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Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>You Still Here? Sunday, January 15, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Shhhhhhhhhh....... (sound up!)

You Still Here? Sunday, January 15, 2023

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Wyoming’s 10-candidate Republican primary race for U.S. House dropped to nine Thursday, when Teton County rancher Frank Chapman dropped out of the race.

He told Cowboy State Daily it’s irresponsible to continue in this crowded race, “when the voters need to whittle it down and figure it out, through a couple people.”

“There’s too much clutter. It’s not easy to get a message out in that situation,” said Chapman in a Thursday phone interview. “I don’t think it’s responsible to allow people to spend the kind of money that would be required to keep going in this.”

As of the second-quarter Federal Election Commission reports, Chapman landed among the top four candidates in terms of campaign funding. 

He and three other candidates — philanthropist Steve Friess, Casper businessman Reid Rasner, and Secretary of State Chuck Gray — have loaned themselves more than $1 million each.

[{"type":"text","text":"Rasner has spent the most as of July 1, at nearly $2 million."}]

Chapman said he is not out of money, but he does not believe it’s responsible “to allow people to spend the kind of money that would be required to keep going in this.” 

That leaves Friess, Rasner, Gray, state Senate President Bo Biteman, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, veterans David Giralt and Kevin Christensen, former legislator Keith Goodenough, and Richard Dodson in the race.

Chapman told Cowboy State Daily he’s very conservative, especially in fiscal terms. But he dislikes divisive politicking and believes the GOP should use more of a big-tent approach.

[{"type":"text","text":"He said he’s not endorsing any of the other candidates at this time."}]

“It’s so important to get everybody into the big tent and not allow your state party to fight,” he said. 

Chapman also said Republicans should “try to get these people to work together so we can actually get something done and not just take advantage of the electorate by saying ridiculous statements you don’t mean … don’t fight with everybody to get it done.”

Chapman added: “It’s not about self-promotion, but about what’s best for the people and how to make their lives better.”

The Wyoming Republican Party’s state central committee, or top statewide delegates, made a controversial move Monday evening by endorsing Gray in the race.

State law bars the party from directly or indirectly backing one Republican over another in the primary election. While some argue that any expense toward endorsements and endorsement announcements violates this law, that remains unclear.

The party is suing Gray in his official capacity in an effort to have the law overturned as an unconstitutional violation of its First Amendment rights. That case is ongoing.

“I think the party made a mistake in endorsing anyone,” said Chapman. “I think that when you have power you have to be judicious in how you use that power, and even if they do have the right to endorse … intelligence and good governance would tell you not to endorse; and let the people decide.”

Miami billionaire Ken Griffin contributed more than $2.5 million to a super-PAC, Fighting for Wyoming, that touted Chapman as a conservative rancher ready to fight with President Donald Trump for the people of Wyoming.

[{"type":"text","text":"That PAC had spent $32,975.67 as of July 1."}]

Chapman said Thursday of Griffin, “He’s a wonderful person that I’ve known since I was in the ninth grade. And we’re just really good friends, and it’s not about politics.

“It’s about who he believes will do a wonderful job for the people of Wyoming and the United States.”

Chapman 7 23 26

<title>Frank Chapman Drops Out Of 10-Person Wyoming GOP House Race | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Teton County rancher Frank Chapman dropped out of the 10-candidate race for the Republican nomination in Wyoming's U.S. House race on Thursday. "There’s too much clutter" in that crowded race, Chapman told Cowboy State Daily.

Frank Chapman Drops Out Of 10-Person Wyoming GOP House Race

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Wyoming Life

Around Wyoming

RAWLINS — Six weeks ago, Carbon County Sheriff’s Sgt. Zach Burns was fighting for his life in the dirt parking lot of a Baggs apartment building after 

 from a gunman who later died in a shootout with law enforcement.

Wednesday, he was discharged from a Colorado hospital and got a hero’s welcome as he was escorted roughly 230 miles home by a long procession of law enforcement representing agencies across two states.

 streets through downtown Rawlins were lined with pockets of people who paused their workdays to wave and yell as Burns was driven by with a loud chorus of sirens following.

“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” said local resident Deanna Deffenbaugh about the turnout. “We take care of our own around here.

“Anytime an officer has gotten hurt in the line of duty — even his family — we get the community involved to step up and help take care of them.”

Deffenbaugh said she doesn’t know the Burns family personally, “but that doesn’t matter. If they’re willing to put their lives at risk for us, we need to take care of them.”

