Gary Wilmot

Based in Lander since the late 1980s, Gary was hired as the development director of the Wyoming Outdoor Council in 2008. He became associate director in 2009, and accepted the position of executive director in 2013. Gary holds a bachelor’s degree in geology as well as a teaching certification from James Madison University. Prior to his work at the Outdoor Council, Gary worked at the National Outdoor Leadership School for 20 years. During his tenure he was a senior field instructor, a program coordinator, an associate director, and a major gifts officer. Gary was part of the first single season ascent of the three highest peaks in Alaska. He summited Denali, Mount Foraker, and Mount Hunter. Gary is also an avid marathoner.

In Memory: Martha Christensen

Posted on April 3, 2017October 29, 2019 by Gary Wilmot

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On March 19, the Wyoming Outdoor Council and the world lost a dear friend. Former board member, loyal and longtime donor, dedicated volunteer, and passionate conservation advocate Dr. Martha Christensen passed away at the age of 85 at her home in Madison, Wisconsin. Martha dedicated much of her life to protecting wild lands for future generations, and Wyoming is a better place because of her.

Raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, Martha earned a B.S. and M.S. degree from the University of Nebraska, then went on to earn her Ph. D. from the University of Wisconsin. In 1963, she joined the University of Wyoming’s Botany Department as a mycologist, specializing in soil microfungal communities. During her career she collected more than 100 native samples from across the world, published prolifically in scientific journals, discovered new species, and received numerous honors and awards. She served as a professor and researcher at U.W. for 26 years before retiring in 1989.

Martha was a fierce defender of Wyoming’s public lands—especially the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. She approached her advocacy with a scientific mind, writing letter after letter to government officials and newspaper editors about the ecological and economic need for protections. She consistently asked that the government counter needless waste of energy and resources, that it preserve Wyoming’s natural landscapes, and that it provide for recreation opportunities through parks and outdoor spaces. Her articulate and powerful message—more relevant today than ever—helped usher in protections for the Savage Run Wilderness in the National Wilderness Act of 1964. Colleague, friend, and former Outdoor Council board member Dennis Knight said this was a great success for her and for Wyoming. “She stood up and spoke out for public lands so that federal and state officials would understand that the public has an interest in protecting and conserving their natural, wild value.”

Barbara Parsons, who served with Martha on the Council’s Board of Directors in the 1990s, remembers Martha’s optimism and hope, which she compared to that of our founder, Tom Bell, whom she said Martha deeply admired.

“Martha, like Tom, was one of those people inclined to think that things would get better, that eventually we would get through this. She really, really thought that what she did could make a really important difference in the world.”

As the Outdoor Council celebrates its 50th anniversary, and as we face challenges new and old, Martha’s enduring optimism is an inspiration. “Whenever there was a chance for public involvement, I participated,” she once said. And Wyoming is better off because she did. May we all strive to follow her lead.

The Christensen family has asked that gifts in her memory be sent to The Nature Conservancy or the Wyoming Outdoor Council. A memorial service for Martha was held on Saturday, April 1, 2017, at the Heritage Congregational Church in Madison, Wisconsin. Planning for a memorial service in Laramie is underway.

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The Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Task Force Wants Your Input!

Posted on March 1, 2017October 29, 2019 by Gary Wilmot

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In late 2016, Governor Matt Mead initiated the Outdoor Recreation Task Force to explore how Wyoming can grow its outdoor recreation sector.

Throughout 2017, the Task Force—made up of a diverse group of stakeholders and co-chaired by me—will meet to discuss ways to improve recreation infrastructure and expand business opportunities.

The Task Force also recognizes another important stakeholder in these discussions: the public. They’ve scheduled four listening sessions throughout the state, and we’re encouraging our members to attend. We’re heavily involved and we hope you will be, too. This is an important opportunity to hear updates as well as to speak up about what matters to you in regards to outdoor recreation in Wyoming.

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CASPER
March 7, 2017, 6–7p.m.
The Tate Pumphouse Trail Center
1774 W. 1st St.

