WYOMING WILDLIFE AND NATURAL RESOURCE TRUST NAMES KEVIN MONTEITH “PARTNER OF THE YEAR”

University of Wyoming professor Kevin Monteith was named the 2022 Partner of the Year by the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust on Tuesday in Thermopolis. Monteith has worked with the WWNRT on numerous projects in Wyoming in the past decade, and was singled out for excellence in applied research that allows the board to more effectively improve habitats and conditions for wildlife.

Board Chair Kim Floyd, Cheyenne, presented the award, noting that Monteith’s work on mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep and moose provided a roadmap to effective habitat improvements throughout the state.

“Kevin has taught us a lot, and through his work and insight, we have been able to make some massive strides in management and improvement of conditions for multiple species,” Floyd said.

WWNRT Director Bob Budd added that Monteith’s work “has real world applications – through the understanding we can gain from his work on nutrition, disease, and all other aspects of animal behavior, we are able to more effectively leverage the assets of the state.”

Budd and Floyd cited work in the Wyoming Range, Sweetwater County, the Wind River and Absaroka Mountains, and most recently, the Bighorn Basin and central Wyoming as examples of excellence.

The Partner of the Year award was created in 2010 to recognize the outstanding achievements and contributions of others to the diverse conservation portfolio of the state of Wyoming. The Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust has allocated more than $110 million in habitat and conservation projects since 2005, leveraging private, federal and other contributions for a direct impact of more than $800 million in local projects throughout the state, including wetland development, river restoration, aspen regeneration, wildlife migration corridors, water development, rangeland improvements, invasive species control, conservation easements and research.

Past recipients of the WWNRT Partner of the Year include Little Snake River Conservation District, Trout Unlimited, Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust, Jennifer Doering (Wyoming Game and Fish Department), Richard Garrett (The Nature Conservancy), Ian Tator (Wyoming Game and Fish Department), Jill Randall (Wyoming Game and Fish Department), Luke Lynch (The Conservation Fund), Amy Anderson (Wyoming Game and Fish Department), Leah Burgess (Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation), and David Kimble (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).