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Making your voice heard: An intern’s insight into giving testimony

Posted on by Guest Author

The following blog post was written by Shane Heavin, our 2022 summer migration policy and outreach intern.

What would it feel like to stand in front of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission and ask them to spend $2 million to create access to public lands that are landlocked by private land? As an intern for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, I did just that. And I’m here to tell you it’s not as scary as it sounds.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department recently made a deal with Uinta Livestock Grazing Partnership, Belle Butte Grazing Partnership, and Bear River Land and Grazing to lease approximately 91,760 acres of private lands bordering roughly 110,000 acres of public lands. The payout will be $400,000 per year for five years and will also lock in public access to the private land for an additional 25 years, ensuring 30 years of public access to public lands inside the Bear River Divide Hunter Management Area. WOC favors this deal as it provides access to public lands, and public lands are what WOC is all about. The Outdoor Council’s long history of public lands advocacy is why I spoke to the commission in support of the Bear River HMA project.

Game and Fish makes it simple to give public comments at a meeting, and there are two ways to sign up to testify. The first is to fill out an electronic form regarding the topic you want to discuss while attending the meeting via Zoom. The second way is to fill out the same document on paper while signing in to attend the meeting in person. You do not have to tell the Game and Fish Commission whether you agree or disagree with the WGFD on the subject or specifically what you want to say, just that you have an opinion you want them to hear.

My supervisor, WOC’s program director, Kristen Gunther, introduced me to WGFD personnel Sean Bibbey, who is knowledgeable about this topic and has put tremendous work into making the Bear River project a reality. I was allowed to ask questions about the undertaking and given complete information about the Bear River HMA project. This made it easy to better understand the issue and write an informed testimony to present to the commission.

The last pieces of the puzzle to effectively speaking to an authoritative group are moral support and building relationships. Moral support and building relationships are among the most significant factors in effectively addressing an audience. Kristen introduced me to several employees of the WGFD and other experts so that I could learn as much as possible about the Bear River HMA project. Kristen also helped me edit my testimony to ensure it was clear and competent. Again, the point of the testimony is not to agree or disagree with WGFD’s position but to effectively convey the interests of the Wyoming Outdoor Council. 

Kristen provided moral support by going with me to meet key members of the Bear River HMA project and was present when I testified in front of the Game and Fish Commission in support of the Bear River HMA. Kristen’s moral support also allowed me to build relationships with WGFD staff that will last well into the future. The fantastic thing about these relationships is that the people you have formed them with will also provide moral support once established. Relationships are like a snowballing effect into moral support. I am not saying that people will always agree with you, but they will want the best for you and sometimes point out things you do not see or understand that may change your point of view.

In this case, attending preceding WGFD events and meetings was a critical part of relationship building. Speaking with WGFD personnel about the subject you are interested in shows them that you are willing to put in the work to research the topic and listen to their point of view. For example, I attended all three days of July’s Game and Fish Commission meeting. Daily attendance allowed me to become more familiar with the commission members and also allowed me to meet some of the commissioners before I had to speak in front of them.

“Speaking with WGFD personnel about the subject you are interested in shows them that you are willing to put in the work to research the topic and listen to their point of view.”

— SHANE HEAVIN, migration policy and outreach intern

Studying the Bear River HMA project materials, speaking with the WGFD about the project, attending many Game and Fish meetings, and having Kristen’s support gave me the confidence I needed to convey WOC’s interest to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. 

And so, on July 19, I gave testimony to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. I  thanked the WGFD, Uinta Livestock Grazing Partnership, Belle Butte Grazing Partnership, and Bear River Land and Grazing for the work they did on this project. I also asked them to approve WGFD’s request to spend $2 million to ensure public access to public lands inside the Bear River HMA. Whether or not my testimony had any effect on the outcome, I do not know. What I do know is that the Wyoming Outdoor Council gave me the confidence I needed to testify and that my voice was heard. If my voice can be heard, so can yours. 

By the way, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission unanimously passed the request to lease public access to the Bear River HMA.

Intern Diary: An incredible week of learning at the Wyoming Legislature

Posted on by Guest Author

It all started on a Sunday at the Equality State Policy Center’s SHAPE training, a program aimed at empowering citizens to engage with Wyoming politics. It offers ideas, skills, strategies, and tactics for advocating, not just at the Wyoming State Legislature, but anywhere. This material proved useful, as I was scheduled to begin my work with Wyoming Outdoor Council folks, including Steff Kessler, Kristen Gunther, and Mike Kusiek, the next day. 

I stayed in Cheyenne at the WOC house, which gave me the ability to focus completely on the experience and work without the worry of commuting. Staying together also gave us time to debrief in the evening and strategize in the morning. Hearing how these veterans thought about and processed their day gave me a great deal of insight into how to organize my own experience and to interpret what I was seeing and hearing. While I was focusing on different bills any given day, in many ways each day had a similar rhythm. There were often committee meetings before the House or Senate began, so that was the time to testify, if it was appropriate, as well as listen to the front line deliberation. 

I greatly appreciated when Steff or Kristen clarified background information about a representative or an issue that was not clear from the first hearing. Much of the rest of my days were spent listening to the House or Senate debates while attempting to draw out a lawmaker in order to offer them a bit more information or perspective on an upcoming vote. Sometimes there were evening committee meetings or informal gatherings where I met legislators and offered warm words or thank yous. I had the opportunity to meet my House representative at one such dinner, something that surely would not have happened otherwise. I also felt confident enough to walk up to my senator and introduce myself since I had a context in which to engage him.  

