Although Wyoming lawmakers do the bulk of their business in Cheyenne, a legislative committee is tackling a few hot issues in Powell this week.

Members of the Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Committee are meeting at Northwest College’s Yellowstone Building today (Tuesday) and Wednesday. Over the two days, the five-senator, nine-representative panel will discuss the power of eminent domain when it comes to projects like wind farms, proposed new rules for landowner hunting licenses, a professional licensing program for veterinary technicians and hear from the public.

Lawmakers hold dozens of so-called interim committee meetings between their annual sessions, but it’s rare for them to travel to Park County. This week’s gathering at NWC is the only one slated in the Big Horn Basin this year, and it's the result of the ag committee co-chaired by a pair of basin residents: Sen. Tim French, R-Powell, and Rep. John Winter, R-Thermopolis.

“We said, ‘Well, … the ag committee should hold their meetings, [or] try to, in ag communities,’” said French, who farms on Heart Mountain.

And, he asked rhetorically, “What better ag town is there than Powell?”

Licensing vet techs?

This (Tuesday) morning will kick off with a discussion about the creation of a licensing program for veterinary technicians.

The Wyoming Veterinary Medical Association has
endorsed the idea. A letter written by the association and signed by well over 100 veterinary clinics and staffers says licensing technicians will “establish a recognized standard of competency” and help veterinarians recruit and retain “highly skilled professionals.”

French indicated that part of the aim is to help with a shortage of veterinarians across the state, calling the topic “a big issue.”

Veterinary personnel would not be required to get the new licenses, meaning clinics wouldn’t have to change their operations; it wouldn’t create any new requirements for clinic employees, either.

“This measure would change only the titles,” the association’s letter explains, “conferring ‘Licensed Veterinary Technicians’ to those who have met educational and examination requirements and conferring ‘Veterinary Assistants’ to those working in a similar capacity but who have not met such requirements.”

The committee will discuss a 25-page bill draft that was put together at French’s request.

After that, the committee will visit with irrigation districts and the State Engineer’s Office about ways to prevent water rights from being orphaned as, say, agricultural lands are turned into residential subdivisions. French said the panel wants to ensure water rights are not being lost.

Eminent domain

Before heading out for an afternoon tour of the Heart Mountain Interpretative Center, Tuesday morning’s agenda will wrap up with a discussion of eminent domain. The Legislature has been particularly interested in the taking of private land for solar and wind farms and carbon dioxide sequestration pipelines.

“We just hate eminent domain,” French said.

It’s one thing when, say, the City of Powell needs to cross a farm or ranch for a crucial project, French said, but he thinks it’s different when private companies are building pipelines or wind farms.

“If you don’t negotiate, kind of on their terms, then they go to court and do condemnation and give you a check and do it anyway,” French said, “so we’re going to thoroughly discuss that.”

Landowner licenses 

On Wednesday morning, the committee will meet the new director of the Office of State Lands and Investments, Stacia Berry, get a general update on her office and explore the possibility of allowing grazing leases on state trust land to be subleased.

“We want a good working relationship with her [Berry] and that department,” French added, “because there's been a little friction in the past. We want to nip that in the bud, I guess.”

He’s expecting a livelier discussion with Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Angi Bruce and her staff at around 10:30 a.m. regarding landowner hunting licenses. Those licenses are awarded to landowners who provide habitat for wild deer, elk, antelope or turkeys. A total of 3,650 such licenses were issued last year.

“The changing pattern of land ownership in Wyoming is impacting the outcome of license draws, making it more difficult for sportspeople to draw licenses in certain hunt areas,” Bruce wrote in a memo to the committee.

As a result of that growing interest in landowner licenses, the Game and Fish wants to tighten the requirements. For example, landowners would need to have 3,000 animal use days on their property over the course of the year instead of 2,000. And while landowners currently need 160 contiguous acres to qualify, the department wants to modify that to say 160 acres of cultivated contiguous acres or 640 non-cultivated contiguous acres.

For French’s part, “I think they need to leave it alone,” he said, and leave the program focused on animal use rather than acreage.

However, he is interested in the possibility of allowing landowners to sell the tags they receive.

“You know, they’re providing the habitat and everything else for these animals,” French said, and “if they sold one tag they had, maybe it could help them stay in business and continue to provide that habitat.”

The panel is also looking at the number of complimentary licenses awarded to the members of the Game and Fish Commission (71 this year) and governor (25), which are auctioned or raffled off for charitable causes.

Taking public input 

Every item on the agenda will be followed by an opportunity for public comment on that topic, with a general public comment period slated for noon on Wednesday. French said he’s already heard from a number of local producers who plan to attend.

“Let us know what’s on your mind,” the co-chair said of his message, “Because … there’s always something [that] comes up that we are not aware of.”

The meeting is set to run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Tuesday and from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Yellowstone Room at NWC.