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Brian Nesvik, a former Pinedale game warden turned Wyoming Game and Fish Department director, has been nominated by the Trump administration to lead the agency that manages the nation’s wildlife.
Nesvik’s nomination to be U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director, a post most recently occupied by Joe Biden appointee Martha Williams, appeared on Congress.gov on Tuesday. The Wyoming resident, who retired from his Game and Fish job in mid-2024, still must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Nesvik’s nomination has been referred to the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee — and his selection passing muster there is the first step in the confirmation process. Later, the entire Senate would vote on his nomination.
An interview request to Nesvik on Wednesday was directed toward the White House.
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Wyoming’s congressional delegation and Gov. Mark Gordon had ample praise for Nesvik as Trump’s pick to lead the Fish and Wildlife Service.
“Brian has spent his entire career serving the people of Wyoming and working alongside outfitters, hunters, landowners, fishermen, and anyone else who loves the great outdoors,” U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis said in a statement. “That attitude and passion for balancing wildlife conservation and recreational access will serve him well in this important role.”
Gordon also lauded his former employee’s nomination, saying Nesvik is well qualified and has “extensive experience” dealing with “the complexities of endangered species issues.”
“His intimate knowledge of the challenges facing Western states will ensure Wyoming has a seat at the table when engaging with the federal government on these issues,” Gordon said. “The nation’s gain is also a win for the states and [the Fish and Wildlife Service] will be well-served with Brian at the helm.”
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The future of grizzly bear management could be one of the first issues relevant to Wyoming that Nesvik could confront if he’s confirmed. Protected under the Endangered Species Act with little interruption since 1975, Ursus arctos horribilis is in line to continue its federally “threatened” status throughout the Lower 48 states because of a proposal that came from Williams in the Biden administration’s waning days.
Praise for Nesvik wasn’t universal. He isn’t a sound choice to be making the decisions about what comes next for grizzlies and other species, according to one hard-line environmental advocacy group.
“In Wyoming Nesvik led one of the most anti-conservation wildlife agencies in the country, and it’s glaringly obvious that he wants to destroy the Endangered Species Act and with it our best chance of fighting the extinction crisis,” Center for Biological Diversity Deputy Director of Government Affairs Stephanie Kurose said in a statement.
Climbed G&F ladder
Nesvik is also a longtime Wyoming Army National Guard member, retiring from service in 2021. He was twice deployed, spending time in Iraq and Kuwait.
The University of Wyoming graduate rose through the ranks at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department since he came on as a warden in 1995. He did stints in Casper, Elk Mountain and Pinedale as a district warden before departing in 2010 to take the job supervising the state agency’s Cody Region. Nesvik was also Game and Fish’s longtime lead mounted horse patrol instructor, according to a biography posted by the Wyldlife Fund, where Nesvik is a board member.
From 2011 to 2019, Nesvik was Game and Fish’s chief warden. He was promoted by Gov. Mark Gordon, who selected him to direct Game and Fish until his retirement in September. Angi Bruce succeeded him.
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The three-decade-long Wyoming employee encountered controversies over the course of his career. A year ago, he navigated global condemnation of a Sublette County man who publicly tormented a snowmobile-wounded wolf in a bar. The incident rattled the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, which took criticism for how it handled communications and for issuing a more lenient fine than was available.
Wyoming Game and Fish also earned plaudits under Nesvik’s leadership. The state agency built up its non-game wildlife division while he was at the helm. The state’s two-tiered wolf management program, although controversial, has also been cited as a gold standard among states with jurisdiction over the largest canines. Wyoming’s policy for conserving migration corridors has also been heralded as “one of the most robust” in existence.
In a farewell essay around the time of his Game and Fish retirement, Nesvik wrote that he was “filled with hope and optimism for the future of our wildlife.”
“First and foremost, the people of our state care deeply about our wildlife,” he wrote. “Our connection to nature is woven into the fabric of our lives and Wyoming citizens’ quality of life. It’s part of our culture and who we are.”
Parting thoughts
In an outgoing speech, Nesvik said that introducing children to hunting, fishing and the outdoors was among his top achievements, according to reporting in the Powell Tribune.
“I think that one of the most important things we do is provide opportunities for kids to have that experience that we all had at some point that got us hooked,” Nesvik said in September. “I am extremely proud because I really believe that that’s where you have an impact 30 years down the road. We’ve gotta have people that care in 30 years.”
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Former colleagues and lobbyists who worked alongside Nesvik were pleased with the Trump administration’s selection.
Longtime biologist Bob Lanka, the past president of The Wildlife Society, was a counterpart of the then-chief warden when he supervised Game and Fish’s biological services division before retiring in 2018. Nesvik, he said, has experience making hard decisions about wildlife amid political pressures.
“Brian, with his experience with [Game and Fish] and the National Guard in Wyoming, has had to make lots of those decisions,” Lanka told WyoFile. “He’s a good choice from that perspective.”
Jess Johnson, the Wyoming Wildlife Federation’s government affairs director, also looked fondly at the selection. Nesvik, she said, “could bring the middle along” and cares an “awful lot” about wildlife in the West.
“I’m excited to see what he can do with the rest of the states,” Johnson said. “He understands the political calculations. [The decisions] are not always easily accepted on the ground, but I do believe that he has the best interest at heart for wildlife.”
He understands the political calculations. [The decisions] are not always easily accepted on the ground, but I do believe that he has the best interest at heart for wildlife.”
jess johnson
If confirmed, Nesvik would continue with a recent tradition of Westerners and Wyoming residents in the top posts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
His predecessor, Williams, is a Montanan. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s prior deputy director, Siva Sundaresan, formerly lived in Jackson and Lander.
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