Preserve Wyoming Conference

Preserve Wyoming Conference

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On September 17th through September 19th of 2026 the Preserve Wyoming Conference was held in Casper for the first time in 15 years! The conference took place at the Best Western Downtown Casper Hotel. There were 71 total participants that attended over the course of the event. The conference was a collaboration between the Alliance for Historic Wyoming, the Casper Historic Preservation Commission, and the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office. 

There were 11 vendor tables at the conference, including; JVA Consulting Engineers, Post Oak Preservation Solutions, and the Rock Mountain Association of Preservation Technology. There were also 9 sponsors, including; the Fort Caspar Museum, Hilltop Bank, and Hein Bond Architects. 

The conference consisted of an awards banquet, six educational sessions, a keynote speech,  a historic walking tour, and a historic preservation trivia night. Sara Sheen, Deputy Director of State Parks and Cultural Resources, presented the awards ceremony. There were three awardees honored: Thomas Tisthammer, founder of Wattle & Daub Contractors (with a Lifetime Achievement Award), Mary Kelley, founder of the Gillette Historic Preservation Commission, and GROWYo LLC for their restoration of the Historic Tomahawk Hotel in Green River. 

The educational sessions included topics such as: ‘A Pathway to Preservation: The Laramie West Side Historic District’ with Megan McDonald, Architectural Historian, Post Oak Preservation Solutions and Co-Host Gwendolyn Kristy, Chief, Planning & Historic Contexts Development Program, WY SHPO and ‘the Old Yellowstone District: Past, Present and Future’ with Liz Becher, Community Development Director, City of Casper. The keynote speaker was Representative Trey Sherwood, Director of Laramie Main Street. 

A public walking tour was hosted by the Casper Historic Preservation Commission of the Casper Downtown Historic District; the tour was attended by conference participants as well as members of the public. After the walking tour, participants gathered at Black Tooth Brewing for a historic preservation trivia night. We are so appreciative to all the people who made this conference possible, including our planners, speakers, volunteers, sponsors and vendors! 

Previous Preserve WY Conferences

Preserve Wyoming is a semi-annual conference sponsored by the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and various state and local partners. Certified Local Government (CLG) members are invited to learn about historic preservation from a variety of speakers. The conference also provides important networking opportunities and fulfills formal training requirements for the CLGs. 

After almost 8 years of absence, the Preserve Wyoming conference was revived! The conference took place from June 6-8, 2024 in Laramie, WY at the Laramie Railroad Depot and the Lincoln Community Center. Recordings of the conference are available on the SHPO's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@wyomingshpo1464

Left to Right: Preserve WY Award Banquet, Lincoln Community Center, Introducing the Statewide Historic Preservation Plan Session in the Depot