Wyoming News & Current Events | Public News Service

Grand Teton National Park's 2.8 million visitors last year added $597 million to gateway communities, according to a new National Park Service report. (Adobe Stock)

Monday, September 25, 2023

Wanted: Visions for the future of Grand Teton National Park

Imagine reaching your favorite Grand Teton National Park trail in half the time because of new pull-outs that clear traffic on arterial roads…

Arborglyphs, or tree carvings, created by Hispanic sheep herders in the Medicine Bow National Forest date back to the early 1900s. (Amanda Casta�eda)

Uncovering Wyoming's Hispanic heritage along Manito Trail

While many Wyomingites of Hispanic descent came from Mexico, there is a lesser-known population from the old Spanish settlements of northern New …

Thousands of miles of fencing in Wyoming and across the Western U.S., which act as barriers to wildlife seeking winter and summer ranges, was installed over 100 years ago. (Adobe Stock)

Hunters, Anglers Get $2.5 Million to Restore Migration Corridors

A new partnership between the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the group Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA) aims to improve migration corridors …

In 2020, almost half of Wyoming students owed an average of $23,510 in student loan debt. (Adobe Stock)

Over 5,000 Wyoming Residents in New Student Loan Repayment Plan

More than 4 million student loan borrowers, including 5,100 in Wyoming, are now enrolled in the Biden-Harris Administration's new Saving on A …

As of Aug. 15, 2023, the federal government lists 75 disasters in the U.S. and its territories, compared with 55 in the same period last year. (Adobe Stock)

Most Older Adults Lack Emergency Plan for Natural Disasters

Most older adults are not as prepared as they should be to respond quickly in the event of natural disasters which can strike with little notice…

Recent modeling shows that the increase in Chronic Wasting Disease prevalence due to feedgrounds will lead to a greater elk population decline within a 20 year time period. (Adobe Stock)

Winter Feeding Plan Too Slow for Chronic Wasting Disease

What began as an emergency measure - to help Wyoming elk herds hit by a series of extremely harsh winters in 1909 - has become a major source of conte…

Outdoor recreation hit an all-time high last year nationally, according to an Outdoor Industry Association report. (Adobe Stock)

Narrowing the Impact of Outdoor Recreation on Wildlife

Wyoming has seen a rapid increase in outdoor recreation in recent years, and biologists are uncovering new details about how people are impacting …

Wyoming has been a leader nationally on protecting wildlife migration corridors, including vast tracts of grasslands key for wildlife connectivity. (Adobe Stock)

Grasslands Protectors Chart Restoration Course in Cheyenne

More than 300 ranchers, tribal members, conservationists, researchers, federal and state agency officials gathered in Cheyenne last week to find ways …

The world's leading scientists have warned that fossil fuel emissions must be cut by 45% by 2030, and phased out entirely by 2050, to avert catastrophic impacts of a changing climate. (Adobe Stock)

BLM Proposal Continues New Oil and Gas Leasing on Public Lands

July was the hottest month in recorded history, but critics of the Bureau of Land Management's new oil and gas rules warned the proposal ignores the …

Scholarship recipients are required to register with the Wyoming Department of Workforce, which will help connect students to job opportunities. (Adobe Stock)

College Scholarships Help Fill WY High-Demand Worker Pipeline

Fall semester is just weeks away, and many adults age 24 and older are tapping up to $72-hundred in scholarships to start or finish a college degree …

The historic stone barn at the Stephen George Homestead is made of limestone with visible seashell and other fossils. (Sheridan Community Land Trust Staff).

