Ecologist serves on FWS

On Oct. 27, 2022, Ecologist and Wildlands Advocate Dr. Siva Sundaresan was appointed deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) by the Biden-Harris administration.

Previously, Sundaresan served as the Yellowstoneto-Yukon program officer at the Wilburforce Foundation, where he worked for six months before taking over as director for FWS.

Prior to the Wilburforce Foundation, Sundaresan worked for the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance and as the Kenya program director for the Denver Zoological Foundation.

Siva Sundaresan

Dr.

Today, Sundaresan is hard at work advocating for U.S. wildlife under FWS Department Head Martha Williams. GYE work and career ascension

Originally from India, Sundaresan got his start in North American wildlife advocacy while working for the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), according to a Feb. 28 WyoFile article written by Mike Koshmrl.

During this time, he also served on the board of directors at the National Wildlife Federation, where he made several connections which contributed to his quick career and inclusion.

With a theme of “Seeds of Growth Through Innovation,” Vilsack noted the event reflected on innovation in agriculture and the industry’s “truly remarkable” direct continuation of a long tradition throughout U.S. history.

Ag history

“This is a pivotal moment in agriculture, and we’ve had a number of pivotal moments in agriculture,” said

Please see USDA on page A10

Zack and Hannah Guild are Uinta County ranchers who run an Angus/Hereford/Limousin cow/calf operation.

Zack went to college in Logan, Utah and received his diesel mechanics certification. Upon graduation, he moved to Phoenix, Ariz. where he worked for six months before returning to his family’s ranch, which was established in 1867.

Today, the couple looks forward to ranching alongside their 10-month-old son Callan and several of Zack’s family members, including his grandpa, dad vital to preventing diseases, such as E. coli, coronavirus and rotavirus,” writes First Defense, a leading producer of cattle vaccine, on their website. “However, the quality of maternal colostrum periodical

Sheep celebration

Kemmerer slated to host inaugural Wyoming Sheep and Wool Festival

The Wyoming Wool Growers Association (WWGA) recently announced the first annual Wyoming Sheep and Wool Festival will be held June 30-July 2 in Kemmerer.

WWGA encourages Wyoming residents and sheep producers to make plans to bring their families to the festival to enjoy art, education and cultural events in an effort to celebrate Wyoming’s sheep and wool industry.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to see animals, feast on lamb, browse through vendor booths and dance to live music at an after-dinner party on the night of July 1.

Schedule of events

Events will begin on the afternoon of June 30 with an educational session about range management. Attendees will then gather for an art show and reception, in addition to a panel discussion about the area’s sheep and wool heritage, provided from multi-generational perspectives. During the festival,

on page A8 Please see COWS on page A7

WWGA and brother.

Unique operation

The family is getting ready to start calving in the next several weeks.

Zack notes he keeps his replacement heifers open an extra year before breeding them, which is something really unique to his operation. He has found this helps his herd’s productivity and breed-back success.

“There is a year they sit here and don’t produce any profit, but we have

Seventy-four years ago, on Jan. 2, 1949, a blizzard out of the northwest swept across the Northern Plains, catching people unaware. This would later be known as the Blizzard of 1949 and the worst winter of the century for eastern Wyoming, western South Dakota, northern Colorado and western Nebraska.

The first storm lasted until Jan. 5, 1949 and was one of many storms to hit the region.

Those who are still around and can remember the winter of 1949 have unbelievable stories of survival across the region. The National Weather Service reported 12 people perished in the first storm, and other states reported 28 more deaths.

I bring up the Blizzard of 1949, as it has been talked about during this hard winter of 2022-23.

As many people realize, this winter has been relentless, with horrific winds, frigid temperatures and large amounts of snow, which altogether, have left ice and hardpacked drifts for people, livestock and wildlife to deal with.

I was only two years old in 1949, so I don’t remember the winter. But, I sure remember the hard winters of the 1970s and 80s. They were a lot like this winter, except most of them started in late October or early November. It was typical to plow snow and feed livestock every day.

I don’t feel it is fair to compare the winter of 1949 to today’s winters, as most ranchers and farmers now have equipment to handle the snow, and counties and states have great snow removal equipment for roads.

This doesn’t mean hard winters are a cakewalk these days, but pictures of the Blizzard of 1949 show equipment was limited and didn’t have cabs to shelter the operator.

In 1949, the government used C-130 airplanes to bring in hay from Kansas and Colorado to feed livestock with, because it was the easiest way to get to them.

Nowadays, we have side-by-sides and ATVs with tracks and snowmobiles to gather livestock. Winter clothing is also high tech today with battery powered heating. And, we now have communications to town and to the ranch house.

As I understand, the winter of 1949 followed a drought – similar to this winter – which resulted in a shortage of hay. Maybe this is the reason for the saying, “It takes a hard winter to break a drought.”

If this is the case, we’ve broken it this winter, so far.

The winter of 1949 stopped a number of trains with the drifted snow. In those days, people traveled by train in the winter, and if the train was stranded in a small town, food supplies were short. In many cases, planes, along with the Red Cross, were called in.

By Jan. 26, 1950, President Truman declared a disaster area for the region and designated western Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming as special “distress areas.”

Every hard winter is different, and we can tell which areas in our state and surrounding states got hit the hardest, just by looking at the road closures. We thank the state of Wyoming for helping this year with a disaster declaration.

We’ll get through this winter as we have in the past. Our pockets will be emptier and the livestock thinner but, as always, we’ll remember this winter and have stories to tell our grandchildren.

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