You don’t have to enter the new Wyoming Game and Fish Department regional office building to know it’s a dramatic improvement over the department’s former home. The ample parking area and convenient service areas available to outdoors enthusiasts alone may have been worth the price to some accustomed to the previous claustrophobic experience.

Yet, once you step inside the front entrance — splendidly guarded by taxidermic art of many of the regions most charismatic wildlife — the thought put into public spaces becomes apparent. Vaulted ceilings and large customer service areas give more than enough room for a fairly large gathering to still have enough personal space to breathe easy under the perches of mounted wild rams, a grizzly bear, enviable racks of deer and elk and massive walleye and trout. Previously, gatherings of more than three or four at the front desk would make you want to rush transactions to get out as soon as possible.

Around the corner and down wide, ADA-compliant hallways is a public meeting room complete with multiple large screens to alleviate neck strain and plenty of space for when the commission comes to town or for the Information and Education department’s hunters safety classes. The room has a separate entrance, allowing for gatherings after the offices have closed.

The difference between old and new may force you to conjure the word opulent from your architectural vocabulary. But once you get over the luxurious space and on closer inspection, efforts to gain usable space yet remain frugal are evident around every corner. Where they splurged were in public areas and space to better protect expensive resources like boats, ATVs and other machinery that previously sat outside in the harsh Wyoming seasons. 

It’s a total of 32,500 square feet between office space, the large shop and an outbuilding. 

While soaring ceilings, picture windows and digital tools in the meeting room give the appearance of opulence, long church tables and furniture from the old office fill the space and borrowed panoramic art from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West are highlighted on the walls.

After employees get settled in, they hope to add to the wild experience for the public, said Tara Hodges, Cody Region information and education specialist who led the press tour.

“Our plan is to kind of go for a habitat-themed approach in some of these more public spaces,” she said.

The department plans to apply for grants in the coming months and years to afford the changes. Individual offices remain somewhat tight, maintaining the state’s requirements, and modest furnishings are reused.

A huge heated shop that doubles as a work area for large carnivore and fisheries program efforts may have cost more than the office space. It comes complete with large industrial coolers, has an immense secure storage area above and has secure area to work with live but chemically sedated grizzly bears.

“It has never happened, but if there was a reason that a bear woke up suddenly, our guys could get away and it would be contained here where we could deal with it as opposed to it being loose in our shop,” Smith said.

Just out back is a large, multi-bay cold storage facility for other gear. 

Other public areas include an easy in-and-out bay to check in wildlife, complete with stainless steel tanks and counters to do tests on harvested animals. There’s also a heated indoor decontamination bay for the aquatic invasive species crew.

“It’s a lot faster for the public,” said Emily Youse, Cody Region AIS specialist. “And it’s a lot safer for people. They can actually be off the highway, turn around their boats really well if they need to work on anything, and they can pull through and keep the line flowing a lot better.”

It will be much better for AIS employees as well. The old station further up the road will be closed and employees can be in the new station doing other work while waiting for customers rather than trying to stay cool along the side of the highway. They also have heated water available on site for decon services rather than needing to direct boaters in need of decontamination to the former offices’ crowded back lot.

There is room to grow, said Dan Smith, Cody Region wildlife supervisor. There’s a few extra offices and kiosks available for seasonal technicians or if the department increases its size in the coming years.

The project came in under budget at $9.6 million, despite building through one of the toughest new construction periods in recent memory. 

“The commission had set aside $8 million to $10 million. So we’re right there. We had to work really hard to stay there because during COVID, prices had really changed,” Smith said.

Not everything is finished. 

“There are some things that aren’t complete in the building,” Hodges said. “But they were completed enough for us to open for business.”

Work is continuing in the heated shop and boxes and artwork need to be put in their place. That said, despite the move coming during one of the busiest seasons for the department, they are close to calling the new building a home.

The department is inviting the public to an open house event at the new office building Nov. 16. The office is located at 2 Tilden Trail and the event will begin at 10 a.m. with opening remarks from the Wyoming Game and Fish Director and commissioners. 

Members of the public are then welcome to tour the building anytime through 4 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. 

“We welcome the community to tour the new facility, and learn how it will function to create efficiencies and improve service,” Smith said. “The event will also be a great opportunity to visit with Game and Fish commissioners and local staff in an informal setting.”

Staff will provide walk-throughs of the facility or participants are welcome to tour the building on their own, Hodges said in a recent press release.