Apr 1

To our friends, family, community members, and future clients, you should know that the safety and well-being of our guests, staff, and community is our highest priority.

Due to the developments associated with COVID-19 and it’s far-reaching effects across the globe, travel restrictions and shelter in place protocols have rightfully caused concern for those who have planned or are planning trips in the coming months. Additionally, these circumstances have upended much of the pre-season planning for companies like Wyoming Rivers Cooperative. Therefore, WRC would like to speak to what this all means for our current and future river operations.

At this time, WRC has canceled all trips scheduled for the month of May and adjusted our trip calendar to accommodate this change. We will continue to monitor the situation as state and federal guidelines and restrictions are updated, and we will adjust our policy accordingly. We feel that this measure is necessary in order to do our part in slowing the spread of COVID-19, and is in the best interest of our clients, partners, agencies, and communities that WRC works alongside.

The timing of this unprecedented global health crisis has been challenging for a new business like ours. Although the timing of such an event could never be considered “ideal,” in some ways, being a new business has allowed us to weather the storm easier than others — we do not have staff relying on us for income, nor do we have the more robust trip options and pre-season booking volumes that many of our friends and fellow outfitters have — thus allowing us to take this time to focus on building our company and creating relationships instead of managing people, bookings and historical norms.

What We Can Do Now

WRC will still be working to develop relationships and partnerships with other outfitters, agencies, nonprofits, local municipalities, as well as local, state, and federal governments. Since so much of our mission is focused on developing cooperative partnerships, we feel that in this time of social isolation, we can make progress towards these goals by communicating remotely with our partners and potential partners.

Additionally, WRC is looking for opportunities to develop local river clean up projects that would be coordinated through digital means and executed by individuals at separate times without encouraging group gatherings. Our hometown river in Lander, the Popo Agie, could use our help. This sort of community project is a great way to get outside and still remain at a safe social distance while making a local resource better for current residents and future generations. Stay tuned and reach out with any recommendations for other projects or let us know if you are interested in helping by emailing us at [email protected]

Check out Clean the Green (a local clean up project on the Green River in Southwest Wyoming).

Moving Forward

Around early May we will re-evaluate our trip calendar and make appropriate adjustments to our offerings to correspond with the most up-to-date guidelines provided by State and Federal health agencies. Additionally, WRC will be enhancing our health and safety protocols to better serve our clients and the public as a whole. We may (at our discretion) decline service to a guest and/or remove a staff member from the schedule under the following circumstances:

  • If a guest or guide has been in close contact with someone (within approximately 6 feet for any sustained period of time) of a person known to have COVID-19 within the 14 days prior to a scheduled trip
  • If a guest or staff member develops flu-like symptoms (a fever, cough, and shortness of breath) during the 14 days prior to a scheduled trip

Aside from these precautions, WRC will maintain our high standard for cleanliness, health, and safety on all trips. It is also worth noting that our maximum trip size is currently at 12 for our paddle trips and 8 for packrafting trips. We feel these smaller group sizes provide a better overall experience for our guests and will help reduce the likelihood of health risks. *We are considering reducing these trip sizes even further but will make this decision at a further date. We are working with local, state, and federal agencies to ensure we are adhering to the most up-to-date guidelines and protocols. Please see the below resource for more information.

Lastly, we would like to emphasize that although outdoor recreation and time outdoors is incredibly important to our overall health, especially during times of stress and uncertainty, we strongly encourage you to adhere to CDC rules and guidelines for social distancing and self-isolating, which may mean staying home during this time. Be sure to follow all local rules and guidelines for your area. When appropriate, enjoy the outdoors close to home and at a safe distance from others. Do not travel to remote areas and rural communities. These areas are likely already stressed by the influx of patients with medical needs. Don’t add to their overburdened system. Let’s all do our part and move forward together. We sure hope to see you out on the water soon. Take care.