Maybe Deffenbaugh doesn’t know Burns, his wife and two young children, but the folks at the Carbon County Courthouse do. He’s their courtroom bailiff, said Jo Rieger, who had staked out a small patch of shade along 3

“Woo-hoo. He’s coming home!” she shouted. “This is cool and very inspiring. He deserves it. He deserves the biggest hero’s welcome ever.”

For Micah Johnson, who also works with Burns at the courthouse, Wednesday was 

, when Burns took bullets in the neck, arm and hip.

“You fear the worst when you first hear about that, you know?” he said. “I think a lot of us were just waiting to hear any kind of piece of news, right? Then I saw the post that he’s coming home today.”

He was referring to a Facebook post Sheriff Alex Bakken made earlier Wednesday telling people that Burns had been discharged from a Colorado hospital and was on his way home.

At 3:31 p.m., the small groups stationed at street corners and in front of the Carbon Building on the corner of 3

 and Pine streets began to cheer as they heard the sirens blaring louder, along with a medical helicopter circling the procession.

“There he is. I see him,” said a woman in the crowd as a Carbon County Sheriff’s Office truck slowly passed.

Sergeant Burns was sitting in the passenger side with the window rolled down and enthusiastically waving to those who gathered for him.

His beaming smile got just a little bit bigger when he saw a giant red, white and blue “Welcome Home Zach” banner.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘We’re All Family’"}]

About an hour earlier, Valeta Rogabaugh was anxious for the procession to get to Rawlins.

The longtime dispatch supervisor for the Rawlins Police Department walked into the bullpen at the department with tears in her eyes.

She had just heard a county dispatch bulletin that Burns and the procession had “come home” and had just passed into Carbon County on westbound Interstate 80.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said when Chief Michael Ward asked how she was holding up. “It’s just emotional. They even talked to (Burns’ wife) and told her welcome home too.”

Although Burns works for the county sheriff’s office, there are deep connections with the Rawlins PD and other agencies, she said.

“We’re all a team and we’re all family,” Rogabaugh said, adding that Burns’ wife also is a dispatcher for the sheriff’s office.

There are no lines between agencies, said Rawlins Police Sgt. Thom Gamblin, adding that he’s good friends with Burns.

“This isn’t just a guy in uniform coming home, he’s a guy who works and lives here. I’m saying that this is a community, this is home, and it isn’t just his workplace,” Gamblin said.

“This isn’t just his work office, it’s people who love him,” he continued. “These are the people who care for him. It’s the people he meets every day when he serves.”

There’s a reason close to 100 officers from multiple jurisdictions around Wyoming and Colorado responded to Baggs that afternoon when the bulletin went out about an officer down and a gunman was on the run, Gamblin said.

“This is personal,” he said. “He did his job and nearly lost his life over it. He didn’t — thankfully — and now he’s back here where we can protect him.”

Without the quick action of a pair of Baggs residents who 

, he likely would have died, said Chief Ward. Wednesday’s procession was for them as well.

[{"type":"text","text":"“They’re heroes, too,” he told Cowboy State Daily."}]

“It’s a miracle that he’s still with us,” Ward added. “All of us are grateful for that, every minute of every day. His daughter still has a father. His wife still has a husband. He’s still with all of us.

“We could not be more relieved, grateful and excited he’s coming home today.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Stopped ‘Large-Scale Act’"}]

The scope of the potential carnage Burns may have prevented unfolded in the days following, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken has said.

That includes Burns interrupting the suspect carrying out what appeared to be a devastating plan, the sheriff said

The man had a stockpile of semiautomatic weapon ammunition in his Baggs apartment and was likely planning a "large-scale act," Bakken reported June 17.

Burns was in the area June 8 when dispatchers relayed information about a suspect in an active shooting incident. Burns located the suspect driving in town and conducted a traffic stop at his apartment, the CCSO has reported.

“Upon coming to a stop, the suspect immediately exited his vehicle and opened fire on Sergeant Burns with a semiautomatic rifle,” Bakken said in the report.

The suspect — who so far has not been publicly identified — then 

The suspect tried to start his apartment complex on fire with numerous propane tanks inside, then sped away in his car again, according to the CCSO.

He was eventually killed in a shootout with law enforcement after crashing his car north of town off state Highway 789.

“Thanks to his bravery, (Burns) saved the lives of countless first responders and community members,” Bakken says in the report. “The gunman had stockpiled hundreds of AR-15 magazines in his apartment and, by all appearances, had been prepared to initiate a large-scale act of violence.”

