Mong brings wildlife management to the public
By Amber Leberman
Tony Mong grew up in the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri, where hunting and fishing were a way of life.
“Every spare moment I had was spent in the woods, hunting something. Whether it was squirrel or turkey, or visiting local ponds to fish,” he said. He also grew up hearing stories about his great-grandfather, who, during the Great Depression, was able to feed his family by hunting.
At the University of Missouri – Columbia, Mong found himself flipping the pages of the undergraduate catalog. He had considered a couple majors, but when he spotted the “fisheries and wildlife science” major, it clicked.
“I’d always liked being outdoors,” he said, “but didn’t even know about careers in wildlife biology until I got into college.”
Mong’s discovery that he could create a career out of his interest in wildlife led him to involvement with The Wildlife Society, and eventual election as chair of its Student Professional Working Group while a graduate student at Kansas State University. Through the society he met Tom Ryder (now assistant division chief for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s wildlife division)—and someone Mong now considers a mentor. (Mong currently serves as president of the Wyoming chapter of The Wildlife Society.)
Neither remembers at which national meeting of The Wildlife Society they met. But Ryder, who was serving on the society’s council, recalls how Mong inspired involvement among undergraduate members.
“It was pretty obvious right from the get-go that he is a fellow who’s able to think outside the box,” Ryder said. Mong remembers Ryder “started talking highly of Wyoming and piqued my interest in coming to the state.”
After working as project lead on research related to mourning doves and hunting at the University of Missouri – Columbia and serving as an adjunct professor at the University of Central Missouri, Mong’s piqued interest turned into a move to Wyoming. He and his family relocated to Baggs in 2010 so he could serve as wildlife biologist for the Green River Region.
Mong’s career with Game and Fish has been marked by community engagement, balancing scientific management with public desire, and collaboration within (and beyond) the agency.
Although Mong admits he finds the “Hollywood things” about being a wildlife biologist exciting (using helicopters, darting animals, handling wildlife), it’s interacting with the public that he finds most fulfilling.
“There’s probably nothing better than checking an animal from a young hunter who just got his first animal,” Mong said. And “when you come into a camp and you see it full of multi-generational folks from grandpa to grandson and great-grandson, and you just have a really great talk with them about how they enjoy being out there and the kids are super-excited.”
In addition to encountering hunters in the field, Mong has invited the public to be part of ongoing research on mule deer that’s been made possible through two newly constructed underpasses north of Baggs (see “Monitoring Mule Deer Movement and Survival” at youtube.com/wygameandfish).
The type of information Mong wanted to collect (sex, age, pregnancy rates) required gathering blood samples using drop-net teams of five to seven people. With only two Game and Fish employees in Baggs, Mong knew they had to innovate.
“We said: ‘Why not get the public involved? Why not get the folks in the valley involved with the management of their deer herd.’”
In addition to training volunteers in drop-net techniques and safety, Mong introduced them to how the data they’d collect would help wildlife managers determine the mule deer population’s size, survival rates, and movement and migration patterns.
“Of course most of the folks here are hunters, and they’re very interested in their deer herd and how that’s managed. Many of them wanted to get a closer look at what that looks like. They’re interested in getting that close to deer, but they’re also interested in learning what we do as Game and Fish biologists and wardens. They’re getting hands-on with the management of the deer herd that they’re so interested in,” Mong said. “When it kind of clicks and makes sense for them, that’s key.”
Game and Fish will again invite volunteers to assist with the project this winter. “It’s a relatively inexpensive endeavor as far as collecting information for a mule deer herd,” Mong said.
In an effort that Ryder calls “innovative as heck,” Mong gave surplus GPS units to hunters so he could track how pine tree die-off from bark beetles has affected how elk hunters use the backcountry. He also radio-collared elk in the area to document possible changes in their movements related to the die-off.
“Tony’s not only looking at how bark beetles affect a species of high interest to the public,” Ryder said, “but also how the public uses the land.”
In addition to what could be an all-consuming job, Mong makes time to go camping with his wife, Danielle; daughter, Raelyn, 9; son Ethan, 4; and son Samuel, 6 months.
“We’re really trying, my wife and I, to pass on this connection to the outdoors,” Mong said. “It’s something that you have to make a conscious effort at, and it’s easy to get caught up with technology and do that rather than to go camping or hiking or hunting or fishing.”
Mong plans to have Raelyn, who’s learning to shoot with a new pink .22, accompany him on a hunt this fall.
“Most folks get into this field because they enjoy hunting,” Mong said, “but a lot of the work you do as a Game and Fish biologist occurs during the hunting season.”
Even though it’s sometimes hard to feel motivated to recreate outside when the job of a wildlife biologist is primarily outdoors, Mong said, “you set your priorities on what’s important and what speaks to you.”
For Mong, those priorities include ensuring his children have hunting and fishing stories to add to the family legacy.
“It’s a field that you get involved with because you have to, because it’s a passion,” Mong said. “To be able to do that, especially if you’re married, is only possible with a very understanding spouse—sometimes you have to share the limelight of the love of your spouse with your love of the outdoors.”
— “Living the Legacy” is a print and video series exploring how hunters, anglers, and Game and Fish employees embody Wyoming’s Forever Wild hunting and fishing heritage
