One supporter of an anonymous group that says it’s looking to stop U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) from “sell[ing] off Wyoming’s public lands” has a proposition for Wyoming’s lone congressional representative and one of her advisers.
“Come hunting with me,” wrote entrepreneur Trevor Neilson, a resident of Teton County, in a piece on the blogging website Medium.
Neilson is the president of the data center company Prometheus Hyperscale and chairman of Las Flores Holdings, an investment firm that’s website says it’s “focused on businesses which have the potential to create catalytic social change.” A report by the Wyoming Tribune Eagle says Neilson cemented a move from California to Wyoming after the Palisades Fire in early 2025, after having already bought a home in Wyoming.
“Let’s walk the public land at dawn, and talk about the very land [Hageman adviser Tim Murtaugh] and Harriet tried to sell — and will no doubt try to sell again if she’s elected governor,” Neilson wrote.
Hageman has not publicly said whether or not she will run for governor in 2026. Emails and phone calls from WPR to her Washington, D.C. office about Project Winchester, Neilson’s invitation and her possible gubernatorial plans went unanswered.
In a Zoom interview with Wyoming Public Radio, Neilson said he’s one supporter of a group called Project Winchester, which on its website states that, “Public lands are the soul of Wyoming—where we hunt, fish, work, raise our kids, and remember what it means to be free. But now, they’re under threat from our own representative in Congress--who wants to be our next Governor.”
In a June 20 newsletter from Hageman, she called a public land sell-off proposal added to the budget reconciliation bill by U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) a “responsible balance.” Lee leads the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that advanced the measure.
“There is a nationwide shortage of at least 4.5 million houses and a shortage of 7.1 million affordable and available homes,” Hageman wrote. “These numbers will continue to grow as our population expands. Wyoming is no stranger to the challenges associated with limited housing and skyrocketing prices, and for many of our communities, private development has reached maximum potential, with federal land ownership constraining growth, jobs, and economic development. The BLM”s policy of continuing to buy private land (such as the purchase SW of Casper), creates land-locked communities and checkerboard patterns, while also restricting development on isolated parcels.
“The Senate Committee’s proposal to unlock a mere fraction of 1% of federal lands in small tracts strikes a responsible balance to address local needs while protecting the beautiful landscapes that make up our state’s identity.”
After a bipartisan public outcry, Lee’s provision, which in its final iteration would’ve allowed for up to 3.3 million acres of federal land to be sold, didn’t end up being included in the bill.
Still, a big concern for Neilson and the dozen or so Republicans and Democrats who he said make up Project Winchester is that Hageman will be persuaded to dispose of public land in Wyoming if she runs for governor and is elected. Neilson said some in the group live in states like Montana and Idaho, and that many are hunters and fishermen.
“ We have the right to discuss these things and decide whether we want Harriet to keep selling off our public lands as the governor,” said Neilson. In a follow-up text message, he added, “We have no doubt that this is her and Tim Murtaugh’s long term plan and the momentary setback will not stop them.”
His invitation for Hageman and Murtaugh to hunt with him could include bagging elk on public land in Idaho or Wyoming this fall, he said.
He added that the dozen or so people involved with the group will likely stay anonymous until Hageman announces a run for governor, if that happens. That possibility is what many in the group are most worried about.
“ They don't want to be attacked by Harriet Hagman's D.C. political hitman as I have been,” he said, referring to an Aug. 1 article by Cowboy State Daily about Project Winchester. “So that'd be a pretty good reason [for anonymity]. I think that certain people have an appetite for being more public and others don't. You see the very nervous and very angry response from the Hageman crowd, and that would be a pretty good example of why.”
If Hageman passes on a gubernatorial run, Neilson said some in the group may never step into the public eye like he has.
Project Winchester doesn’t have a registered political action committee in the state as of this story’s publishing. Neilson said that’s because the group is still new, and it’s not been necessary to form one yet.
“ The rules are very clear that it doesn't meet the threshold for needing to be registered,” he said. “There's a certain threshold of funds raised and funds spent that you have to surpass. It's nonsense, it's absurd and yet it's managed to distract.”
Neilson, a former aide in the Clinton administration who says he’s a registered Republican, also responded to Murtaugh’s comments in Cowboy State Daily that the gun-themed group is making “anonymous threats” against the congresswoman because of its name and logo.
“ If Harriet and Tim, her political hack, are somehow scared of guns or think that it's a threat, that just shows how out of touch they are with the people of Wyoming,” he said.
On X, formerly Twitter, Project Winchester’s account follows former Wyoming Democratic Party Chair Joe Barbuto, the conservative online magazine The Federalist, Secretary of State Chuck Gray, a series of hunting and outdoors accounts, and a variety of different journalists.
Among those in Wyoming who’ve made public announcements about running for governor in 2026 or have formed candidate campaign committees for such runs are state Sen. Eric Barlow (R-Gillette), Cheyenne resident Joseph Kibler, Casper entrepreneur Reid Rasner and retired Marine Brent Bien of Cody.
Sitting Gov. Mark Gordon is termed out from occupying the governorship for 16 years.
The deadline to file to run for governor is in late May 2026.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