At the Hilltop Conoco station along Cedar Avenue, Paige Garwood and Heather Stalinski were working Wednesday afternoon, handling a steady stream of locals and visitors driving through just off I-80.

They both said they were excited to learn that the long procession of emergency responders for Burns would go past their station.

Neither knows Burns or his family, but both said that Rawlins is a small town, and when one person is in trouble, everyone knows and responds.

“I’ve been reading about him and heard what happened to him. He’s a hero,” said Stalinski. “That he’s coming home is really good, and great for his family, his wife.

“I think he was really brave for what he did. He’s a brave, brave man. I think she should get a lot of (accolades). Would I call him a hero? Absolutely.”

Garwood said that Burns getting out of the hospital and getting back to Rawlins is a great boost for the whole town.

“I think it’s great that he’s coming home, because he almost died because of that idiot,” she said. “He deserves it.”

For Chief Ward and other law enforcement officers, the risk is always there, he said. While running toward danger while others run from it is what they sign up for, the hope is that they won’t have to.

“He took an oath to protect our community, and he almost gave his life doing so,” Ward said about Burns. “On the scale of heroism, that’s pretty far up there.”

Sgt Burns Home 1

<title>Hero’s Welcome In Rawlins: Deputy Nearly Killed In Baggs Shootout Comes Home | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Sgt. Zach Burns — shot three times by a gunman in Baggs last month — got a hero’s welcome in Rawlins after a 230-mile escort from a Colorado hospital Wednesday. “On the scale of heroism, that’s pretty far up there,” said the Rawlins police chief.

Hero’s Welcome In Rawlins: Deputy Nearly Killed In Baggs Shootout Comes Home

Lubnau head 2

Tom Lubnau

Opinion

CSD Columnists

, the Wyoming Republican Party Central Committee shouted from their speck of dust on a very small clover: “We are here! We are here! We are here!” 

I guess they're hoping some Elephant with really big ears wanders by and finally hears them.

Their shout took the form of endorsing candidates.

Wyoming Statute 22-25-104 says “No political party funds shall be expended directly 

 in aid of the nomination of one person against another person of the same political party running in the primary election.”

The purpose is not complicated. Money donated to elect Republicans generally isn't supposed to get funneled into tilting the scale in a Republican primary. Picking winners is the voters' job.

The party, at best, skirted the edges of that law. By endorsing candidates, they flushed the spirit of the law down the toilet.

Until the law changes or some court strikes it down, though, it's still the law.

Don't hold your breath waiting for anyone to enforce it. The guy in charge of enforcing election law is Secretary of State Chuck Gray. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"He got an endorsement. Hmmm."}]

Every candidate who took one of these endorsements told voters something about themselves. That the ends justify the means. That honor is negotiable when there's an edge to be gained.

Voters get to decide what to do with that information.

My guess? Most of the voters will ignore the endorsements and vote for whoever they believe to be the best candidate.

People inside the party and out warned the Central Committee off this course of action. The Central Committee did it anyway.

So it's worth asking what these endorsements are actually worth, which means it's worth asking who's handing them out.

Every even-numbered year, at the primary, voters elect precinct committeemen and women, split evenly between men and women.

Once upon a time, being a precinct committee person meant something -- you rounded up your neighbors and got them to the polls. These days it's mostly a title on a name tag.

Those precinct people, county by county, then elect a state committeeman, a state committeewoman, and a county chair. Send those delegates off to the state level, and you've got yourself a Central Committee.

Here's the catch: it's not based on population. Three votes per county, period. Laramie County has 102,938 residents. Niobrara County has 2,467. Same three votes. Work out the math and a Niobrara County Republican carries about 41 times the weight of someone in Laramie County.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The system is skewed from the start."}]

Meanwhile, while the rest of us are out at the lake, roughly 73 state committee members meet four times a year to handle party business, which mostly means playing model legislature without the actual legislating part.

Their one real power: sending the governor three names when a seat opens up. That's it. Everything else is theater. You've got people who couldn't win an election themselves telling the people who did win how to do their jobs.

So they shouted from their little speck of dust, presumably to get noticed.

No surprises in their endorsements. The list reads like the Freedom Caucus affiliated roster, minus Harriet Hageman, who's apparently signed up with the national version instead.

Take Megan Degenfelder. Four years carrying the party's water as Superintendent of Public Instruction, and this is the thanks she gets — tossed off the list, thrown under the bus.

Loyalty was never this Central Committee's thing.

They also managed to spit in Donald Trump's eye, by ignoring his doubled-down endorsement in the governor's race. Megan didn’t even warrant their discussion.

