A man who died in a plane crash south of Otto on Wednesday has been identified as Grant Belden, 34, of Thermopolis.

The other man in the plane, Miles Hausner, 56, of Worland survived the crash and is being treated in a Billings hospital, according to The Associated Press.

The crash occurred  in a remote area southwest of the Wardel Reservoir area, Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn said in a post on his agency’s Facebook page on Wednesday.

Blackburn said the two men were “predator control specialists” who’d flown out of the Worland airport earlier in the day.

Pamela Manns, a public affairs specialist in Maryland for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program, said Belden and Hausner were agency employees who were “conducting predator control at the request of a rancher experiencing sheep loss due to coyote depredation.”

They were working with a ground crew, and the ground crew lost communication with the plane at around 10 a.m. Wednesday, Manns said Monday.

“Then rescue crews found it shortly thereafter,” she said.

Manns said Wildlife Services is a small program, and the loss of Belden is felt throughout the agency.

“It’s really heartbreaking to hear,” she said.

She said Belden had worked for Wildlife Services since 2007; Hausner has been with the agency for 33 years.

Blackburn said his office received information about a possible crash in Big Horn County shortly before 11:30 a.m. Responders from multiple agencies ultimately found the specialists trapped inside the wreckage of their plane in a rugged area southwest of the Wardel Reservoir area, Blackburn said in a post to his agency’s Facebook page.

Belden died at the scene, and Hausner was taken to Billings, where he was in stable, but monitored, condition at Billings Clinic Hospital on Monday.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

Manns said Wildlife Services is working with state and federal authorities to try to determine the cause of the crash. The agency will not conduct a separate investigation, she said.

Manns said she had no information about why the plane went down and doesn’t know which man was piloting it.

“That will be a part of the investigation conducted by the NTSB,” she said.

After the crash occurred, “Wildlife Services directed that all program fixed-wing aircraft be grounded immediately to undergo a maintenance inspection,” Manns said Tuesday.

In addition, per agency policy, Wildlife Services will convene an internal accident review board.

“This seeks to determine what happened and whether any changes in policy or procedure are needed,” she said.

Blackburn described the crash site as being off of Dorsey Creek Road, also known as U.S. Bureau of Land Management Road 1103. Much of the land in the area is federally owned and managed by the BLM.

Many agencies and entities helped Big Horn County with the search, including the Park County Search and Rescue Unit.

Blackburn said medical personnel from the REACH Air Medical Service provided “outstanding, immediate medical services” until ground resources could arrive and extricate the occupants.

“The rough terrain and bitter cold weather made rescue efforts hazardous and more difficult,” Blackburn said Wednesday night.