Chapter 2 - Department Of Agriculture
CHAPTER 2 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
ARTICLE 1 - BOARD OF AGRICULTURE
11-2-101. Department and board created; director.
(a) A state department of agriculture is created under themanagement and control of the director with the advice of the board ofagriculture.
(b) Repealed by Laws 1993, ch. 191, 4.
(c) The department is authorized to accept, administer andexpend agricultural commodity promotion, research and advertising assessments.
11-2-102. Composition; qualifications; appointment and removal ofmembers; quorum.
(a) The board shall consist of thirteen (13) members, includingthe governor and the dean of the University of Wyoming college of agricultureor his designated representative as ex officio nonvoting members. Eleven (11)voting members shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and consentof the senate and may be removed by the governor as provided in W.S. 9-1-202.
(b) One (1) member shall be appointed from each of the seven(7) appointment districts pursuant to W.S. 9-1-218. Appointments in eachappointment district shall be rotated among the several counties comprising thedistrict.
(c) Appointed members shall be appointed for a term of six (6)years.
(d) The seven (7) members appointed from the appointmentdistricts:
(i) Shall be selected to represent a cross-section of theagricultural industry;
(ii) Shall be engaged chiefly in agricultural work; and
(iii) Not more than four (4) shall be members of the same politicalparty.
(e) One (1) member shall be appointed from each of the four (4)board of agriculture youth leadership quadrants as follows:
(i) The northeast quadrant shall consist of Campbell, Crook,Johnson, Niobrara, Sheridan and Weston counties;
(ii) The northwest quadrant shall consist of Big Horn, HotSprings, Park, Teton and Washakie counties;
(iii) The southeast quadrant shall consist of Albany, Converse,Goshen, Laramie, Natrona and Platte counties; and
(iv) The southwest quadrant shall consist of Carbon, Fremont,Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater and Uinta counties.
(f) The four (4) members appointed from the board ofagriculture youth leadership quadrants:
(i) Shall be selected by considering a cross-section of theagricultural industry;
(ii) Shall be engaged chiefly in agricultural work; and
(iii) Shall be between eighteen (18) and thirty (30) years of ageat the time of submitting the application for board membership.
(g) A majority of the appointed members of the board constitutesa quorum for the transaction of business.
(h) Appointments and terms shall be in accordance with W.S.28-12-101 through 28-12-103.
11-2-103. Regular and special meetings.
Theboard shall meet annually on the second Monday of April, and special meetingsof the board may be held by a call of the director, the president of the boardor a majority of the members of the board.
11-2-104. Salary and expenses; oath; election of president andvice-president.
The board members, except the governor andthe dean of the University of Wyoming college of agriculture, shall be paid thesalary, for attending and traveling to and from official board business shallbe one hundred dollars ($100.00) per day and the mileage and per diem forattending and traveling to and from official board business in the same mannerand amount as state employees. The appointed board members, within a reasonabletime after their appointment, shall qualify by taking the constitutional oathof office and filing it with the secretary of state. The appointed membersshall elect from their members a president and vice-president.
ARTICLE 2 - DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
11-2-201. Qualifications; appointment.
(a) The director of the department of agriculture shall:
(i) Be a college graduate with at least five (5) yearsexperience in agriculture; or
(ii) Have at least twelve (12) years experience in agricultureand otherwise be qualified if not a college or university graduate.
(b) The governor with the approval of the senate, shall appointthe director. The director shall serve at the pleasure of the governor and maybe removed by the governor as provided in W.S. 9-1-202. Any vacancy shall befilled by the governor in accordance with W.S. 28-12-101.
11-2-202. Powers and duties of director generally.
(a) The director shall have his office in Cheyenne and shall:
(i) Act as secretary and executive officer of the board;
(ii) Through the appropriate division established by W.S.11-2-101 and with the advice of the board, enforce and execute all laws of thestate and rules and regulations of the board;
(iii) Repealed By Laws 1998, ch. 6, 5.
(iv) Cooperate with other state institutions and organizations,the agricultural departments of other states and the secretary of agricultureof the United States;
(v) Foster a practicable conservation of state naturalresources;
(vi) Publish information of practical value to stateagricultural interests for free distribution among the farmers and otherinterested persons within the state;
(vii) Promulgate necessary rules and regulations to implementW.S. 11-2-202.
(b) Repealed by Laws 1993, ch. 191, 4.