Eric Barlow had the right idea. “Let the voters decide,” he said, and skipped the popularity contest entirely.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"So what did the party get for all this? "}]

They alienated four U.S. Senate campaigns, nine House campaigns, three governor's campaigns, three secretary of state campaigns, one treasurer's campaign, and two superintendent campaigns. 

Twenty-two candidates, and all their supporters, with zero reason left to help the Central Committee with anything, ever.

In return: some newspaper ink, a donor list that keeps shrinking, and a president they just insulted, but they got to shout, “We are here!”

Not a bad Monday night, if your goal was making as many people mad as humanly possible.

We'll see if Wyoming voters pay attention to your speck of dust. I suspect not.

Alienation of people for nothing is not a good use of party time.

Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 to 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com

<title>Tom Lubnau:  The Wyoming GOP's Endorsement Suicide Mission | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Columnist Tom Lubnau writes, "So what did the Republican Party get for all this? They alienated 4 U.S. Senate campaigns, 9 House campaigns, 3 governor's campaigns, 3 secretary of state campaigns, 1 treasurer's campaign, and 2 superintendent campaigns."

Tom Lubnau:  The Wyoming GOP's Endorsement Suicide Mission

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Many Wyoming ranchers are struggling with an existential problem that’s completely out of their control. Hay has become harder to find, harder to grow, and more expensive to buy.

With the lack of rain and ongoing drought, it’s harder to grow hay for feeding Wyoming’s cattle, horses and other livestock. Ranchers who have historically harvested their own hay might have to purchase it to keep their animals fed, and prices are constantly creeping upward.

In the short term, it’s enough to make ranching difficult. In the long term, some say, it could hasten the end of many family farms and ranches that can’t afford to feed their animals.

“If it’s not a problem now, it’s going to be,” said Dennis Sun, publisher of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. “Some people are looking to sell cattle because they’re afraid they can't get the hay to feed them.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not A Hay Day"}]

Meeteetse resident Mitchell Huene works with Cowboys with a Mission, a nonprofit that runs two annual Bible schools teaching kids to ride, brand, lay irrigation pipes, and understand “where their food comes from.”

“Whatever anybody needs us to do, we'll do,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “To facilitate that, we've got 43 horses we need to feed.”

In the past, Cowboys with a Mission got its hay from the Pitchfork Ranch. Huene learned in May that the ranch wouldn’t be able to supply them this summer.

“Because of how bad the winter was, nobody in the area has any grass,” he said. “They're grazing their hay fields at the Pitchfork.”

They found a new supplier near Powell that had enough hay in their price range. However, that deal fell through last week.

“There wasn't as much hay coming off the fields as he thought, and he had other customers to take care of first,” Huene said. “That was a bit of a problem for us, because we had about 10 days’ worth of hay left at that point.”

When Huene first arrived in Meeteetse 12 years ago, he was paying $100 per ton of hay. Last summer, it was $150 per ton.

This summer, finding hay for less than $200 per ton is a bargain, and even that’s a rare find.

“We’re seeing hay going for $300 to $350 per ton on Facebook Marketplace,” Huene said. “There was some hay down in Thermopolis posted for $450 a ton this morning. We're a nonprofit, so we're not exactly rolling in dough, and that’s three times what we were paying last year.”

Huene has heard similar stories from ranchers across Wyoming. They either can't produce enough hay or are worried about affording enough hay.

“One hay producer in the area said he got 250 tons off a field last year,” he said. “He got 100 off of it this year.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Hay, No Way"}]

Hay is essential to Wyoming’s agricultural industry. Animals need it, and ranchers need to make sure they’re amply supplied to feed their livestock throughout the year.

[{"type":"text","text":"The year so far has been a struggle for ranchers across the state."}]

“Most ranchers produce their own hay,” Sun said. “When there’s a drought, there’s not much going on.  I'm hearing that ranchers aren’t getting enough water to put up their usual amount of hay.”

By Sun’s estimate, a 1,000-pound cow needs at least 20 pounds of hay every day, assuming it’s grazing and has its diet supplemented with other sources such as grain or corn.

[{"type":"text","text":"A cow that isn’t grazing will need around 25 pounds of hay per day."}]

Many ranchers have reliably produced enough hay to keep their livestock well fed. Anything extra can be sold or stored.

That hasn’t been the case this summer. Sun has heard reports of ranchers who’ve only had a quarter of their usual tonnage.

