Latest Wyoming News

ELECTION 2020-CONGRESS-WYOMING

A Wyoming first: 4 women compete for US House, Senate

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Voters for the first time will decide between four women as the major party candidates for U.S. House and Senate in Wyoming. Republican former U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis faces University of Wyoming ecology professor and climate activist Merav Ben-David in the race for a Senate seat held by Republican Mike Enzi, who is retiring after four terms. Wyoming hasn’t had a U.S. Senate vacancy since Republican Craig Thomas died in 2007. Democrat Lynnette Grey Bull, a Northern Arapaho tribal member and Global Indigenous Council vice president, seeks to deny Republican Rep. Liz Cheney a third term as Wyoming’s lone representative in the U.S. House.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-WYOMING-GOVERNOR

Wyoming governor to isolate after possible COVID-19 exposure

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming’s governor plans to isolate himself for over a week after possibly being exposed to the coronavirus. Gov. Mark Gordon has tested negative for the coronavirus in a rapid test. Governor’s officials say Gordon is still waiting for results of a secondary test. The self-isolation will last until Nov. 11, or 14 days following the possible exposure. Gordon might have been exposed during a meeting that included a person who tested positive for the coronavirus. Governor’s officials say all attendees took precautions including wearing masks for the length of the meeting.

GRAND TETON-WOLF KILLED

Information sought on Grand Teton wolf killing

MOOSE, Wyo. (AP) — The National Park Service says investigators want help from the public as they try to find out who shot and killed a wolf in Grand Teton National Park. Park officials say the body of the black-colored wolf was found near the Pilgrim Creek trailhead in the park on the morning of Oct. 26. Wolves haven’t been federally protected as an endangered species in Wyoming since 2017 but they retain certain protections under state law. Killing wildlife in a national park is punishable by a fine up to $5,000 and up to six months in prison. 

FATAL PLANE CRASH

Texas man, dog die in plane crash near Billings, Montana

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A 74-year-old Texas man and his dog were killed in the crash of a single-engine Cessna near the Billings airport in southern Montana. The Yellowstone County coroner’s office has identified the victim as Donald C. Nimmick. Flight records show Nimmick left Lakeview, Texas Friday morning and made stops in Torrington and Buffalo in Wyoming, before leaving for Billings. The plane crashed short of the runway at Billings Logan International Airport just after 7 p.m. Friday. Searchers located the downed plane in a forested area at about 8:45 p.m. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.

EXCHANGE-WYOMING WILDFIRE

Burned, beetle-ravaged Wyoming forest expected to flourish

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Wildlife biologists, hunters and others are beginning to think about what a Wyoming forest will look like after it begins to grow back from a wildfire. The Mullen Fire burned almost 275 square miles of Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming and Colorado late last summer and this fall. Many trees in the forest already were dead from a bark beetle infestation. Biologists say the forest could grow back as better habitat for wildlife. U.S. Forest Service biologist Jesse McCarty says it will be like a “rebirthing.” The Casper Star-Tribune reports biologists expect aspen trees, grasses and wildflowers to be among the first to flourish.

TRUMP-FOREST FUELS

Federal agencies fall short of Trump forest protection goals

Federal agencies have fallen short of President Donald Trump’s goals for making forests and rangelands they oversee less vulnerable to wildfires. Trump set targets in 2018 for measures such as removing dead trees, underbrush and other potentially flammable materials. But government data shows the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Interior treated just over half of the area the president sought. It was only slightly better than their average annual performance over nearly two decades. Trump has blamed poor state forest management practices for the worsening problem of catastrophic fires in the U.S. West.