Tom Stroock 1925-2009

Some day I hope I can be half the man Tom Stroock was on the worst day he ever had. The long-time Casper oil man and friend to WWF passed away yesterday in Casper. When I heard about it this morning, I felt like I’d been hit with a baseball bat.

Tom was an American original, a Wyoming classic. Born and raised in New York City, he was a tough guy from the beginning. His dad died when he was 13. He was a bit of a hellion in his early years, but thrived under the stern but loving attention of his grandfather. He went on to graduate from Yale and serve in the Pacific with the Marine Corps during World War II. A devoted husband and loving father of four daughters, he was an entrepreneur, a philanthropist and the chairman of a long list of political and business organizations and charities. He served five terms in the Wyoming State Senate. He served as the US Ambassador to Guatemala under President George H.W. Bush.

One of my favorite Stroock stories – and there are many – comes from his days as ambassador. In 1990, an American citizen was murdered in Guatemala. Stroock was certain the crime was committed by the country's military – already known for its gross human-rights violations. What’s more, he was not about to put up with any delay in finding and punishing the killer or killers. When a few weeks had passed without any movement on the case, Stroock simply started withholding military aid from the U.S. to the Guatemalan government. Despite repeated warnings that the money was legally theirs and that he was endangering the U.S. relationship with the country, Stroock stood firm. It didn’t take long. After about $2 million in checks piled up in Stroock’s desk drawer, miracles began to happen in the Guatemalan judicial system. In the end, Col. Julio Roberto Alpirez was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

That same focus on doing what’s right characterized his relationship with wild things and wild places in Wyoming. He was a benefactor to many conservation groups, ours included. He was a strong voice for conserving Wyoming’s wildlife heritage while being a tireless promoter for the oil and gas industry. He was the father of the Environmental Quality Act and the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust. He never lost sight of the fact that Wyoming could have both a vibrant economy and a rich legacy of wildlife and wild lands.

The last time I saw him, I was struck by how frail he had become. But his mind was as sharp as ever. We had lunch, and the servers deferred to him as if he were royalty. They kept his favorite blueberry ice cream on hand just for him. For his part, he was just as kind and gracious as ever. We talked about politics. We talked about fishing. We talked about our families. He grew tired, and I had to go. We parted with a smile.

I wish I had told him how much I loved and admired him. Rest in peace, Tom.

Walt Gasson
Executive Director, Wyoming Wildlife Federation

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Walt Gasson, Executive Director
Wyoming Wildlife Federation

Fighting and Winning

An old friend of mine once said, “Sometimes Wyoming people would rather fight than win.” He’s right, of course. Nowhere is this more evident than the conflict between Wyoming folks who love to hunt and fish and Wyoming folks who love ranching and farming. Here it is in a nutshell: Sometimes ranchers won’t let people hunt or fish on their land. Hunters and anglers don’t like that. Sometimes people behave like morons when they hunt or fish on private land. Ranchers don’t like that. Sometimes there are too many cows or sheep out there, eating all the grass and pooping in the creek. Hunters and anglers don’t like that. Sometimes there are too many elk/deer/antelope/other critters out there eating all the alfalfa and tearing up the haystacks and fences. Ranchers don’t like that. When either side says something about one of these issues, we all choose up sides and vilify one another until we feel better.

To be honest, I’ve done my share of it. I’ve joined up with my camo-clad compadres and gone off to battle with the evil empire of rancher-dom plenty of times. But I’ve been wondering lately if I haven’t been wasting my time.

The fact is that the best and most productive lands in Wyoming are in private ownership. They have been for well over a century. Those private lands support much of the wildlife we cherish so dearly. So before we go too far out of our way to cuss a rancher, let’s be real honest about the contribution of his/her ranch to our hunting and fishing. Likewise, let’s be real honest about the alternative. As I look along the Colorado Front Range, I see hundreds of thousands of acres of land that was devoted to agriculture twenty years ago. Now, it’s covered up with houses. But that’s not just a Colorado thing. Take a look at Star Valley, or the outskirts of Cheyenne or Gillette. If you care about wildlife, from moose to meadowlarks, ranches are always better than subdivisions.

I’ve come to the conclusion that ranchers aren’t the only ones who have a stake in keeping ranchers in business in Wyoming. As a hunter and an angler, I’ve got a stake in that game, too. As open spaces in the west grow smaller and smaller, as the average age of ranchers grows older and older, who’s going to be the steward of all those private lands? I’d rather see a young family be able to stay on the land and keep ranching than see that ranch become another subdivision, whether I get to hunt on that place or not.

I still reserve the right to argue with my friends, and I don’t mind fighting, but I like winning better.

Walt Gasson
Executive Director, Wyoming Wildlife Federation