Tour Opens Up Historic Wyoming Agricultural Sites to Public

The Alliance for Historic Wyoming is hosting its next "Unbarred" tour on Aug. 5, featuring historic agricultural buildings in Sheridan County…

If commissioners approve Rocky Mountain Power's request, the utility is expected to bring in an<br />additional $140 million per year from ratepayers. (Adobe Stock)

Wyoming Ratepayers Could Be on Hook for Volatile Natural Gas Prices

The Wyoming Public Service Commission is holding its first public comment hearing today in Rock Springs on Rocky Mountain Power's proposal to increase…

Wyoming is one of 31 States where utilities can shut off electricity for nonpayment amid heat waves. (Adobe Stock)

Older Wyomingites Mobilize Over Utility Rate Increase

Wyoming's largest advocacy group for people age 50 and older is mobilizing its 80,000 members to let the state's Public Service Commission know what t…

Until the Inflation Reduction Act raised oil and gas leasing rates on lands owned by all Americans, the industry paid as little as $1.50 per acre to install wells, compared to tens of thousands per acre charged to wind and solar operators. (Adobe Stock)

BLM to Cut Solar, Wind Leasing Fees by 80 Percent

The Bureau of Land Management wants to cut leasing rates by 80% for wind and solar projects on public lands, and streamline the application process…

Blacklegged ticks or deer ticks are widely known to transmit Lyme disease, and new research shows they can carry enough prions to infect deer with Chronic Wasting Disease. (Adobe Stock)

Ticks Can Carry Infectious Levels of Chronic Wasting Disease

Scientists are gaining ground in the race to understand what is causing the spread of chronic wasting disease, or CWD, in deer and elk. Stuart …

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is investing $10 million to restore the LaBarge Restoration Landscape Area, which includes sections of the Red Desert to Hoback mule deer migration corridor. (Adobe Stock)

BLM to Invest $20 Million in Wyoming Public Lands Restoration

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is investing $161 million dollars to restore public lands in Wyoming and 10 other western states. Joshua Metten…

The Alliance for Historic Wyoming has a list of some 40 historic hotels and motels scattered throughout Wyoming online at historicwyoming.org. (Chambers House Bed and Breakfast)

Historic Lodging Offers Unique WY Vacation Option

As families in Wyoming head out for a summer holiday, historians are encouraging people to explore a range of historic lodging options, such as the …

Wyoming ranks in the bottom five states alongside South Carolina, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, in children's health. (Adobe Stock)

Report: Wyoming Children Near Bottom Nationally for Health

Wyoming dropped from 14th to 27th nationally in this year's Kids Count Data Book published by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which ranks states for …

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon has called for restoring trophy hunting, and recently filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for taking too long to remove Endangered Species Act protections for all grizzlies in the state. (Adobe Stock)

Helping Hunters Identify Black Bears to Prevent Grizzly Kills

Nine conservation groups are calling on wildlife agencies in Wyoming and Idaho to require black bear hunters to take a bear identification course befo…

Before being hunted to the brink of extinction, some 50,000 grizzlies roamed the lower 48 states. Today there are fewer than 2,000. (Adobe Stock)

Female Grizzly Bears Still at Risk Even After Court Ruling

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife and National Forest Services are headed back to the drawing board after a federal appeals court ruled that the …

More than 60% of rural counties lack a psychiatrist, and almost half do not have a psychologist, compared with 27% and 19% of urban counties, respectively. (Adobe Stock)

Addressing Challenges to Behavioral Health Care in Rural Wyoming

A new report spotlights some of the challenges to accessing behavioral health care for the one in seven Americans who live in rural areas. Kendall …

Scientists say to correct the problem of overgrazing and wildlife habitat degradation on public lands, the livestock stocking rate would need to be reduced by about two-thirds from present numbers. (Adobe Stock)

Report: U.S. Forest Service Serving Grizzly Habitat to Livestock Industry

Critical Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear habitat has been degraded by a 2019 U.S. Forest Service decision to allow more than 17,000 …

The EPA admits its new standards for air pollution at power plants could bring small increases in utility bills, but projects the plan would bring a total of $85 billion in climate and health savings. (Adobe Stock)

New EPA Standards Seen as Attack on Coal-Fired Power Plants

The Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to cut pollution from power plants not already set to retire by 90% by 2030 is the most ambitious in ov…

A new Annie E. Casey Foundation report found a 35% increase in the number of kids in Wyoming entering foster care due to abuse. (Adobe Stock)

