Latest Wyoming News

EXCHANGE-TRUMP-PUBLIC LANDS

Pendley says he’s still on the job as acting director of BLM

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — William Perry Pendley says he’s still on the job as head of the nation’s public-lands agency. Pendley tells the Casper Star-Tribune it’s not true that he has been ousted as acting director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Pendley is deputy director of policy and programs at the BLM. A federal court in Montana recently declared that Pendley has been serving unlawfully as acting director for over a year. Pendley says he disagrees with the court’s decision and continues to fulfill his duties as assigned. Conservation groups have long protested what they call the unconstitutional appointment of Pendley to lead the BLM. 

AP-US-YELLOWSTONE-CHILD-BURNED

Child, 3, burned in fall in Yellowstone thermal feature

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — A 3-year-old child has been severely burned after falling in a thermal feature in Yellowstone National Park. Park officials say the child ran off a trail Friday near Midway Geyser Basin on the park’s western side. The child slipped and fell into the small thermal feature. The child was flown to a burn unit at a hospital in Idaho Falls with second-degree burns to the lower body and back. Park officials say they’re investigating. The child’s identity, condition and whether the child was a boy or girl weren’t immediately available. The child is the second person burned in a Yellowstone thermal feature this year. A woman backing up and taking photos fell into a hot spring or fumarole near Old Faithful Geyser in May.

ELECTION 2020-WYOMING-CONGRESS

Wyoming candidates debate forests, health care, economy

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming Democratic candidates with little political experience faced well-known Republicans who’ve already served in Congress in U.S. House and Senate debates Thursday. The candidates sparred over the government’s role in addressing a range of issues, from the coronavirus to climate change. Republican former U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis faces Democrat Merav Ben-David in the race for U.S. Senate, while Democrat Lynnette Grey Bull tries to deny Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney a third term as Wyoming’s lone congresswoman. Their debates at Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington were broadcast by Wyoming PBS.

YELLOWSTONE TOURISM

Yellowstone Park reports most-ever September visitors

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Yellowstone National Park has reported that it had the most-ever September visitors. The increase contrasts sharply with May, when visitation rates were 90% lower compared to the same month last year. The park recorded about 837,000 visits in September, a rate 21% higher than September 2019 and 15.6% higher than the park’s second-busiest September on record in 2018, when it hosted 724,000 people. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that Yellowstone’s roughly eight-week closure due to the coronavirus pandemic means total visits are still down 11% from the same time last year.

CHEYENNE NATIONAL CEMETERY

Wyoming opens national cemetery to honor veterans, families

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Officials have opened the first national cemetery in Wyoming, a place where veterans can be laid to rest alongside fellow service members and honored with their families for their sacrifices. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported that Cheyenne National Cemetery is designed to serve more than 55,000 veterans, their spouses and eligible children who live within a 75-mile radius of Cheyenne. Previously, Wyoming was one of a handful of states that did not have its own national cemetery. The Wyoming cemetery was created as part of the Veteran Affairs National Cemetery Administration’s Rural Initiative, which aims to provide burial benefits to those in underserved areas.