Director Budd briefed the Joint Appropriations Committee on five exception requests from the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, focusing on invasive annual grass prevention and post‑fire recovery.

Budd said $11 million recommended by the governor is targeted at proactive prevention of cheatgrass and other invasives, primarily in western Wyoming counties; the trust would pass the funds through to local weed and pest districts and contractors. He told lawmakers roughly $8.5 million of project requests are already in hand from Western Wyoming partners and cited specific county priorities such as Park and Natrona counties for targeted fronts.

Budd also outlined a $29 million request to continue recovery from recent large fires and to allow flexible use for prevention as well as recovery. He said much of the original $49.5 million allocated earlier has been expended or committed and that new fire impacts (for example the Red Canyon fire) have increased demand for recovery funding.

Why it matters: invasive annual grasses like cheatgrass reduce native forage, increase fire frequency and severity, and degrade habitat for livestock and wildlife. Budd described surveillance, animal‑movement and seed‑source mapping efforts that inform treatment priorities and stressed the multiplier effect: every trust dollar leverages local and federal matching funds and contractor activity.

The director described Rocky Mountain Power mitigation work to be closed out (about $4.17 million spent to date) and noted spending authority adjustments to close that program. The trust emphasized a pass‑through model and requested flexible language to move funds between prevention and recovery needs as emergencies arise.

What’s next: the committee asked for clarifying language and the trust committed to provide county‑by‑county project lists, obligations and timing information so the committee can weigh ongoing prevention against immediate recovery needs.