Helping Wyoming Foster Youths Succeed as Adults

The number of Wyoming children in foster care between the ages of 14 and 21 has dropped by 54% over the past two decades, according to a new Annie E…

Since the early 90s, the state has lost about 250,000 mule deer. (Adobe Stock)

Elk Linked to Declining Mule Deer Populations

Thriving elk herds are adding to the challenges facing mule deer populations, which have been on the decline for decades in Wyoming and across the …

Tours of the mid-century modern M Building, renovated by Diane McGinley and her husband in downtown Casper, is just one of this year's many sites to be celebrated during Preservation Month, which was started by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1973. (Diane McGinley)

M Building Kicks Off WY Historic Preservation Month

The Alliance for Historic Wyoming is putting a spotlight on the people responsible for preserving places during Preservation Month, which kicks off …

A federal grant will help Western Wyoming Community College meet the demand for a projected 1,500 local health-care workers in the region over the next ten years. (Adobe Stock)

College in WY Wins $3 Million Grant to Expand Health-Care Worker Pipeline

Western Wyoming Community College has won a competitive $3 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration's task force charged with …

Wyoming lawmakers are being asked to guarantee remote testimony during the winter session in part due to frequently dangerous travel conditions. (Adobe Stock)

Groups Push for Virtual Testimony in Main Legislative Session

After the Wyoming Legislature's Management Council guaranteed the right to remote public testimony during the interim legislative session, good …

An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people are expected to be dropped from Medicaid rolls in Wyoming. (Adobe Stock)

Keeping Older Wyoming Residents from Losing Nursing Home Coverage

Congress has put an end to a pandemic-era policy prohibiting states from dropping Medicaid recipients from their rolls, and 15 million people in …

More than 90% of public lands managed by the BLM are currently available to be leased to oil and gas developers. (Adobe Stock)

BLM Proposal Would Allow Conservation Leases on Public Lands

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comments on a new management proposal which includes leasing parcels of public lands for …

In 2011, coal produced 44% of all electricity in the United States. In 2022, it produced just 20% and is projected to drop to 10% or less by 2030. (Creativenature.nl/Adobe Stock)

Report: Half of Nation’s Coal Power Units to Retire by 2026

The U.S. is projected to retire half of its coal-fired power units by 2026, just 15 years after coal use for electricity reached its peak in 2011…

The current rate of species going extinct is estimated to be 100 to 1,000 times higher than natural background extinction rates, and is accelerating because of human activity including unsustainable use of land, water and energy use, and climate change. (Lucaar/Adobe Stock)

Congress Could Sidestep Endangered Species Act to Delist Grizzlies, Wolves

Congress is considering three bills that would sidestep the Endangered Species Act to de-list the Northern Continental Divide and Yellowstone grizzly …

Just 18% of premature deaths from air pollution from coal-fired power plants occur in the states where facilities are located. (Tomas/Adobe Stock)

Report Counts Deadly Impacts of Coal-Fired Power Plants

Thousands of lives are cut short every year because of air pollution from coal-fired power plants in Wyoming and across the United States, according …

GoWest Credit Union Association represents about 16.5 million members across six states. (Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Adobe Stock)

Uncertain Banking Market Puts Local Institutions in Spotlight

The collapse of two banks has put the U.S. financial sector into focus this week. Some are considering the alternative structures of institutions …

Grace Raymond Hebard's second home, known as the Doctor's Inn at 318 S. 10th St. in Laramie, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the University Neighborhood Historic District. (Andrea Graham/Alliance for Historic Wyoming)

Project Highlights Women Who Forged, Documented Wyoming's History

Wyoming became the first U.S. territory to give women the right to vote in 1869, half a century before the nation finally followed the Cowboy State's …

Over the past 50 years, the population of pygmy rabbits in Wyoming has declined by 69% (Serikbaib AdobeStock)

Groups Call on U.S. Fish and Wildlife to Prevent Pigmy Rabbit Extinction

On Monday, conservation groups submitted a petition calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the pygmy rabbit under the Endangered …

