Latest Wyoming News

WESTERN ENERGY LEASES

Judge blasts US agency’s ‘sloppy’ climate work in oil case

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal court has again blocked officials from issuing new oil and gas drilling permits on public lands in Wyoming. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras in a Friday ruling rebuked the Trump administration for a “sloppy and rushed” environmental analysis that failed to look closely enough at climate change impacts from oil and gas development. Contreras had first blocked drilling on the parcels that cover 500 square miles (1,295 sq. kilometers) in 2019. At the time, he ordered officials to consider cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from fuels extracted on public lands including in neighboring Colorado and Utah. President-elect Joe Biden’s administration has pledged to ban new oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters.

HOUSE SPEAKER VOTE

Wyoming has rare 2-way race for House speaker position

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Two Republican Wyoming lawmakers will compete on Saturday to become the state’s next Speaker of the House of Representatives. Republican House Majority Leader Eric Barlow faces Republican Rep. Mark Jennings. The winner of the vote by lawmakers will replace Republican Rep. Steve Harshman and serve for at least two years. The Casper Star-Tribune reports the position usually goes to the incumbent house majority leader, making this year’s selection process unusual. House lawmakers have received dozens of emails attempting to influence their votes for the speaker job and other leadership positions. The emails have included pitches from Republican advocates that the Casper Star-Tribune newspaper characterized as unprecedented.

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Wyoming to help petroleum industry with coronavirus funding

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming will use federal coronavirus relief funding to help petroleum companies move ahead with oil and gas drilling projects stalled by the pandemic and plug idle wells. North Dakota already is using Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding for well plugging and cleanup. Together, the two major oil-producing states will spend as much as $81 million in CARES Act funding to help the struggling oil and gas industry. Proponents point out the pandemic has reduced travel, lowering demand for gasoline and jet fuel. The funding also has qualified support from land stewardship advocates who seldom side with petroleum companies.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-WYOMING

Wyoming sets another record for COVID-19 hospitalizations

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming has recorded its highest number of hospitalizations from the coronavirus for the sixth straight day. The state reported 183 current hospitalizations on Wednesday. The figure is an increase from the state Department of Health’s Tuesday report, when the agency recorded 178 hospitalizations from the virus. Wyoming had set a new all-time high for coronavirus hospitalizations last Friday with 147 patients. The state has surpassed that figure on each subsequent day since. There are only two available ICU beds at the Wyoming Medical Center, with 17 of the hospital’s 19 beds filled. There are zero ICU beds available at Cheyenne Veterans Affairs Medical Center or SageWest in Lander.

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Wolves preying on beavers in Minnesota reshape wetlands

WASHINGTON (AP) — When a lone beaver dies, its dam soon collapses. Scientists studying gray wolves in Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park have traced how wolves preying on beavers affect the ecosystem by impeding the ability of beavers to build and maintain new dams that create wetlands. At each abandoned dam site they studied, it took more than a year for another beaver to return. The research drew upon four years of observation of about 30 wolves fitted with GPS collars and was published Friday in the journal Science Advances.