Governor and First Lady address producers at annual event
Gov. Mark Gordon and First Lady Jennie Gordon made a guest appearance at the 2025 Wyoming Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show, hosted by the Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA) in Laramie June 2-4.
The two provided remarks during a banquet held at the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center on the second night of the event.
WHI update
The First Lady was first to take the stage, offering an update on her highly successful program, the Wyoming Hunger Initiative (WHI).
She encouraged producers to consider participation in Food from the Farm and Ranch, a WHI subprogram which aims to end statewide hunger using the healthy, high-quality protein produced by ranchers across the state.
Through this program, donated meat provides a nutrient-dense, locally-grown protein source for food pantries in all 23 of Wyoming’s counties.
She also touched on Beef for Backpacks, an initiative launched under Food from the Farm and Ranch in which donations provide beef snack sticks for students across the state via weekend food bag programs, and she thanked Wyoming ranchers for their selfless donations and critical role in the success of the program.
“One thing I love about the beef industry is they are givers, they are donors and they are contributors to their community,” she stated. “They know there is a need, and they are making a difference.”
She continued, “We have ranchers loading up beef and hauling them to Laramie to get processed. We have people picking up beef sticks and getting them to school programs to be distributed. We have so many volunteers who make this program work. It’s really an all-hands-on-deck situation.”
To wrap up her presentation, the First Lady offered some insight into the future of WHI, noting the program will be splitting off from the Governor’s Residence Foundation this year and becoming its own 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
“We will still continue this great work,” she said. “We’ve learned so much in this endeavor that every community has something going on, and if we can just give someone a little bit of it, help to network and share our resources, good work can be done in the community and people don’t have to suffer.”
She concluded, “Hunger is a problem, but we can solve it together. We produce such great protein in our state, and if we can work together with livestock growers, gardeners and anyone producing food in Wyoming, we can help people get ahold of really good, local and healthy food.”
Governor’s remarks
Like the First Lady, the governor spent some time recognizing the importance of Wyoming’s ag producers and industry.
He said, “We are the backbone and the sinew holding this state together. We are the people who hold some of the most important traditions, and I am really hoping, together, we are able to make a huge impact in regaining an important part of our heritage – which is our agricultural traditions – and ensuring we have a future generation who is anxious to get into agriculture and keep the industry alive.”
Gordon continued by touching on a few of the bright spots he sees in the industry today, including some wins he has achieved on the mental health front, recent moisture leading to green up in several parts of the state and exciting changes to the federal administration.
He mentioned the importance of a few executive orders (EO) President Donald J. Trump announced regarding energy development and oil and gas, as well as resounding optimism around the potential confirmation of Wyoming’s own Brian Nesvik as the next director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFS).
He further noted, since Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Nominee Kathleen Sgamma stepped out of the race, the search for someone to fill the position has slowed down, with hopes to fill it by October or November.
Enthusiasm around the changes being made to BLM are certainly high though, and Gordon noted there has already been some exciting movement, including the approval of an initiative to gather and permanently remove nearly 3,000 excess wild horses from three designated herd management areas in southwest Wyoming and stirrings of amendments being made to the contentious Rock Springs Resource Management Plan (RMP) in line with the Governor’s Consistency Review.
“We did a lot of work and wrote some very comprehensive reviews for the Rock Springs RMP, Buffalo RMP and Newcastle RMP,” he shared. “Parting shots from the last administration were to completely ignore them, but now we are hoping to get them back up and moving quickly, which is a huge opportunity.”
He continued, “But, BLM and USFS don’t have directors, so while all of these EOs are helpful and make a big difference, we still need to make sure we are able to get people into positions to bring more sense back to our federal management programs.”
“It has been good to get movement on the RMPs and we will continue to work on them, but I urge WSGA and its members to continue to press our friends on Capitol Hill and those on the other side of the aisle to move forward with these comprehensive appointments. It’s not doing any of us any good to be slowing down,” he added.
Along these same lines, the governor also encouraged WSGA membership to stand firm in advocating for private property rights.
“We have people who are trying to make sure they use whatever mechanism they can to deny property rights of adjacent landowners who are simply making decisions for themselves,” he stated. “Our state has done a remarkably good job of trying to balance these needs and requirements, and I will stand firm in ensuring we build a process to allow people to participate but also to make sure if someone wants to put in an oil well, they can do it within certain regulations and restrictions.”
“I know this is a tough topic, but it is one that is going to be right in the middle of our discussions on state lands and private property. I hope this organization can take a leadership role in this discussion, because quite frankly, WSGA is the backbone holding our state together,” Gordon added.
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