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GILLETTE
May 4, 2017, 6–7p.m.
Campbell County Library, Wyoming Room
2101 S. 4-J Road

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EVANSTON
March 16, 2017, 6–7p.m.
Bear Community Center
75 Bear River Drive

JACKSON
April 11, 2017, 6–7p.m.
Teton County Admin. Building,
Board of County Commissioners Chambers
200 S. Willow Street

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In addition to the four listening sessions listed above, there will also be three full Task Force meetings during which the public is welcome to give comment. These meetings will be held in Cody, Lander, and Sheridan—rounding out the Task Force’s presence throughout the state. We’ve already held two meetings in Cheyenne to give folks in the southeast a chance to participate, too. Here is what we know about the public comment schedule:

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CODY
March 9, 2017 from 8-8:30 a.m. and 5:15-6:30 p.m.
March 10, 2017 from 8-8:30 a.m.
Buffalo Bill Center of the West
720 Sheridan Avenue

SHERIDAN
May 10-12, 2017
Time TBA
Location TBA

LANDER
April 5-7, 2017
Time TBA
Location TBA

The times for public comment at the full meetings will be an excellent chance to directly address the Task Force with your ideas. We’ll update you when public comment times are set for Lander and Sheridan, or you can check the Wyoming State Parks website.

We’re heavily invested in this Task Force and we hope you’ll be too. We’ll look forward to seeing you one of these sessions, and if you have any questions, please reach out to me at gary@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org.

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Tom Bell: A Tribute

Posted on September 6, 2016October 29, 2019 by Gary Wilmot

Our visionary founder, Tom Bell, died Tuesday, August 30, 2016 at the age of 92. All of us here at the Wyoming Outdoor Council mourn his loss deeply. Tom was a war hero, a father, a teacher, a writer, a conservation luminary, and a dear friend.

Today, we gathered in Lander with family and friends to celebrate his life. Please enjoy this video which features footage of some of Tom’s favorite places and thoughts from just a few of his admirers.

Farewell to our founder, Tom Bell

Posted on September 1, 2016October 29, 2019 by Gary Wilmot

Our visionary founder, Tom Bell, died Tuesday at the age of 92. All of us here at the Wyoming Outdoor Council mourn his loss deeply. Tom was a war hero, a father, a teacher, a writer, a conservation luminary, and a dear friend. Fifty years ago he set the tone for how conservation should be done in Wyoming: respectfully and collaboratively. Tom knew that change would happen only if people from all backgrounds worked together. To this day, we strive to honor that vision.

We will post more about Tom in the days to come. For now, we invite you to share your memories or thoughts below. What has Tom Bell’s life or legacy meant to you? What has it meant for Wyoming? We’ll share your tributes with Tom’s family.

Let us begin: Our beloved Wyoming would simply not be the same without Tom Bell. May he rest in peace.

Don’t Give Up on Clean Water: Maps of the Reclassified Streams & How to Improve Wyoming’s Plan for E. coli Pollution

Posted on September 3, 2015October 29, 2019 by Gary Wilmot

Scroll down or click here for maps depicting the reclassified (downgraded) streams

By Gary Wilmot, executive director
This article originally ran as an Op-Ed in the Jackson Hole News & Guide.

There is a lot at stake in the state’s plan to reclassify more than three-quarters of its streams to allow for levels of E. coli that would be unhealthy for swimming and playing. We think this plan in its current form is flawed, but we also see a path forward for improvement.

From our conversations with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, we understand that this effort was an attempt to appropriately classify “low flow” waterways where outdoor recreation such as swimming, floating, playing, and cooling off in the water is not expected to take place.

We understand the impetus behind this decision and, in the abstract, it makes some sense. There is no reason that many ephemeral streams and dry draws in Wyoming should be managed as “primary contact” recreation waters when they clearly are not used for recreation.

But the problem that the Wyoming Outdoor Council and many citizens and recreation groups have with this plan is that it uses a model to reclassify streams that inappropriately downgraded lots of waterways that people actually use for recreation, especially in the summer months—including in the mountains, and on national forests.

So where do we go from here? We think there is a solution—a middle ground—where the model can be improved to better protect recreational values and comply with the Clean Water Act.

Here are some examples of improvements we’re asking the state to consider:

Scrap the assumption that people will not walk more than a half-mile from a trailhead or a mile from a population center to play in the water. Thousands of people hike for miles and miles in Wyoming every year, especially during the summer months.
If we are really trying to address low flow waters, then make this rule more about low flow waters. Setting the standard below the current mark of 6 cfs just makes sense and it would help prevent unintended downgrades.
Protect places like wilderness areas. I bet we can all agree that there are places on our public lands that support recreation and tourism and those places should maintain the highest standards for water quality. If primary contact recreation isn’t an attainable use in wilderness then we’ve really blown it as stewards of clean water.
Rather than using the average annual flow of mountain streams to determine whether primary contact recreation is an “attainable use,” use instead more appropriate seasonal flow data for the summer months, when the snowpack runoff is at its peak (when outdoor recreation is also at its peak).
Acknowledge that roads and hiking trails aren’t so different. Access to the state’s waters isn’t always at the end of a street, and the streams located near the state’s trail corridors are just as important as the local swimming hole.

