LANDER - Sometimes it's as simple as building a ramp.

Wild animals find their way into stock tanks on grazing lands because they're drawn to the consistent source of water just as the livestock is - and animals, especially small ones, can get trapped inside, and drown.

But if you install a ramp in the tank, the bunnies, birds, bats, shrews, voles and any other critters that fall in can climb back out, helping to minimize the impact of stock tanks on wildlife populations in the area.

Other projects are more complex.

Returning a river to its natural channel, for example. Redesigning irrigation systems to make them more efficient, or burning prescribed areas to help revive sagebrush, grassland and aspen habitats.

The mission of Wyoming's Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust is to help fund projects like these, intended to maintain or improve wildlife habitat and conserve natural resources throughout the state.

"This is our infrastructure," said Bob Budd, executive director of the trust. "Wildlife, open spaces, agriculture, natural resources - including mining, oil and gas - that's what our infrastructure is. It's the vital engine that drives our state. And it's imperative that we take care of it."

The state Legislature created the wildlife trust fund in 2005, with the support of Gov. Dave Freudenthal, and with the intent of eventually endowing the trust with $200 million.

After the current session is over, legislators expect it to have increased the total endowment to more than $80 million.

Once the trust is fully funded, it should be self-sufficient, according to the law, allocating money for conservation and improvement projects from interest earned.

Stimulating the natural system

People don't come to Wyoming to visit amusement parks or big cities, Budd said.

The fundamental value of Wyoming, as well as its heritage, can be found in the state's mountainous landscapes, its immense prairies and its vast diversity of wildlife, he said.

"We're not a destination tourist-type state. We don't have the Disney Worlds, those types of things. We have a huge market in recreation tourism, but it's more a family, experiential-type thing," Budd said. "Some people don't appreciate what a rare piece of the world this is. You literally have to go to places like Alaska or Africa to find a comparison with the kind of resources we have in Wyoming."

When Freudenthal and the Legislature created the trust fund in 2005, they established an independent agency with a volunteer, citizen board - charged with funding projects that seek to balance the ongoing energy, industrial, residential and agricultural development with wildlife conservation and habitat enhancement.

Since its inception, the trust fund board has provided grants for prescribed burns, sagebrush and grasslands restoration, conservation easements, water development, river restoration and site-by-site improvements.

Most of the prescribed burns were done to help reinvigorate aspen trees. Loss of aspen, mostly as a consequence of decades of fire suppression, is a big problem in Wyoming, and in the rest of the West, Budd said.

"We're losing aspen habitat at a pretty alarming rate, primarily due to conifer encroachment," he said. "Fire hasn't been part of the system for a long time."

Aspen is critical to the region, Budd said, because it supports a great variety of plant and animal species.

Years of drought and lack of fire have also taken a toll on sagebrush and grasslands, Budd said. The trust fund board has allocated funding for projects to help these environments bounce back by improving water distribution, performing prescribed burns, planting native seed and using chemicals to get rid of invasive plants.

"It all comes down to what you can do to re-create or to stimulate the natural system that is there, but for some reason is out of kilter," Budd said.

The board rarely funds a project outright; instead, it provides seed money, or partial funding, usually requiring the applicant to come up with a majority of the dollars.

"If you look at the wetland we just did over on the Rimfire Ranch in Sublette County as an example, we put in about $120,000, and it's a $500,000 project," Budd said. "All that other funding is coming from other sources - landowners, Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, nonprofits and federal funding sources. In general, for every dollar you're putting in, you're getting about six back."

At least two board members do a site visit to evaluate each project the board is considering funding, Budd said.

"The program is open. It's not restricted to anyone. Whether it's a Boy Scout troop, a 4-H club, a major group of landowners working together - the board sees them all pretty much the same. They look at projects based on their merit," he said.

Admirable goals, bad method?

The idea of protecting Wyoming's wildlife and natural resources has fairly broad-based support among Wyoming's elected officials, but the level of enthusiasm for the trust itself varies among lawmakers.

Some legislators, such as Rep. Mark Semlek, R-Moorcroft, and Rep. Bob Brechtel, R-Casper, worry about the long-term ramifications of establishing a trust fund to allocate state dollars.

"I resist the trust fund concept in state government, except for savings, as a means of providing a guaranteed revenue stream for any program or project," Semlek said. "I believe it should be a legislative prerogative to fund state government and have the trust in future legislators to review spending priorities and expect them to do the right thing."

Semlek said the governor's approach of asking the Legislature to appropriate an "arbitrary" amount of funding, without asking it to validate the benefits of each project, seems misguided.

"I believe an appreciation for wildlife and our natural resources, which I most certainly have, is not necessarily reason enough to expend funds," Semlek said. "The trust was established, in part, to mitigate potential problems with wildlife as a result of energy development. The passion for these 'problem-solving projects' can overrun the science, so I believe we must be cautious in reaching conclusions regarding the success of the program, unless we can validate the results."

Semlek said he would like to see the program adopt a research component, to help ensure it is accomplishing the goals it was created to achieve.

Brechtel, like Semlek, said the idea of establishing a hefty trust fund makes him uneasy, but he supports the intent of the program.

"I absolutely agree that we need to be good stewards of our natural habitat and wildlife," Brechtel said. "I have a concern for large trust funds in general, but to the extent that the trust fund accomplishes its intended goals in collaborative cooperation with agriculture, ranching and other Wyoming industries, it is a great concept."

The healthy approach for citizens to take, Brechtel said, is to continually ask questions about the possible unintended, long-term consequences of creating a large trust fund, especially when it is placed in the hands of an unelected body.

Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, said he has no qualms about increasing the funding of the trust by about $25 million this year, but he does have some concerns about the Legislature's stated goal of eventually increasing it to $200 million.

"I have no reservations about the current level of the trust," Zwonitzer said. "I think Bob Budd has been an excellent program director. The program is well run, and it has worked better than I think anyone in the Legislature expected."

The trust fund was controversial when it was introduced, he said, but some of the controversy has faded, especially as more legislators take a longer view of the program. Zwonitzer said he believes the creation of the trust fund will be remembered as one of the more positive accomplishments of the 2005 Legislature.

"I think it's going to prove valuable in the future. I don't think we'll see the immediate benefits for another five or 10 years," Zwonitzer said.

Environment reporter Chris Merrill can be reached at chris.merrill@trib.com.