Platte Valley
Local Area Working Group
ABOUT
In late fall 2020, Governor Gordon appointed eight members to the Platte Valley Mule Deer Local Area Working Group in consultation with the Carbon County Commission. The charge for this group was to review the effectiveness of the existing designation of the Platte Valley Mule Deer Migration Corridor to make recommendations about additional opportunities for conservation as well as to examine the impacts of all restrictions on development and use of lands encompassed in the designated corridor.
It was a limited-duration working group that met six times over the course of Winter 2020-21. At the culmination of the process, the group summarized its recommendations for Governor Gordon's consideration in a final report (see below).
Platte Valley Migration Corridor Local Area Working Group members:
Local Government -- Carbon County Commissioner John Espy
Agriculture -- Diana Berger and Chris Williams
Industry -- Kara Choquette and Pete Obermueller
Wildlife/conservation/hunting -- Joe Parsons and David Willms
Motorized recreation -- Ed Glode
Working Group Charge
November 30, 2020
Platte Valley Final Report
Submitted to the governor on March 22, 2021
Closeout Letter from Governor Gordon
April 26, 2021
MEETINGS
All meetings were open to the public and held remotely.
Notes & recordings
Meeting #1: December 11, 2020
Meeting #2: Friday, January 8, 2021
Meeting #3: Friday, January 22, 2021
Meeting #4: Friday, February 5, 2021
Meeting #5: Friday, February 19, 2021
Meeting #6: Friday, March 5th, 2021
PV Local Working Group DRAFT Recommendations (updated during March 5th meeting)
Subcommittee Appendix C Recommendations (updated during March 5th meeting)
WORKING GROUP MATERIALS
Governor's charge (see image below)
Working Group Meeting Packet (includes key reference documents)
Migration Corridor DRAFT FAQs (3/1/21)
Information from January 8th meeting:
Migration Corridor 101: Part 1 (Doug Brimeyer, WGFD) & Migration Corridor 101: Part 2 (Jill Randall, WGFD)
Platte Valley Mule Deer Herd (Embere Hall and Teal Cufaude, WGFD)
Migration Corridor Executive Order Background (Beth Callaway, Governor's Office)
Individual collared deer routes (videos): Fort Steele deer & Granby deer (WGFD)
Information from January 22nd meeting:
WGFD Project Review (Amanda Losch, WGFD)
Platte Valley Conservation Projects List (Joe Parsons, Saratoga-Encampment-Rawlins Conservation District)
List of AML sites (Chad Kopplin, DEQ)
Information from February 5th meeting:
Platte Valley Highway Information (Scott Gamo, WYDOT)
Platte Valley Invasive Plant Treatments (Chris Wichmann, Wyoming Department of Agriculture)
Deer Collision Data for I80 and WY-130/230 from Walcott Junction south to Riverside (WYDOT)
Wyoming's Wildlife and Roadways Initiative
Statewide priorities list (2018)
Summary of anticipated changes to Platte Valley Risk and Opportunity Assessment (WGFD)
RESOURCES
Platte Valley Mule Deer Migration Corridor Biological Risk and Opportunity Assessment (May 2021):
Final Platte Valley Risk Assessment
Appendix A: Mule Deer Research Report
Appendix B: Executive Order 2020-1
Appendix C: WGFD Commission Approved Ungulate Migration Corridor Strategy
Appendix D: Analysis Segment Maps
Websites:
WGFD Website (maps, mapping tool, basic info on migration, wildlife crossing information)
Wyoming's Wildlife and Roadways Initiative
Statewide Priorities List (2018)
Key policy documents:
WGFD Commission Approved Ungulate Migration Corridor Strategy
Executive Order WGFD/WGFC Flow Chart for Identification and Designation Process
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Click the link to access the Google Drive with public comments:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1J8OphfYWoO3dI03bY7WKtPuxn5Bd7Imn?usp=sharing