Just 47% of Wyoming residents prefer leaders place more emphasis on protecting water, air, wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities over maximizing the amount of land available for drilling and mining. (Adobe Stock)

Poll: Conservation Efforts, Environmental Priorities Remain High in Wyoming

Voters in Wyoming and across the West strongly support protecting water supplies, public lands and migration corridors for wildlife, according to the …

Historians have traced the origins of Cheyenne Frontier Days back to 1870s riding exhibitions by a Black cowboy named Sam Stewart. Also known as

Project Uncovers Hidden Gems of Black History in Wyoming

African Americans have played a foundational role in Wyoming since the 1860s, when they served as soldiers at Fort Laramie, and owned and operated …

The 163 billion cubic feet of lost methane on public lands represents enough wasted natural gas to meet the needs of 2.2 million households; nearly as many households as New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming combined, studies show. (Adobe Stock)

Report: $500 Million Gas Lost at Oil and Gas Fields on Public Lands

Oil and gas operators waste a half billion dollars worth of natural gas on public lands every year, according to a new report. Chad Franke, …

Residents in Torrington will soon be able to access high-speed internet video conferencing for telehealth appointments. (Adobe Stock)

Small Internet Provider to Open Digital ‘Empowerment Center’ in Torrington

By Kristi Eaton for The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Eric Galatas for Wyoming News Service for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Collaboration…

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is expected to release new rules this summer for dealing with continued Colorado River water shortages. (Adobe Stock)

Wall Street Sees Profits in Dropping Colorado River Levels

As Wyoming and other Colorado River Basin states grapple with ways to keep a river more than 40 million people, agriculture and industry depend on …

Grizzly bears are considered to be an umbrella species, and conservationists argue protecting them allows for the protection of hundreds of other species by maintaining large tracts of wild spaces. (Adobe Stock)

Conservationists Warn of Downsides to Delisting Grizzly

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering removing Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide ecosystem grizzly bears from the …

The Glen Canyon Dam currently generates energy for nearly six million households in Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. (Adobe Stock)

Falling Lake Powell Water Levels Put Wyoming Hydro Power at Risk

Part of the deal Wyoming struck for sending its water down the Colorado River was that state residents would be able to tap electricity generated at G…

Since 2017, AARP has awarded more than $12.7 million to more than 1,060 projects, including 10 in Wyoming, through the Community Challenge to nonprofit organizations and government entities. (Adobe Stock)

AARP Wyoming Seeking Projects to Help Improve Communities

AARP Wyoming is putting out the call for creative projects to help improve communities, whether by creating new public transportation and housing …

Rural hospitals in Medicaid expansion states are 62% less likely to close, in large part because expansion reduces the burden of uncompensated care, when patients without insurance can't pay for services. (Adobe Stock)

Lawmakers Consider Expanding Health Coverage for 19,000 Workers

A bill that would expand Medicaid coverage for some 19,000 Wyoming workers who earn too much to qualify for standard Medicaid, but can't afford …

Senate File 40 aims to hold federal and state political action committees to the same standards. (Adobe Stock)

Wyoming Legislature Tackles Election Integrity

Election integrity has emerged as a top concern for Wyoming lawmakers gathered in Cheyenne, but it remains unclear what priorities will emerge from …

Nearly one in five new mothers participating in Wyoming's Medicaid Pregnant Women Program lose their health insurance 60 days after giving birth. (Adobe Stock)

WY Lawmakers Consider Extended Health Coverage for New Moms

New mothers in Wyoming enrolled in the Medicaid Pregnant Women Program lose their health insurance 60 days after giving birth, but a new bill making …

Billionaire wealth has increased by $2.7 billion per day, while more than 1.7 billion people live in countries where their wages, adjusted for inflation, have declined. (Adobe Stock)

Report: Rich Got Richer, Workers Left Behind During Pandemic

The world's richest 1% took home almost twice as much wealth as the bottom 99% combined during the pandemic, according to a new Oxfam International …

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