Nearly half of 2025 Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Program’s grants will go to projects on the Wind River Reservation, where advocates see a prime destination with room for visitors.
Published by WyoFile
The 2.2-million-acre Wind River Indian Reservation encompasses frothy rivers and wild mountains, alpine lakes, buffalo herds and rich cultural heritage. The kind of outdoor attractions, in other words, that many western communities leverage to fuel tourism.
Just look at Lander, Thermopolis, Jackson and Dubois, said Paul Huberty, executive director of the Wind River Development Fund.
“Everybody around us has capitalized on the natural resources here, and of course, all of those areas used to be part of the reservation,” Huberty said. “So we know it works.”
The Wind River Development Fund and others on the reservation are planning to undertake several projects aimed at making outdoor recreation more robust and accessible — both for tribal residents and for tourists who flock to nearby destinations to experience iconic landscapes and wildlife. This year, the state is chipping in to help make that happen.
The lion’s share of 2025 Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Program grants will go to projects on the Wind River Reservation. Of 15 projects receiving a total of $17.8 million in funding, seven are on the reservation and earmarked for $4.4 million. The Wind River Development Fund and its partners were awarded six of those.