March 2021 - 13

PROJECT PROFILES

On a mission for you
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department works throughout the year to fulfill the mission
of " conserving wildlife, serving people. " A variety of projects, surveys and efforts are
underway across Wyoming to meet this charge. Some highlights of recent work include:

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Burbot netting: Green River Region fisheries biologists
recently used trammel nets to catch burbot in Fontenelle
Reservoir near LaBarge. The number of burbot caught per
hour in 2020 was higher than when netting began in 2006.
Biologists are disappointed in this trend, but it highlights the
ample opportunity for anglers to target this species in this
reservoir. Burbot are not native to the Green River drainage.

Walleye in Ocean Lake: The Lander fisheries management crew conducted annual walleye gill netting at
Ocean Lake in November 2020. Netting showed excellent
survival of walleyes stocked in recent years, with a catch
rate more than three times higher than any other since
2008. Yellow perch numbers were low and are likely being
influenced by high walleye abundance.

Teamwork near Wheatland: The Wyoming Army
National Guard teamed with Game and Fish to improve
more than 17 miles of dirt roads and bring the regional
patrol cabin up to code at the Laramie Peak Wildlife Habitat
Management Area in 2020. More than 70 soldiers from the
133rd Engineer Company worked on the project for their
annual two-week training exercise this summer.

Powder River mule deer: As part of the ongoing Upper
Powder River Mule Deer Study, Game and Fish personnel
recaptured 48 deer mid-December of 2020 between Kaycee
and Buffalo. The deer were transported to a staging area
where wildlife managers took body measurements, collected
blood and fecal samples, downloaded current data from the
collars and used an ultrasound to assess body fat. Eighteen
collars retrieved from mortalities that occurred earlier in the
study were redeployed on new deer. A final capture will take
place in December 2021, and the collars are programmed
to automatically release from each animal in January 2022.

Cutthroat trout habitat: With funding from Wyoming
Wildlife Natural Resource Trust, partners from Game and
Fish, Trout Unlimited and the U.S. Forest Service installed
3,000 feet of movable, steel jack fence last fall along a section
of Soldier Creek in the Cody region to improve habitat for
Yellowstone cutthroat trout. The goal is to prevent excessive
elk, moose and cattle use of riparian stream habitat to allow
for willow regeneration and growth. Once habitat improvement goals are met, the fence will be moved systematically
upstream. This spring there are plans to plant approximately
1,000 willows within the enclosure area.

Osprey nesting platforms: Two osprey nesting platforms were installed in August 2020 in Buffalo thanks to the
efforts of Wyoming Game and Fish Commission President
Peter Dube, Buffalo resident Phil Gonzales, the City of
Buffalo and Rocky Mountain Power. Platforms are placed
to encourage ospreys to nest on them instead of light poles
and active power poles, which creates the risk of power
outages and death of the birds. Rocky Mountain Power
donated the materials, equipment and labor for the project.

Hornyhead chub transplant: Fisheries biologists from
the Laramie and Lander regions transplanted about 300
hornyhead chub from the Laramie River to the Sweetwater
River to establish a conservation population. Hornyhead
chub once occupied the Sweetwater River, but they were
last documented there in 1852. The transplant will help
restore this native species to its historic range and create an additional population of one of the rarest fish
in Wyoming.

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Irrigation work at Wick/Beumee WHMA: The Laramie
Region habitat and access crew installed 4,800 feet of irrigation pipe and constructed irrigation diversion boxes on
the Wick/Beumee Wildlife Habitat Management Area near
Arlington. The pipe will help reduce workloads and increase
efficiencies while protecting water rights on the property.
Wyoming Wildlife | 13

March 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2021