A Dangerous Nomination: Brian Nesvik’s Anti-Conservation Record

Brian Nesvik is a deeply problematic choice to lead the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the Senate must reject his nomination.

Brian Nesvik is a deeply problematic choice to lead the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the Senate must reject his nomination. As the former head of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), Nesvik has consistently prioritized livestock interests over wildlife conservation. His livestock-first agenda is incompatible with the mission of the FWS and the public’s expectation of this important government position.

One of the most glaring examples of Nesvik’s disregard for wildlife welfare occurred in 2024 when a Wyoming man named Cody Roberts chased down a yearling wolf with his snowmobile, bound her muzzle, paraded her at a bar, and then killed her. Instead of treating the case as the brutal crime it was, Nesvik’s department issued only a $250 fine—a pathetic indication of his agency’s stance on animal cruelty . Nesvik’s agency could have pursued harsher penalties, including up to $1,000 in fines and six months in jail, but opted not to. This reveals an alarming level of indifference to the crime.

Nesvik has also fought to weaken federal protections for wildlife under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the very law that guides the agency he has been nominated to manage. In 2023, he testified in Congress supporting the removal of gray wolves and some grizzly populations from ESA protections, arguing that states like Wyoming could manage them more effectively. Wyoming’s track record shows otherwise: grizzlies shot for conflict with livestock outside Yellowstone, wolves killed on sight for merely existing.

Nesvik’s disdain for the ESA is well-documented. In 2020, he co-wrote an op-ed with Jim Magagna, vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, calling for the law to be 'pruned' to give states more control over species management. Nesvik argued that Wyoming should regain control over grizzly bear management, despite the fact that federal protections have been essential in keeping grizzly populations stable. He dismissed the legal battles over grizzly bear protections as 'technicalities,' ignoring that those challenges were grounded in scientific and conservation concerns.

Nesvik continually pushes the narrative that Wyoming has the best wolf management in the world, insisting that suitable habitat for wolves and grizzly bears exists only in the trophy game management area in the northwest corner of the state. He routinely asserts that there is no “socially suitable” habitat for grizzly bears anywhere else, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Nesvik remains narrowly focused on maintaining just enough wolf numbers to meet federal minimum requirements—150 wolves and 10 breeding pairs outside Yellowstone—while refusing to acknowledge the importance of broader habitat connectivity and population resilience, not to mention the ecological role of large predators in removing wildlife diseases from hunted populations of wildlife and regulating ecosystem health.

Nesvik’s disregard for wildlife migration corridors is concerning. Under his leadership, the WGFD failed to prioritize the protection of critical migration routes, including those of the Sublette Pronghorn Herd and Wyoming Range mule deer. In 2019, industrial and agricultural interests pressured the department to delay the designation of these migration corridors, despite scientific evidence highlighting their importance. Nesvik’s deference to industry groups, including the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and Petroleum Association of Wyoming, led to compromised protections and a willingness to stall crucial conservation efforts.

Nesvik’s stance on Wyoming’s elk feedgrounds is similarly troubling. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence that feedgrounds exacerbate the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD), Nesvik has repeatedly defended their continued operation. CWD has now been detected at several state-run feedgrounds. Conservation experts warn that artificially congregating elk at feedgrounds increases disease transmission and threatens long-term population stability.

Sage grouse, once numbering in the millions, are now at a fraction of their historical population, and habitat loss due to energy development is a primary driver of their decline. Yet under Nesvik’s leadership, Wyoming has consistently resisted stronger protections for sage grouse habitat, prioritizing oil and gas interests over the long-term survival of this iconic species. In partnership with the livestock and energy industries, Nesvik has supported weakening habitat protections, even as scientists warn that sage grouse are on the brink of collapse. This lack of commitment to habitat conservation directly contradicts the FWS mission to preserve endangered and threatened species.

Nesvik has publicly claimed that oil and gas development is beneficial for Wyoming’s wildlife, a stance contradicted by scientists who warn that extraction activities are degrading habitats and accelerating species declines.

Adding to his deeply concerning record on wildlife is his disregard for tribal sovereignty. In 2015, Nesvik personally removed Northern Cheyenne Historic Preservation Officer James Walks Along from a meeting about grizzly bears, disregarding the tribe’s right to be heard on issues of cultural and ecological importance. James Walks Along had been sent to the meeting by Tribal President Conrad Fisher to deliver a prepared statement on the sacredness of grizzlies and the tribe’s opposition to delisting them. Despite being a representative of a sovereign nation, Walks Along was not allowed to speak, nor were his three sons permitted to perform a song they had formally requested to share. Instead, the family was forced to sing their song in the Holiday Inn parking lot after the meeting.

Nesvik, along with the other members of the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Subcommittee, showed no curiosity or respect for what Walks Along had to say and made no effort to meet the legal obligations to consult with Tribes on a nation-to-nation basis.

Brian Nesvik’s track record speaks for itself: he is unfit to lead the Fish and Wildlife Service. His nomination must be stopped to protect the integrity of wildlife conservation and uphold our responsibility to safeguard threatened species and wild places.

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