• Five months after President Donald Trump announced he was nominating a former Wyoming game warden to lead the federal agency, the confirmation process is complete.

 

By Mike Koshmrl, WyoFile.com

Wyoming’s former top wildlife official is now the nation’s top wildlife official.

It’s a post that puts Brian Nesvik in charge of achieving the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s mission, which is to “conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.”

Confirming Nesvik was a protracted process, not unusual for the Trump administration’s other political nominees in the opening half year of the administration. At around 1 p.m. Friday, however, a vote materialized and Congress’ upper chamber voted mostly along party lines 54-43 to confirm the nomination.  

Two western state Democrats defected from the pack and voted to confirm Nesvik: Sen. Jacky Rosen of  Nevada and Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico.

All Republican senators who were present for the roll-call vote submitted an aye, which was not surprising. In many circles, and especially in Wyoming, Nesvik’s appointment was received favorably. 

“There simply has never been a more qualified Director for the agency,” Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement issued shortly after the Senate’s vote on Friday. “He brings decades of wildlife expertise, a collaborative approach to addressing complex issues, and exemplary leadership to the role.”

Gordon named Endangered Species Act reform and grizzly bear delisting as top issues he’s eager to take on with his former Game and Fish director at the helm of the federal agency. 

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming’s junior senator, also broadcast her praise, calling Nesvik a “breath of fresh air.” 

“Brian brings a proven track record from Wyoming, where he effectively collaborated with federal, state and local partners to achieve important conservation goals,” Lummis said in a statement. 

Praise for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s new director isn’t universal. Around the time of his first confirmation hearing, where Nesvik fielded little criticism, a coalition of 125 organizations signed onto a letter opposing his nomination. The oppositional parties included the Wyoming-based organizations Wyoming Untrapped and Wyoming Wildlife Advocates.

“In 2024, Nesvik faced major national blowback after his agency failed to take strong action against a man who ran over a young female wolf with his snowmobile,” the letter stated. “Mr. Nesvik’s lackadaisical response to the tormenting of the young Wyoming wolf speaks volumes about his lack of care for wildlife and is a foreshadowing of the attitude he will bring to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.” 

A development in that case came just this week: Sublette County law enforcement officials are convening a grand jury to consider a felony animal cruelty indictment of the wolf captor, Cody Roberts.

A longtime member of the Wyoming Army National Guard, Nesvik rose through the ranks at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department after being hired as a warden in 1995. After wardening stints in Casper, Elk Mountain and Pinedale, he took a post supervising the state agency’s Cody Region in 2010. He also spent many years working as Game and Fish’s lead mounted horse patrol instructor. 

A promotion to chief warden brought Nesvik to Cheyenne in 2011, and in 2019, he was promoted by Gordon to direct Game and Fish. He retired last fall. 

The U.S. Senate delayed its summer recess this week to make progress on reducing a long list of appointees — more than 100 positions  — who lacked confirmation. The sluggishness of the approvals has been a source of frustration for the Republicans who hold the majority. 

Nesvik is joined by another Wyomingite at the Trump administration’s Fish and Wildlife Service. Josh Coursey, a co-founder of the Muley Fanatic Foundation, was named senior advisor to the director in April. That position did not require a Senate confirmation. 

The duo will have their work cut out for them in running a federal agency that struggled mightily with a lack of resources even before Trump’s friend-turned-foe, Elon Musk, slashed into the staff through his Department of Government Efficiency. A recent inventory from within the Fish and Wildlife Service found that out of 573 national wildlife refuges around the country, not a single property had adequate staff and funding to “fully achieve administration, management and mission goals and objectives.”

WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.