Wyoming
New Wyoming Game And Fish Director Announced On… | Cowboy State Daily
As the first woman to direct the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Angi Bruce said she’ll make wildlife habitat a priority when she takes the helm in September.
A looming concern for Wyoming wildlife is “loss of habitat, both quality and quantity,” Bruce told Cowboy State Daily on Friday afternoon shortly after Gov. Mark Gordon announced her appointment.
“We’re seeing these effects on sage grouse, mule deer and other species,” Bruce said.
She said she’s looking forward to working with landowners, non-governmental conservation groups and others to continue Game and Fish habitat preservation and restoration projects across Wyoming.
Gordon picked Bruce from three internal finalists to replace Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik, who plans to retire in September.
The other finalists were Rick King, chief of the department’s Wildlife Division, and Craig Smith, deputy chief of the Wildlife Division.
Bruce is now the agency’s deputy director of external affairs.
Best And Worst Of Times
She’ll take over as director during a time that is both exciting and challenging for Game and Fish.
On one hand, the agency is about as financially stable as it’s ever been. Wyoming continues to be a premier destination for out-of-state hunters. They’re willing to pay big fees for nonresident hunting licenses, which generates a large portion of Game and Fish’s revenue.
On the other hand, Game and Fish has been harshly criticized from people and wildlife advocates from around the globe for what some claim was light punishment for a Daniel man who reportedly captured, tortured and killed a wolf in February.
According to court records, Cody Roberts, 42, forfeited a $250 bond for a Game and Fish citation for illegal possession of a live, warm-blooded animal. But many have clamored for much stiffer penalties for the wolf’s cruel treatment.
There’s also ongoing controversy over whether grizzly bears should be delisted from federal endangered species protection and hunted in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
There also are squabbles over hunter access, even as many of Wyoming’s elk herds have ballooned to far above their objective population.
Hunters claim that landowners won’t give them enough access to shoot more of the elk, while landowners say they don’t want to be pressured into just throwing their gates wide open.
Regarding the elk quandary, Bruce said she’s familiar with that sort of situation. She previously worked in wildlife management in Iowa and saw it happen there with whitetail deer.
Some plots of land became “essentially refuges” for the exploding deer population and hunters couldn’t get to them, she said.
Like whitetail, elk “are a species that can become very adaptable to human disturbances to the environment,” she said.
“They’re two very different species, but the issues are similar,” she said.
Regarding the controversies, Bruce said she’s confident that Game and Fish can continue to take a balanced approach and stay on course with its mission to conserve wildlife and serve the public.
“One thing I’ve noticed is that we never shy away from those difficult issues,” she said.
First Woman Director
Bruce has been in her current position with Game and Fish since 2019, and worked with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for 17 years before that.
She said it’s meaningful to be selected as the first woman to lead Wyoming Game and Fish.
“I’m thrilled to represent the first female director for the department. That’s exciting. This is a very male-dominated field, it always has has been,” she said.
However, she added that her appointment in no way detracts from the excellent record of the men who previously directed Game and Fish and got the agency to where it is today.
Bruce added that she’s “honored” to set an example and be an inspiration for women and girls who are interested in careers in natural resource and wildlife management.
The Right One For The Job
Selecting from the three finalists was challenging, Gordon said in a statement released by his office.
“The Game and Fish Commission forwarded three exceptionally well-qualified candidates reflecting Wyoming’s commitment to wildlife and our natural resource heritage,” Gordon said.
“In her role as deputy director, Angi has demonstrated the department’s dedication to protecting our state’s leadership role in science and policy on wildlife issues large and small,” he added.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
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Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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