Wyoming’s Terry Wolf Receives NACo’s 2025 Dale Sowards Outstanding Public Lands Official Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – CORRECTED COPY

Contact: Jerimiah Rieman, Executive Director, Wyoming County Commissioners Association

jrieman@wyo-wcca.org, 307-632-5409

May 28, 2025

Wyoming’s Terry Wolf Receives NACo’s 2025 Dale Sowards Outstanding Public Lands Official Award

Third Wyoming county commissioner honored since the award’s creation in 1987—and the first since 2014

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming County Commissioners Association (WCCA) proudly announces that Washakie County Commissioner Terry Wolf has been selected by the National Association of Counties (NACo) as the 2025 Dale Sowards Outstanding Public Lands Official. Commissioner Wolf is only the third Wyoming county commissioner to earn this national distinction since the award was established in 1987 and the first since 2014.

WCCA President Natalia D. Macker said, “Commissioner Wolf has had a tremendous impact not only on his county, but on all the counties of the Mountain West. His steadfast dedication, humble practicality, and unwavering advocacy are shaping policy and ensuring the perspectives of public lands counties are represented. His leadership is a model for all local leaders.”

Named for the late Conejos County, CO. Commissioner, the Dale Sowards Award recognizes county officials who advance sound public‑lands policy on behalf of their communities. Commissioner Wolf was formally honored at NACo’s Western Interstate Region (WIR) Conference May 22, in Pennington County, South Dakota.

Commissioner Wolf’s 22 years of public service have been defined by dedicated advocacy for counties whose livelihoods are tied to federal public lands. Highlights of his accomplishments include:

• Guiding two major resourcemanagement plan revisions with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, ensuring local government voices remained central to the process. 

• Helping establish the Bighorn Forest Steering Committee, that works with forest service partners to improve implementation of the Bighorn National Forest Plan. 

• Chairing the Big Horn Mountain Coalition, a four county coalition working to enhance economic activities and provide leadership, coordination and cooperation between local, state and federal entities in the Bighorn Region.  

• Serving on the Greater Rocky Mountain Resource Advisory Committee which represents a variety of interests and works together to review and recommend funding for projects across nine National Forests in the region. 

• Serving in key leadership roles within both WCCA and NACo, including current vicechair of NACo’s Environment, Energy, and Land Use Policy Steering Committee and chair of WCCA’s Energy and Environment Committee. 

Commissioner Wolf had this to say about his award – "I am deeply honored and humbled to receive the Dale Sowards award and grateful to the Western Interstate Region and the National Association of Counties for this acknowledgement. My heartfelt thanks go out to my fellow commissioners, colleagues, and public lands advocates (past and present) because I would say that it has been a team effort from the local to the state level regarding public lands policies that promote multiple use and sustained yield."

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About the WCCA:

The Wyoming County Commissioners Association (WCCA) is an organization consisting of the Boards of County Commissioners of all twenty-three Wyoming counties. The WCCA exists to strengthen the counties and the people who lead them through a program of networking, education, and unified action.