Cooperative Extension Service Communications and Technology Department 3354 1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071 (307) 766-6342 • fax (307) 766-3998 • www.uwyo.edu

 

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: March 20, 2006

 

UW Cooperative Extension Service educator will assist Wamsutter growth

 

            A Cooperative Extension Service (CES) community development educator has been hired to help ease Wamsutter’s growing pains and will be based in its city hall.

            Shelly Devoss of Green River began work March 15, said Susan James, federal relations and staff development coordinator with the University of Wyoming CES.

            Extensive oil and gas exploration is causing rapid growth in the eastern Sweetwater County community. Devoss will assist the mayor and town council in managing development projects. “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 community,” said James.

            Devoss is a Laramie native and a graduate of Tongue River High School in Dayton. She received bachelor’s degrees from UW in natural science and math in 1998 and in biology in 2003. She has experience as a middle school teacher, and worked the past three and one-half years as a physical scientist/natural resource specialist with the Bureau of Land Management.

            “I liked the multi-faceted involvement in this position,” said Devoss. “You get to interact with many entities and various groups in the community.”

            The position is a collaborative partnership between the UW CES, Sweetwater County and four energy companies. “This is an exciting opportunity for CES to bring the resources available from the university to assist the Wamsutter community,” said James.

            Devoss will assist with infrastructure growth in the development-stressed town. The community’s available housing is virtually nil, and its100-year-old water and sewer systems are straining under a population that increased from about 300 less than two years ago to more than 1,200 now.

            Wamsutter Mayor Bill Hippe said some estimates put Wamsutter’s population at 6,000 in 10 years.

            The governor’s office approached the CES last October to determine if there was anything it could do to help community development efforts, said Glen Whipple, associate dean in the UW College of Agriculture and director of the CES. 

            “The community is going through dramatic changes in population and demands on its services,” said Whipple. The governor’s office was familiar with other CES community development efforts, said Whipple, but this is the first designed to assist in the development of an entire town.

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

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