WYDOT receives $24.3 million federal grant for Kemmerer wildlife crossing project

Many of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department Wildlife Habitat Management Areas are closing to human presence ? or already have ? for the season to provide protections for wildlife on their winter ranges. The majority of WHMAs close or have restrictions for the winter annually ? see the list here.

Turtles, like all reptiles, are ectotherms, meaning they use the environment to control body temperature rather than burn energy to regulate their temperature themselves. So to keep from freezing in the winter, turtles shelter in places where the temperature stays just above freezing and essentially hibernate. For ectotherms it?s called brumation.

In Wyoming, aquatic turtles spend the winter underwater and below ice in ponds that don't freeze solid.? Because their metabolism is so low when brumating, they require only small amounts of oxygen which they can get through parts of their skin with lots of blood vessels, like the inside of their mouth and?even their rear ends!?

Wyoming is home to three native aquatic turtle species, the eastern spiny softshell, snapping turtle, and western painted turtle, and one land turtle, the plains (ornate) box turtle.?

Wyoming Game and Fish Department regional wildlife biologists and game wardens are moving forward in the identification process for the Sublette antelope migration corridor and are seeking public input on the proposed migration corridor and threat evaluation.?The deadline to submit comments is Jan. 5, 2024. Comments can be submitted online or by mail to the Pinedale Regional Game and Fish Office, PO Box 850, Pinedale, WY 82941. Written comments will be presented to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission before its tentative March 2024 meeting in Pinedale. The Commission determines the next steps toward identifying and designating the corridor.