Latest Wyoming News

BC-US-BIDEN-PUBLIC LANDS-NOMINEE

Biden nominee linked to 1989 sabotage draws Republican ire

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Joe Biden’s nominee to oversee federal lands in the U.S. West is facing Republican pressure to withdraw over her ties to environmental activists convicted of spiking trees to sabotage a national forest timber sale more than 30 years ago. As a college student in Montana, U.S. Bureau of Land Management nominee Tracy Stone-Manning sent a profanity-laced letter to federal officials warning that spikes had been inserted into trees in Idaho’s Clearwater National Forest and that “people could get hurt” if the area was logged. She later testified against two men convicted in the case. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso says Stone-Manning should be disqualified for collaborating with the saboteurs.

YELLOWSTONE TOURISM

Yellowstone National Park sets tourism record for May

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — Yellowstone National Park had its busiest May on record. The park had over 483,000 recreation visits last month, up 11% from May 2019. Yellowstone officials said Friday the park is having its busiest year in recent memory. The park recorded over 658,000 visits from January through May, the most since 594,000 visits during that time in 2016. Usually the park opens to vehicles between mid April and mid May but last year was closed from late March through most of May due to the coronavirus. The park’s two Wyoming entrances opened for the summer season May 18 and its three Montana entrances opened June 1.

WYOMING WILDFIRES

Officials: Wyoming fire season could get bad in midsummer

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming officials say fire season should be about average in the state until about midsummer, when things could begin to heat up. Most of the state is in drought, with extreme drought in south-central and northeastern Wyoming. Gov. Mark Gordon urged rural homeowners at a news conference Thursday to take precautions by clearing flammable material away from homes and outbuildings. Three relatively small wildfires are burning in Wyoming. The biggest is a 1.5-square-mile fire in rural Weston County that is 30% contained. Wyoming’s largest wildfire in recent memory torched over 276 square miles of Medicine Bow National Forest in southeastern Wyoming last year.

NEW FEDERAL JUDGE-PATRICCO

Idaho’s newest federal magistrate judge sworn in to office

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho’s newest federal magistrate judge, Raymond Patricco Jr., has been sworn in during a brief ceremony at the federal courthouse in Boise. Chief District Judge David Nye said a more formal swearing-in ceremony with pomp and circumstance will be held at a later date, but Friday’s event allowed Patricco to get right to work presiding over his first hearing that afternoon. Patricco succeeds Chief Magistrate Judge Ronald Bush, who is retiring after nearly 18 years on the bench in state and federal courts. With roughly 1.8 million residents, Idaho has two federal districts and two federal magistrate judges — the fewest federal judges of any state, including those with much smaller populations. 

DRILLING-SAGE GROUSE

Judge blocks drilling plans in 2 states, citing bird habitat

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A judge has halted plans for oil and gas drilling in vast areas of Wyoming and Montana, citing concerns about a sagebrush-dwelling bird. Idaho U.S. District Judge Ronald Bush ruled Wednesday the U.S. Bureau of Land Management didn’t adequately consider how the drilling would affect the greater sage grouse. Bush says the BLM also should have considered an option to defer drilling in the bird’s prime habitat. Bush ordered more study of potential effects on the bird before drilling may proceed. The Western Watersheds Project environmental group praised the ruling. BLM officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

AP-US-YELLOWSTONE-ELECTRIC-SHUTTLES

Yellowstone National Park unveils automated electric cars

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Park officials have launched the first tests of electric vehicles in Yellowstone National Park that are capable of operating without drivers. The Billings Gazette reported that the park on Wednesday launched a $360,000 public experiment into the potential future of visitor transportation, unveiling two eight-passenger, cube-shaped vehicles that will be tested at Canyon Village. Park Superintendent Cam Sholly said Tuesday that the vehicles are expected to navigate the parking lot of Canyon Village through Aug. 31. Each 3D-printed vehicle can carry 1,350 pounds and has $300,000 worth of technology installed inside. Similar vehicles have been deployed in Maryland, Italy and Berlin.