As of 2014, there are approximately 3.1 million acres of protected land in the state of Wyoming. These areas are inhabited by over 300 species of animals, including threatened and endangered species. The 3.1 million acres amounts to 5% of the state of Wyoming (BCA, 1). Since Wyoming has 62.1 million acres, the amount of protected land doesn't seem to be very big. This low percentage may be the result of the lack of funding for habitat conservation. The most affected by this issue are those 300+ species that live within those protected areas as well as hunters and conservationists. There are plenty of others indirectly affected such as legislators and organizations that try to raise money to help this issue. With today's growth of human population and expansion, these protected areas are becoming threatened and overlooked, and therefore they are becoming less managed and less funded. Lack of funding for habitat conservation in Wyoming is becoming a major issue because the land that many animals live on is slowly becoming smaller and less managed. There should be more organizations to help promote funding for habitat conservation.
Dating back to the early 1900's, game wardens have found it a constant battle to try to convince state lawmakers to fund the conservation effort with the hunting license money it raised for the purpose (Madson, 33). They argued that the income from licenses and tags should be used to protect the land that those people pay to hunt on. In 1928, John Burnham, president of the American Game Association pointed out the problems that were associated with lack of funding for wildlife conservation (Madson, 35). He brought up the loss of habitat, growing hunter populations, and lack of wildlife management. After his committee discussed these issues further, the American Game Policy was made. It is a document that highlights the attempts to restore game and habitat. It called for active management and more workers such as wardens, wildlife biologists, and wildlife administrators.