We are also interviewing key stakeholders closely involved in the development of the Pilot Program or landowners who have enrolled their property in one of the included Farm Service Agency or Natural Resources Conservation Service programs. Our aim is to examine the potential for increased enrollment and other measures of success for the Program as its implementation grows – including a recent expansion of the program to Idaho and Montana. Drs Hilary Byerly Flint and Drew Bennett are leading this work.