This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) is looking for applications for a new advisory board to help regulate commercially guided fishing boats.

The agency now has the authority to regulate commercially guided boats in the state after Gov. Gordon signed HB 5 into law at the end of February. Efforts to start to regulate the industry finally floated through the legislative process this year after sinking several times in the past decade, but the rules haven’t been set in stone yet.

Once formed, the advisory board will help develop recommendations on what those rules will actually look like moving forward. Commercial fishing guides currently don’t have to pay permitting fees or register to operate in most parts of the state. But according to the WGFD press release, the new recommendations will “enhance fishing conditions and address waterway congestion.”

At least two of the board’s seven seats need to be filled by drift boat guide business owners in Wyoming, as outlined by the new law’s language. The role is a volunteer position, but board members will be reimbursed per diem and for their travel expenses at the same rate as state employees.

Members will serve for four years and will be appointed from different districts around the state. The group will get together three to five times from May to August, then will meet up with WGFD in September. After that, recommendations will be presented to the joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee by the start of November. The new regulations will take effect on the first of the new year.

The online application is open through March 21st.