The University of Wyoming has partnered with the Boone and Crockett Club to establish the Boone and Crockett Working Lands Wildlife Conservation Professorship in UW’s College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources.

This professorship will provide faculty support, graduate student opportunities and applied research focused on sustaining wildlife populations while strengthening the productivity and profitability of Wyoming’s working ranch and rangeland landscapes.

The Boone and Crockett professorship will lead the establishment of UW’s Working Lands Wildlife Conservation Program, which will advance excellence in research, education and extension in ranch and rangeland management, wildlife habitat conservation and wildlife health. The program directly supports the Boone and Crockett Club’s mission to promote the conservation and management of wildlife — especially big game — and its habitat, while preserving hunting traditions and the highest ethical standards of fair chase and sportsmanship in North America.

“This partnership reflects the University of Wyoming’s land-grant mission at its very best,” UW President Ed Seidel said.

At the center of the program is the creation of the Boone and Crockett Professor of Working Lands Wildlife Conservation, a faculty position designed to bridge multiple academic units, including the departments of Zoology and Physiology, Botany, Animal Science, Agriculture and Applied Economics, and Ecosystem Science and Management. The position also will collaborate closely with the Ranch Management and Agricultural Leadership Program, the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station, UW Extension, and the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources.

In addition to on-campus collaboration, the program will work extensively with state and federal agency partners, including the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and UW’s Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory. A major focus will be the intersection of wildlife disease ecology and wildlife management, including chronic wasting disease (CWD), brucellosis and other diseases affecting big game and livestock. Wyoming has some of the highest CWD infection rates in the nation, making research and management strategies critical to the long-term viability of deer and elk populations.

A key long-term objective of the program is the development of a UW Center for Wildlife Health, Habitat and Management, which will expand UW’s and Wyoming’s unparalleled capacity to develop, implement and evaluate practical strategies to ensure sustainable game populations for future generations.