“They'll either have to start selling livestock or buying hay,” he said. “It’s better when you can buy at $100 or $150 per ton, but you're not going to see any hay like that this summer.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"It Gets Worse"}]

Jason Watts, co-owner of HayWerks in Buffalo, has been crunching the numbers. Overall, they aren’t good.

“Overall assessment for hay in Wyoming is down 60-70% of a normal year over a 10-year period,” he said. “Certain areas in Wyoming are much worse than other areas where snow packs were moderate this spring.”

One of Watts’s largest customers is the HF Bar Ranch near Buffalo. They typically order between 250 to 275 tons of hay per year to feed 200 horses.

[{"type":"text","text":"On July 1, they ordered an additional 300 tons of hay."}]

“They began feeding their horses in late June this year because the pastures were too dry to graze during the summer months,” Watts said. “Now, take this example of one customer and how they are handling the hay situation and multiply this across Wyoming.”

Watts managed to meet the HF Bar Ranch’s order by studying drought maps and finding an area that had enough moisture to grow a surplus of hay. He found growers in North Dakota that could meet the ranch’s needs.

“Delivered prices this year are $125 a ton higher over 2025 prices,” he said. “I arranged transportation and began shipping hay (from Fargo, North Dakota) to the HF Bar Ranch. That’s 625 miles, one way.”

That’s a hefty cost for any ranch, but larger ranches have an easier time footing the bill. That usually isn’t an option for smaller ranches, or even people with small acreages with a handful of horses.

Watts said he works in a “small hay world,” selling only a few thousand tons of hay each year. That’s why he finds the current situation so concerning.

“I cannot imagine, on a state level, how much hay is needed to feed privately owned livestock,” he said. “Customers are scrambling to dig deep into their bank accounts to buy hay and keep the livestock they own.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Grass Isn’t Greener"}]

According to Watts, the HF Bar Ranch needed hay because there was no grass in its pastures. That, too, is a universal problem and growing concern.

“In a lot of places, there's no grass in the hills for the cattle to winter on,” Sun said. “If there’s no grass, you’re going to have to feed them more hay.”

It’s particularly bad for areas recovering from recent wildfires. Sun knows of several ranchers who have little to no hope of seeing any grass this year.

“If they got really affected by the fires last summer, there’s no new grass coming in where the fire was,” he said. “That’s going to make hay even more expensive.”

Even if a rancher can only buy at $450 per ton, they’ll be paying much more. According to Sun, that money covers the hay only.

“That doesn't cover the high cost of trucking it in from some place that does have hay,” he said. “For ranchers in droughty areas, it doesn’t look good at all, and that’s probably over half of Wyoming.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Kitchen Table Decisions"}]

Right now, the hay feeding Wyoming’s livestock is probably from out-of-state. Watts said importing hay from neighboring states “might” be enough to stabilize Wyoming, if only temporarily.

“Folks in Montana and North Dakota ship hay into eastern Wyoming,” he said. “Eastern Idaho has hay that will likely end up in western Wyoming. It’s the central and southeastern area of Wyoming that I cannot predict how they will improve on hay supply.”

Central and southeastern Wyoming are struggling because they’re competing with Colorado, Watts said, adding that Colorado is “pulling a lot of hay from multiple surrounding states” to cover its own crop losses.

While the pressure is certainly being felt now, Watts said he thinks the severity of Wyoming’s hay situation will come to a head this fall.

“When calves are taken to market, the decision to buy hay or sell (livestock) will be the topic at many kitchen tables,” he said.

That will be the reality unless something changes. And something can still change to improve the outlook.

“There's not going to be much improvement unless we get some of these monsoon rains,” he said.

Sun referred to 2025 as an example of a recent turnaround. The rains “stopped” in July and August, and it stayed dry until October.

“I had pastures with six inches of green grass in them in October,” he said. “These things can happen at any time, but they need to happen.”

Monsoonal rains are in Wyoming’s forecast, but favorable weather is never guaranteed. Sun is looking at this week’s forecast with increasing concern.

“If we don't get it here in the next few days, and it goes back to 98 degrees during the day next week, that’ll be a problem,” he said. “You don't want to stop doing your rain dances.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"“It’ll Break Us”"}]

Faced with a growing shortage of hay, Huene turned to Facebook to see if anyone had anything extra that they’d be willing to sell at a reasonable price.

“The worst they can do is say no or ignore you,” he said. “They can't take away your birthday, right?”

Wyoming ranchers are struggling with an existential problem out of their control. Hay has become harder to find, harder to grow, and more expensive to buy. Some say this will hasten the end of family farms and ranches that can’t afford to feed their animals.

You Still Here? Sunday, January 15, 2023

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