I was amazed by the array of bills addressed during a session, and gained an appreciation for the effort that our legislators voluntarily put in for weeks. I also gained a great deal of respect for the work that lobbyists and advocates do for the legislators. Legislators do not have staff and often can read about the upcoming bills only shortly before a vote. Having well-informed advocates to do some of the research for the legislator is actually important; and thus, gaining a good reputation and rapport is crucial for good relationships with legislators.

On Wednesday of my internship week, I did not have any particular task in front of me and decided to see what the Senate Minerals committee was reviewing. There were two bills, HB 4, Wyoming coal marketing program, and HB 3, Wyoming energy authority – amendments. HB 4 proposed that a program be established to market Wyoming’s coal and address some of the monetary impacts faced by communities as the coal market changes. It was a modest amount of money, and, as such, seemed like not much of a help — for either idea. I had not spoken in a committee meeting before and was a bit nervous. However, the chair, Sen. Anderson, was gracious and humorous as I made a comment about the small amount of money for something like international marketing and perhaps it would be best to simply focus on assisting impacted communities.  The bill passed committee with only the chair against.

Emboldened by my “success” at my first attempt to speak, I also decided to speak up on HB 3 — a bill meant to clarify some language and authority about public utilities, including creating a “Wyoming energy authority” board. I was curious as to the description of the board members. It stated that of the seven members, two had to be knowledgeable in the field of energy but an additional two had to be specifically knowledgeable of oil and gas issues. It struck me that that amendment stacked the board towards oil and gas, so I asked that specific question. Sen. Anderson suggested that, yes, the oil and gas folks were concerned that they would not be represented. However, my question was taken up by Sen. Rothfuss who said he had the same question and pursued the conversation further. Again, the bill passed the committee as written.

However, two things happened after the committee adjourned that were quite satisfying, especially as this was the first time I had spoken in a committee hearing. Sen. Anderson stopped to say thank you and that he had agreed with me that HB 4 seemed like “too little, too late,” which was why he voted against it. Then Sen. Rothfuss also stopped to thank me for my question as it was obvious he had similar concerns. Speaking in the committee was a great experience as Sen. Anderson was so supportive, and it was also really wonderful to have the senators make a point of thanking me for my input. I am now ready to tackle my next committee meeting knowing I will be heard and perhaps can even start a conversation among the committee members. 

It was a pure delight to be in the Capitol building. It is a beautiful structure with frescoes, floor tile designs, lovely wooden balconies, and high windows  I took some time to wander around, in and out of some offices, so I could see more of the building. I ran into a longtime employee who gave me an unofficial tour of all the small and large rooms with painted vault doors; we both wondered what would have been in each. Even the tunnel with the committee meeting rooms was nicely done with lots of natural light from the skylights. Coming to the Capitol in the early morning as the sun was just hitting the building was lovely, and I had to take photos of the edifice in the sun.  

In the end, I am grateful for the opportunity to have participated in the Outdoor Council’s legislative internship program. I learned a great deal about the Wyoming Legislature, the role and importance of advocacy, and some about myself as well. I am much more likely to engage civically in the future and have a better idea of how to actually be useful in that role.

— Elizabeth Traver, Laramie, Legislative Intern 2020

Elizabeth Traver is a lab manager in the University of Wyoming’s Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics, as well as a doctoral student in soil science. She was one of the Outdoor Council’s five citizen interns during the Wyoming Legislature’s 2020 budget session.

Running the Red Desert for conservation

Posted on by Claire Cella

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“I’ve always been attracted to the Boar’s Tusk,” Wyoming Outdoor Council member Daniel Dale said after finishing a challenging 23-kilometer run that took him past the iconic Red Desert landmark. “Now I have a personal story to go with it.”

Fostering personal connections to this stunning — and threatened — landscape is what Run the Red is all about. The sandy, hilly terrain draws athletes eager for a challenge. Since its creation five years ago by the Outdoor Council and partners from NOLS and the Wyoming Wilderness Association, the race’s primary goal has been to help people create their own stories about this unique place, so they might better advocate its protection.

The Red Desert needs as many advocates as it can get. As oil and gas leases are fast-tracked on public lands under a new “energy dominance” mandate, the fate of this rugged, wild landscape hangs in the balance.

Right now, the Bureau of Land Management is revising its land-use plan for much of the desert. That plan will determine how multiple activities — including energy development — are balanced with conservation for the next 15 to 20 years. Some of the BLM’s proposed activities could limit public access and threaten important wildlife habitat in the desert.

And in a particularly troubling move, the BLM has proposed offering oil and gas lease parcels inside the one-of-a-kind Red Desert to Hoback mule deer migration corridor — the longest mule deer migration ever recorded, and a lifeline for deer populations as well as a wealth of other Wyoming species.

“The Red Desert to Hoback mule deer migration is a unique feature of this landscape,” WOC conservation advocate Kristen Gunther told Run the Red participants on June 2. “If oil and gas operators are allowed to drill inside the narrow corridor that these animals depend upon for survival, our ability to maintain healthy mule deer numbers in Wyoming will be severely threatened.”

This year, runners wrote postcards to Governor Matt Mead requesting that he ask the Interior Department to defer oil and gas leasing in the migration corridor. Dozens of postcards were collected at the finish line, filled with fresh stories of people’s newfound love and appreciation for the Red Desert, its beauty, and its ecological, cultural, and historical significance. These messages will be forwarded to the governor and other state elected officials.

For more information about how you can help advocate for the Red Desert, visit runthereddesert.com.

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Scott Pies, from Rock Springs, came in first place in the 50K with a time of 04:00:02. Erik Aanerud, also from Rock Springs, won the 23k with a time of 01:00:55, and John Raymond, from Farson, came in first in the 5K with a time of 00:26:29. (For complete results, visit ultrasignup.com and search “Run the Red.”)

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