LANDER, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming conservationist Tom Bell, who founded the Wyoming Outdoor Council, has died. He was 92.

Bell's nephew Matt Winters says Bell died Tuesday in Lander.

Winters says Bell started the Wyoming Outdoor Council in 1967 because he was incensed by wildlife abuses on public lands committed by private individuals.

After growing up on ranches in the Lander area, Bell served as a bombardier in World War II and lost an eye to a shrapnel blast. He received a Purple Heart and the Silver Star.

Winters says the war experience left Bell a deeply religious man.

Bell worked for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, taught science in Lander schools and ranched.

He won the National Wildlife Federation's conservationist of the year award in 2002.

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