For Immediate Release

Contact: Steven L. Miller, Senior Editor

Phone: (307) 766-6342

E-mail: slmiller@uwyo.edu

Archived News Site www.uwyo.edu/agadmin/news/news.htm

Date: Sept. 5, 2006

UW CES partners to provide community development coordinator in Sublette County

            A community development coordinator position has been created through a partnership with Sublette County governments, oil and gas industry partners and the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service.

            Laurie Latta of Pinedale will begin work Sept. 11, said Susan James, federal relations and staff development coordinator with the UW CES. The position will help Sublette County and the communities of Pinedale, Marbleton and Big Piney during rapid growth due to oil and gas development.

            Latta will work with the Sublette County Community Development Advisory Board. The board is represented by mayors of Pinedale, Marbleton, and Big Piney, the Sublette County Commissioners and industry partners.

            The position is a collaborative partnership between UW CES, Sublette County, the towns, and EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., Shell Oil, BP America, Ultra Resources Inc., and Questar E&P. Each partner will pay a share of the position’s salary.

            “This is an exciting opportunity for CES to bring the resources available from the university to assist Sublette County,” said James. “A large portion of her job will be building relationships and collaboration with local, county, state and federal agencies, residents, and businesses involved in development in the county.”

            Sublette County Commissioner Betty Fear is chairman of the advisory board. “I’m excited this position is off the ground, and I’m optimistic it will help the communication between government, counties, towns and industry,” she said. “Technically, she is an employee of UW, but she will take her direction from the advisory board.”

            The board would first like to tackle housing, infrastructure, and child-care issues, said Randy Teeuwen, community relations advisor with EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., an industry partner and member of the advisory board.

             “We believe making significant progress on these three critical issues will tend to identify the next steps,” he said.

            Latta grew upon on a ranch in Sublette County and is a graduate of Big Piney High School. She has a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology from UW. She has experience working in the non-profit sector and has worked for the past 15 months as assistant to the mayor of Pinedale, said James.

            “This position is critical to Sublette County’s success in properly managing both the booming residential development and the growth associated with the booming energy development,” said Teeuwen. “The resulting issues are shared by all of the communities in the county and must be addressed cooperatively so that all benefit in ways that retain the unique character of Sublette County along with a stable economic future.”

            The governor’s office approached UW CES to provide leadership for this position.

            “The Cooperative Extension Service has always worked to help the people and communities of Wyoming address their challenges,” said Glen Whipple, associate dean in the College of Agriculture and director of UW CES. “This is just another example of this.”

            Teeuwen said the structure of the community development coordinator is extraordinary.

            “To our knowledge, it’s unheard of to have this kind of cooperation and shared funding between three communities, five energy companies, the state’s university, and the county. This is local, grassroots, cooperative action at its best. As an advisory group, we have very high expectations that, working together with this newly hired coordinator, we will make significant progress and create a model for how similar partnerships can be successful in the future.”

On the Web: http://www.uwyo.edu/UWces/

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