Wyo. wildlife conservation gets a boost from tourism-industry donations; hunters no longer solely responsible

Wyoming has an appealing mix of land, sky, wildlife, and geography. (Photo by Nomadsunveiled)

What do you know about Wyoming? Wide open spaces where striking wildlife can be spotted? All things photo-worthy? Wyoming has begun using tourism funding to support those spaces and creatures, and that is "changing the face of wildlife conservation funding," reports Kelsey Wellington of Writers on the Range. "It’s based on the state’s startling mountains, rivers filled with fish and forests where bears and wolves roam — everything that makes Wyoming unrivaled."

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is largely funded by hunters and anglers, "but as we all know, hunters and anglers aren’t the only people fascinated by wildlife," Wellington notes. "The number one reason people travel to Wyoming is to view wild animals, and wildlife watching alone accounts for almost half a billion dollars in state revenue. It also employs over 10,000 people. . . . Yet the tourism industry contributes very little when it comes to funding wildlife conservation."

Now some in the industry are voluntarily donating to the cause, thanks to Taylor Phillips, owner of EcoTour Adventures, a Wyoming wildlife tour company who "felt this gap was unfair and wanted to do something about it. Since founding his business in 2008, Phillips donated over $115,000 to nonprofits that work to conserve the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem," Wellington reports. "Phillips expected other wildlife-tourism businesses to catch on, but very few did. Phillips partnered with Chris McBarnes, president of The WYldlife Fund, a partner foundation to the state game and fish department," which helps fund wildlife projects. They created Wildlife Tourism for Tomorrow, which "funds conservation by targeting businesses and people that depend on wildlife to make their living. These are the companies that run wildlife tours, and the hotels, restaurants and shops that cater to wildlife watchers."

Wellington writes, "Since October of 2021, Wildlife Tourism for Tomorrow has raised over $200,000 for Wyoming’s wildlife from over 70 businesses and dozens of individuals, and has given $84,900 in gifts for wildlife conservation projects. Trout Unlimited received a gift of $20,000 in 2020 for a project to keep spawning cutthroat trout from getting trapped in an irrigation system." Trout Unlimited’s Leslie Steen told Wellington, “I’ve seen wildlife tour trips in the area and it is really neat to think that those same businesses are now giving back to native fish.”