Reimagining Public Lands — Joy Bannon, Wyoming Wildlife Federation
This year we celebrate 75 years of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — and look to the future of publicly-managed lands. For its anniversary, the BLM has asked us all to “Reimagine Your Public Lands” as the agency looks to manage more than 245 million acres for future generations. We’ve invited BLM Wild partners and friends to share their love of BLM-managed places and reflections about the opportunity to reimagine public land management.
Joy Bannon is the Policy Director for Wyoming Wildlife Federation. She has worked in natural resource management for 20 years and is dedicated to conserving and improving landscapes and waterways for hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts as well as for current and future generations. She served on the Pinedale Anticline Working Group and is currently serving on the Sage-Grouse Implementation Team and the Wyoming Wildlife and Roadway Implementation Initiative Team. Joy is known for her collaborative and respectful approach toward finding solutions to complex natural resource issues.
Q: The Bureau of Land Management’s theme for its 75th Anniversary is “Reimagine Your Public Lands.” What does reimagining BLM-managed public lands mean to you?
A: Public lands are an essential asset to those who hunt and fish. My first hunt was on public land in southwest Wyoming, in a place called Big Sandy, otherwise known as the Golden Triangle. The area is biologically productive and hosts a healthy, intact ecosystem with contiguous acres of sagebrush, islands of pine and aspen forests, and clear streams and rivers running through it. When a couple of girlfriends wanted to learn how to hunt and harvest meat for their families, we began on public land. This area aided these ladies with getting time in the field with few competitors honing and building their hunting skills.
Q: How have you been involved in advocating for the conservation of significant BLM-managed lands in your state or region?
A: I have advocated for wildlife, habitat, hunting, and angling on public lands in Wyoming for close to 20 years. I write technical and scientific comments along with general comments to the BLM on full-scale Resource Management Plans down to Applications for Permits to Drill. I and the organization I represent, Wyoming Wildlife Federation, coordinate and communicate with the BLM field offices and the state office on greater sage-grouse management as I sit on the Wyoming Sage-Grouse Implementation Team, the Wyoming Wildlife and Roadways Implementation Initiative Team, and most recently the revision of 3.6 million public land acres in the Rock Springs field office. I have led tours with local and state BLM employees on public land areas of importance. I also communicate with the BLM nationally to share management recommendations supported by Wyoming’s hunters and anglers.
Q: What is one of your favorite or most important BLM-managed areas and why?
A: The Rock Springs field office is hands-down one of my favorites. WWF and the sportsmen community have identified six priority habitats in 3.6 million public land acres of which the Big Sandy and the Greater Little Mountain Area are two of those landscapes. Big Sandy is where I first learned to hunt and it is the same place I helped mentor two of my gal friends to hunt and successfully harvest an antelope pronghorn.
