UW’s Biodiversity Institute to Host Hunting and Fishing Event March 4

Avid hunters and anglers, as well as the public, are invited to attend “Stewarding Wyoming’s Landscapes Through Hunting and Fishing” Saturday, March 4, at the University of Wyoming’s Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center.

“It is free and open to the public, and it is not limited to hunters or anglers,” says Mason Lee, senior project coordinator for UW’s Biodiversity Institute. “There will be hands-on activities; discussions about the interconnection among hunting, fishing and biodiversity; and food, drinks and raffles.”

The hunting and fishing event will include fly rods and fly-tying demonstrations, games, hunter safety discussions, fish printing, live fish and aquatic invertebrates, and animal skull and skin displays.

In conjunction with the event, the Biodiversity Institute will host a small community art show in the Berry Center lobby. The art, which demonstrates the artists’ connection to Wyoming’s wildlife and wild places through the lens of hunting and fishing, will be on display through March 14.

The keynote speaker is Jason Baldes, from the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative. Baldes is a member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe from Wyoming’s Wind River Indian Reservation. He has worked with Indigenous peoples in East Africa, New Zealand, Mexico, Russia and Denmark. His workshops focus on tribal history, water bison conservation, wildlife and fisheries, and cultural connections with animals through song, story and language. His efforts help people understand contemporary issues through an Indigenous lens and bridge cross-cultural gaps.

The schedule, including times, topics and speakers, is:

-- 10 a.m.: “Corner Crossing,” Tim Brass, Colorado state policy and field operations director, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

-- 11 a.m.: “Women Fishing,” Diane Martinez, an instructor with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department; and Amy McNealy, Carrie King and Tia Reed, all participants in the Cutt-Slam.

-- 1 p.m.: “DNA in Lake Sediments Retain a Signal of Current and Past Aquatic Biodiversity,” Jordan Von Eggers, a UW Ph.D. student in the Program in Ecology from Redmond, Wash.

-- 1 p.m.: “Using Food Web Studies to Inform Sportfish Management in New Fork Lakes,” Caroline Rosinski, a UW graduate research assistant in the Department of Zoology and Physiology from Westford, Mass.

-- 1 p.m.: “Timing of Reproduction Generates Fitness Trade-Offs for Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout,” Jeff Baldock, a UW Ph.D. student in the Program in Ecology from Nevada City, Calif.

-- 2 p.m.: “Large Carnivore Management,” Brian DeBolt, large carnivore conflict coordinator for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and Daniel Thompson, a UW adjunct assistant professor of zoology and physiology, and large carnivore section supervisor with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

-- 3 p.m.: “Using Science to Reduce Uncertainty in Harvest Management,” Jim Nichols, affiliate professor of wildlife and conservation, University of Florida.

-- 4 p.m.: “Conserving Biological Diversity: Should Hunters Do More?,” Bob Lanka, statewide wildlife and habitat management superviser, Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

-- 5 p.m.: Reception, Berry Center auditorium.

-- 6 p.m.: Keynote speech: “Wildlife Economy: Conservation of the Wind River Indian Reservation,” Baldes, Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative.

For more information, call Lee at (307) 766-6240 or email biodiversity@uwyo.edu.