(c) Repealed by Laws 1993, ch. 191, 4.
(d) The director in collecting information necessary to performduties of the department and its divisions, may request information from anyagency of the state, a county, city, town or other political subdivision. Anagency shall furnish information upon written request of the director. Anowner, operator or manager of any manufacturing, mining or other businessestablishment operating in this state or other person having informationnecessary to carry out the purposes of this act shall upon request of thedirector, furnish the information upon forms supplied by the board.
(e) For purposes consistent with duties imposed by law and ruleand regulation, the director may accept grants from private or public agencies,organizations or other persons.
(f) The director may allow the permitting, registration,licensing, testing, inspection and reporting requirements of this title to beconducted electronically as provided by the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act,W.S. 40-21-101 through 40-21-119 and any applicable federal electronicrequirements.
11-2-203. Deputy director; employment of personnel.
The deputy director shall serve at thepleasure of the director and is responsible to and under the control andsupervision of the director. The director may employ professional, technicaland other personnel as necessary to perform duties prescribed by law and ruleand regulation of the board.
11-2-204. Services of persons in employ of university; reimbursement;applicability of provisions.
(a) In performing duties imposed by law which require technicalscientific training, the director may request the services of qualified membersof the University of Wyoming faculty, resident or extension. Faculty membersshall serve without additional compensation but the department shall reimbursethe University of Wyoming for fifty percent (50%) of the salary paid by theuniversity while the faculty member is actually performing services for thedirector. The use of faculty members and the proportion and distribution oftheir time shall be determined by agreement between the director and thepresident of the university and the faculty member shall be employed by thedepartment when performing duties for the director under this section.
(b) This section applies to horticulture, apiculture, poultry,dairying, food, oils, seeds, marketing farm crops and any other duties imposedupon the department which the director and the board determine to be moreefficiently and economically administered by use of university faculty members.This section does not apply to any branch of agriculture otherwise specificallyprovided for by law.
11-2-205. Repealed by Laws 1987, ch. 111, 2.
11-2-206. Reports to governor.
The director shall report to the governorrespecting the programs and fiscal activities of the department as required byW.S. 9-2-1014.
11-2-207. Rangeland health assessments.
(a) The rangeland health assessment program is hereby created. The director shall provide for the cooperation and participation with theUniversity of Wyoming, state agencies, county governments, federal agencies andprivate landowners in the assessment of the condition of the health of Wyominggrazing lands. The rangeland health program shall include, but not be limitedto:
(i) The necessity for a rangeland health assessment for aparticular area of Wyoming grazing lands, including the impact on state,federal, local and private property;
(ii) The rangeland health assessment shall be done only with thevoluntary cooperation and participation of all participants, including theprivate landowner, the state grazing lessee and the federal grazing permitteeor lessee;
(iii) The rangeland health assessment shall be conducted onfederal or state managed lands only under a memorandum of agreement with thefederal or state land management agency and with the participation of thatfederal or state land management agency;
(iv) The rangeland health assessment shall include, asnecessary, establishment of rangeland monitoring, compliance with federalagency standards and guidelines and participation in the incorporation ofassessment outcomes into any federal or state decision affecting livestockgrazing;
(v) The rangeland health assessment shall include anyprotections necessary for the management of soil erosion and vegetation loss.
(b) The director is authorized to contract with the Universityof Wyoming, institutions of higher education and other qualified state andlocal governmental agencies to:
(i) Conduct rangeland health assessments as provided pursuantto subsection (a) of this section;
(ii) Conduct rangeland health assessments on previouslyestablished exclosures which exclude livestock grazing to determine what effectthe elimination of grazing has had on the quality of the rangeland. Theseassessments may include an assessment of nearby grazed rangeland as provided inparagraph (i) of this subsection to assist in the evaluation of the effect ofexcluding grazing.
(c) The director shall establish matching funds for anycontract entered into pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.
(d) The director may accept additional matching funds toaugment the planned rangeland health assessment to:
(i) Vetoed by Governor;
(ii) Identify tools and strategies for resource use that bestpromote rangeland health;
(iii) Facilitate the efficacy of the rangeland study.
(e) The director shall establish priorities for thedistribution of available funding, including consideration of:
(i) Applications that include multiple resource partners;
(ii) Amount and variety of funding sources;
(iii) Timing and urgency of the project.
(f) The director is authorized to adopt rules and regulationsnecessary to implement this section.