One of Wyoming’s longtime leaders in wildlife issues will likely bring those skills to a national level. Pres. Trump has nominated Brian Nesvik to oversee the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
In his 30-year long career, Brian Nesvik wore many different hats for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) – most recently as director when he was appointed by Gov. Mark Gordon in 2019. Nesvik retired from the post this past September.
“I am delighted that my friend – who was looking forward to more pack trips, fishing and hunting – answered the call to serve his country again in this important capacity,” Gordon said in a press release.
The USFWS oversees conservation of the nation’s fish and wildlife and their habitat on public lands. Specifically, the director is charged with “furthering the White House’s priorities.” Under Trump, that likely includes opening up more public land to fossil fuel activity.
News of Trump’s nomination of Nesvik was first published by WyoFile, linking to the updated nomination on the Congress.gov website Tuesday morning.
In his director role of WGFD, Nesvik oversaw a number of controversial wildlife issues. The state drafted their recommendations for updating sage grouse protections, finalized plans to reduce elk dependence on feedgrounds, re-imagined mule deer and pronghorn hunting after one of Western Wyoming’s most brutal winters, and dealt with a wolf torture incident in Sublette County that received global backlash. Nesvik also unsuccessfully advocated to remove Grizzly bear’s from the threatened species list.
Nesvik’s ability to tackle these tricky issues was praised this summer at a conservation event held at the Miller Ranch in Big Piney.
“Working together is the Wyoming way. And Nesvik knows that,” said Joy Bannon, executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation. “It takes that will and takes that grit to be able to have the tough conversations and work across the table, eye-to-eye so that we can have those lasting solutions.”
Nesvik spoke later at the event. He said what drives him is his love of Wyoming’s outdoors. Nesvik recalled his childhood in Wyoming – specifically when he asked his dad if he could go explore outside and his dad said, “I suppose, but there’s really nothing there but a bunch of sagebrush.”
Nesvik said he fell in love with the diverse sagebrush landscape that day, adding that, “Dad was wrong. There’s a lot there in a big batch of sagebrush.”
He said that another key part of managing wildlife and conservation is including private landowners – like ranchers – in conversations. Nesvik highlighted his conservation strategy when saying, “They're [ranchers] the closest to the land the things that they do to manage for their well being and to manage their ranching operation are the same principles that are important for good conservation of the land.”
In his tenure, Nesvik also helped start an outdoor youth program called ‘Inspire a Kid’ – essentially training the next generation to manage wildlife and the outdoors. An offshoot of this initiative is an outdoor summer kids camp in Bondurant that offers kids from across the nation a peak at Wyoming’s outdoors, wildlife and ranching culture.
Aside from Nesvik’s WGFD realm, Nesvik grew up in Wyoming around Casper and Cheyenne. He attended the University of Wyoming, and served for more than three decades with the Wyoming Army National Guard.
Confirmation of Nesvik as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director begins with approval from the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works committee. If he gets their OK, then there’s a full Senate vote.
Currently the director seat is empty. But most recently under former President Biden, the position was held by Montana’s Martha Williams.
