2025 has been quite the year. We launched new programs, expanded our past work, fought hard for public land, listened and advocated for the science, welcomed new members to our team, taught more kids about Wyoming ecology than ever before, mentored new hunters, talked with folks all across the state, advocated for hunters, anglers, and wildlife at the legislature, and so much more.
As we look to 2026, we don't want to leave behind all of the successes of the past year. This work isn't possible without the support of our generous donors — if that's you, from all of us here at WWF, thank you. If you'd like to become a donor and help fund our work, now is the time! All donations up to $10k will be matched in December of 2025. Donate here today!
This isn't a comprehensive list, just a few highlights from the year. If you want to stay up to date with everything happening at WWF, make sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or sign-up for our email newsletter.
Wildlife and habitat
For the past handful of years we've been teaming up with EcoFlights to help organize getting stakeholders and key decision makers out on EcoFlight tours.
This year more than 25 folks joined us on flights over the Wyoming Range. During the flights we talked folks through the key issues and planning coming up for the area, animals who migrate through and call the range home, and shared key historical points that inform the status of the range today.
In Wyoming, pronghorn aren’t just another critter on the landscape — they’re part of who we are.
On the very morning rifle season opened for many Sublette units, the Commission voted unanimously to recommend that Governor Gordon designate all ten segments of the Sublette Antelope Migration Corridor. This isn’t just paperwork. It’s a commitment to keeping alive the longest pronghorn migration in the world, stretching 165 miles from Grand Teton National Park to the Red Desert. Read the full story here.
Restoring Beave Dam Analogs with Trout Unlimited (1 Day)
Strawberry Creek Zeedyk Building (2 Days)
Bitterbrush Seed Planting (1 Day)
Sagebrush Seedling Planting (2 Days)
From habitat days to collaborative events, sign-on letters to events and education days — we are grateful for all of the partner organizations we get to collaborate with on a regular basis.
Camo at the Capitol is supported by a large number of sporting organizations (see here), the Wild Game Cookoff happened in partnership with Wyoming Outdoor Weekend, STEM Days are led by the University of Wyoming, and so many more it would take many paragraphs to list them all!
Education & outreach
Our Education Director, Andrea Barbknecht, has been traveling all over the state this fall teaching kindergarten - high school students about the importance of beavers as a keystone species during school STEM days.
These STEM days are part of the Science Roadshow initiative from University of Wyoming, where educators in various fields around the state put together 20-30 minute mini-lessons that are then brought to schools for a full day of lessons for the kids!
We brought back our popular More than Gatherers event (a two weekend course that breaks down barriers for women to get into hunting + provides hunter safety certification) where 18 new graduates finished the course.
In addition to MTG, Conservation Ambassador, Maggie Johnson, and TU's Dominique Lujan, developed, organized, and led a group of 24 women in the inaugural Trout'n About — a weekend long course that teaches women the basics of fly fishing! You can read Maggie & Dominique's recap here.
Our monthly Wildlife on Tap presentations have only continued in their popularity since the inception of the series in 2022. This year we held 10 presentations that all brought in a full-house at Pushroot Brewing Co. in Lander!
They've gotten so popular, we've invested in a microphone so we can capture good audio and share these presentations on YouTube for everyone to enjoy. You can enjoy the first full recording from our December Wildlife on Tap with Andrea Orobana featuring burrowing owls here!
Our Education Director, Andrea Barbknecht, wrote, designed, and distributed 300 copies of "Let's Go Outside" to teachers, libraries, and educators across the state. This project was a partnership with Get Wild Wyoming to help get more preschool kids enjoying the outdoors and learning while they're at it!
We also developed an online version of the booklet so anyone can utilize this resource. You can find the online library of activities here.
Special thanks to The Wyoming Wildlife Foundation and the Francis R. Dewing Foundation for funding this project!
Policy & Advocacy
Nat Paterson, our Policy Director, is often behind the scenes. You can find him reading dense documents, working with our state and local agencies, and making informed comments on behalf of WWF and the hunters, anglers, and wildlife conservationists who form our membership.
This year in July the staff of the Bridger-Teton National Forest released their draft assessment of the forest, officially kicking off the forest plan revision process. Nat will continue to keep tabs on this as the planning moves forward.
Our Government Affairs Director, Jess Johnson, spent a couple of days this week in Washington DC advocating on behalf of sportsmen and sportswomen in front of the Senate ENR committee as well as a meeting with Sen. Barrasso.
This trip, as well as a massive campaign and an outpouring of support from sportspeople and outdoor folks across Wyoming saved public land sales from being wrapped into the budget reconciliation process. Watch the update from our Government Affairs Director, Jess, from DC here.
We're proud and grateful for how much this event has grown since it was started 8 years ago — our first year, we had 13 participants; this year, the turnout was around 70, plus additional partners and teachers! The growing list of both partners and participants shows just how much our hunting and angling community cares about our sporting heritage in this great state.
We've set the date for our 2026 Camo at the Capitol! Mark your calendar for February 12 and learn more here.
It was a tough year at legislature for wildlife, but we're proud to share that ALL of the bills that would have been a negative for wildlife were either killed or fixed.
Our January 7, 2026 Wildlife on Tap will with Jess Johnson who will be covering a preview of what's to come this year. If you're not in Lander, we'll be sure to post the recording on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow along during this year's legislative session with our bill tracker.
Check out more happenings from 2025 by visiting our news page where you can read all of the stories, events, milestones, and articles from the past year and beyond!