Wyoming took on a lot when it launched this effort to appropriately classify all of the state’s surface waters with a one-size-fits-all rule. And while the new plan removes some real challenges for industry, agriculture, and the state’s regulators, it missed the mark in maybe the most important way. This was a reclassification for recreational use—and the current plan doesn’t capture all the ways that Wyoming people and visitors to our state recreate.

Let’s fix the problem. The Wyoming Outdoor Council believes there is a way forward and we hope the state will incorporate our suggestions as well as those of everybody who cares about these recreational values in Wyoming. We are encouraged that the state recently agreed to accept public comments on this rule. Let’s make the most of this opportunity. There will be a hearing on this proposal in Casper on September 16. We encourage everyone who wants to participate to get your comments to the DEQ either at that meeting or prior to it via mail or fax. If Casper is inconvenient, you might also request a hearing in your local community.

You can fax or mail written comments to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality by directing them to David Waterstreet at 307-777-5973 (fax), or 122 W. 25th St. Herschler Bldg. 4W Cheyenne, WY 82002.

Maps of the reclassified (downgraded) streams

Click on the image or do a “save as” for a larger, easier-to-view image.

Absaroka Range North

Absaroka Range Central

Absaroka Range Southeast

Absaroka Range Southwest

Bighorn County

Johnson County North

Johnson County South

Natrona County North

Natrona County South

Sheridan County East

Sheridan County West

Snowy Range Overview

Snowy Range North

Snowy Range Central North

Snowy Range Central South

Snowy Range South

Teton County

Vedauwoo and Curt Gowdy State Park Area

Wind River Range North

Wind River Range Central North

Wind River Range Central South

Wind River Range South

Washakie County

Wyoming Range North

Wyoming Range – Central

Wyoming Range South

All maps except for the Teton County map were produced by Western Sense using stream data provided by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. The Teton County map was produced by the Teton Conservation District (source here).

Let’s talk about the merits of the BLM’s fracking rule

Posted on April 1, 2015October 29, 2019 by Gary Wilmot

The following letter was published as an opinion piece by executive director Gary Wilmot in the Casper Star-Tribune on Tuesday, March 31, 2015.

On the heels of last week’s announcement of the Interior Department’s new fracking rule, the state of Wyoming followed the lead of the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Western Energy Alliance and filed a lawsuit opposing it.

To date, the press releases from industry groups and the governor’s office have focused primarily on what some view as federal over-reach. But little has been said about the actual rule or its merits. Let’s change the focus of our conversation. Safeguarding public health and our shared natural resources is in everybody’s best interest.

Without a doubt Wyoming has been a leader in its regulation of hydraulic fracturing. In fact, the state has already adopted many of the provisions the new fracking rule calls for. And one of the best things about the new rule is that it provides states like Wyoming the opportunity to request a variance when their own rules are as strong as or stronger than the federal one.

For instance, Wyoming has been a leader in requiring that companies publicly disclose chemicals used in fracking, and the state also recently improved its oversight of chemicals considered to be “trade secrets.” As such, the state should be granted a variance for these regulations. Wyoming is already ahead of the BLM in other areas, too – most notably in its requirement that companies collect baseline water quality before fracking. The new BLM rule does not require baseline testing, an we think it should.

Unfortunately, not all states share Wyoming’s foresight on fracking: Some don’t regulate the practice at all, or do so in less protective ways. Unfortunately, environmental problems don’t stop at the state line. But because the new BLM rule applies to fracking on federal public lands, it gives not only Wyoming citizens but all Americans assurance that public health and safety is better protected by putting in place a safety net – a minimum standard that all states must meet.

Notably, some of what the BLM will require does provide better protection for human health and water resources than Wyoming’s rules do. For example, the BLM will require testing to confirm well-bore integrity on every well drilled. This is important. Industry representatives have, over the years, told the public that it is not fracking per se that poses a risk to groundwater, but rather problems with well-bore integrity. The BLM is now calling on industry to be accountable in this regard. This is a commonsense, best-management practice that industry and Wyoming should get behind.

States and the federal government have a joint responsibility to protect public health and our shared natural resources. It’s not always an effortless path, but it’s clearly one worth pursuing. Lawsuits are easy to file. The harder work is keeping up the conversation, focusing on the merits of rules – and on the people and resources those rules seek to protect. A substantive conversation is what will actually move our state and country forward as we work toward a truly responsible energy strategy.