January 2023 - 30

The news wasn't all good. Neebling said one
aquatic invasive species - brook stickleback
- was found to be more widespread in the
river than originally thought.
UPCOMING PROJECT
In March, Game and Fish will begin work
on a similar project on the Bighorn River to
survey for native sturgeon chub and other
nongame species within the mainstream of the
river. It will encompass about 137 river miles,
starting at the Wedding of the Waters where
the Wind River becomes the Bighorn River
and ending at the mouth of Bighorn Lake.
The project is scheduled to be completed
The orangethroat darter was not found in the North Platte River in Wyoming in the past, but recent work found this
small fish to be fairly widespread. (Photo by Travis Neebling/WGFD)
in February 2025.
Beth Bear, Game and Fish aquatic
assessment crew supervisor and lead on the
project, said similar work on the Bighorn
River was done around 2006-07, but it
mostly looked at tributaries. Joe Skorupski,
Game and Fish fisheries biologist in Cody,
said a project was completed in 2017-18 on
the Bighorn River that focused on critical
habitat areas where nongame, small-bodied
fish species were prevalent - specifically,
the lower Bighorn River and lower Nowood
River. That study was an effort to establish
long-term monitoring of the nongame, smallbodied
fish in the Bighorn River. During the
project, sturgeon chub were captured which
were not observed since 2002 and thought
to be extirpated from the Bighorn River. The
finding spurred multiple projects, one being
the upcoming project starting in March.
The sturgeon chub was petitioned for
There were only isolated populations of Johnny darters in the North Platte River in Wyoming 50 to 60 years ago, but
they are now more abundant in the river system. (Photo by Travis Neebling/WGFD)
30 | January 2023
listing under the Endangered Species Act in
2016. A positive 90-day finding was made
in December 2017. The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and at least 13 state agencies
are now engaged in the development of a
species status assessment of sturgeon chub.
Although data from this project will likely
be collected too late to inform the species
status assessment which will be released in
September 2023, knowledge of the species
status in the Bighorn River will be valuable if
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determines
listing the sturgeon chub under the ESA
is warranted.
" If we can get more and better information
for our sensitive species we have in the state
it could preclude listing. That's a really good
thing for resources for the species, and state
and federal resources, " Skorupski said.
The work on the North Platte River
provided insight into effective techniques

January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2023

January 2023 - 1
January 2023 - 2
January 2023 - 3
January 2023 - 4
January 2023 - 5
January 2023 - 6
January 2023 - 7
January 2023 - 8
January 2023 - 9
January 2023 - 10
January 2023 - 11
January 2023 - 12
January 2023 - 13
January 2023 - 14
January 2023 - 15
January 2023 - 16
January 2023 - 17
January 2023 - 18
January 2023 - 19
January 2023 - 20
January 2023 - 21
January 2023 - 22
January 2023 - 23
January 2023 - 24
January 2023 - 25
January 2023 - 26
January 2023 - 27
January 2023 - 28
January 2023 - 29
January 2023 - 30
January 2023 - 31
January 2023 - 32
January 2023 - 33
January 2023 - 34
January 2023 - 35
January 2023 - 36
January 2023 - 37
January 2023 - 38
January 2023 - 39
January 2023 - 40
January 2023 - 41
January 2023 - 42
January 2023 - 43
January 2023 - 44
January 2023 - 45
January 2023 - 46
January 2023 - 47
January 2023 - 48
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2025
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/wyoming-wildlife-may-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2024-e-edition
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-iak-special-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/dec-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/January2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/December2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/September2020
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