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Michael P. Ramirez

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

<title>Daily Cartoon: Monday, January 16, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon: Monday, January 16, 2023

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Public Safety

The Wyoming Department of Corrections (WDOC) has been chronically understaffed for years, and despite multiple recruiting efforts still has 109 vacant positions across the state, including 66 uniformed corrections officers.

That's only three fewer vacancies than the agency had a year ago, yet prison officials say they're making progress.

Employee retention has climbed from 79% in fiscal year 2022 to 88% in fiscal year 2025. The number of Wyoming inmates housed in a private Mississippi prison has been cut in half. 

And now the department is trying something new: recruiting military service veterans before they even leave the armed forces to take advantage of training that meshes well with transitioning to being corrections officers.

Through a new partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense's SkillBridge program, transitioning service members can train with the Wyoming Department of Corrections before separating from active duty, creating what officials hope will become a new pipeline into correctional careers.

Whether that pipeline can help solve one of Wyoming government's most stubborn workforce challenges remains to be seen.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Problem Years In The Making"}]

The staffing shortage facing Wyoming's prison system didn't appear overnight.

Current WDOC officials and former leaders have spent years warning lawmakers about recruitment and retention struggles inside Wyoming prisons.

Among them was former WDOC Director Bob Lampert, who led Wyoming's prison system for nearly 17 years before retiring in 2023. At the time, he was the longest-serving state corrections director in the nation.

Looking at the current vacancy numbers, Lampert sees a familiar challenge.

"The total number of vacancies I don't think has changed a whole lot," he told Cowboy State Daily. "Corrections has been working hard on recruitment and retention, but at the same time there's either not been any ground gained, or there's been some loss."

Current WDOC Director Dan Shannon was unavailable for an interview for this story because of travel commitments. Questions were answered through department spokeswoman Stephanie Dack.

"Staff retention has always been, and remains, a top priority for the Wyoming Department of Corrections," Dack said.

The department reports overall employee retention reached 88% during fiscal year 2025, up from 79% in fiscal year 2022. Despite that, it’s gained almost no ground in making up the vacancy gap.

Dack said retention efforts have focused on leadership development, workplace culture, employee wellness programs, and compensation improvements.

The work appears to be helping, but filling prison jobs remains difficult.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Why Nobody Has Solved It"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Correctional staffing shortages aren't unique to Wyoming."}]

Eric Wodahl, associate dean and professor of criminal justice at the University of Wyoming, said corrections agencies across the country have struggled to recruit workers for years.

[{"type":"text","text":"Part of the challenge is simple economics."}]

Historically, correctional jobs have often paid less than other criminal justice professions, particularly law enforcement.

[{"type":"text","text":"Money isn't the only issue, however."}]

The work frequently involves nights, weekends, and holidays. Employees face stress, potential danger and the challenges of working with incarcerated populations that often include people with significant mental health, behavioral and substance abuse issues.

"You're kind of incarcerated yourself," Wodahl said, describing the reality of spending long shifts inside secure facilities.

[{"type":"text","text":"Location can make things harder."}]

Many prisons are located in rural communities where labor pools are smaller and where spouses or partners may struggle to find employment.

[{"type":"text","text":"Lampert said Wyoming has long faced that challenge."}]

Rawlins, for example, has historically been both a prison town and a railroad town. Not everyone who grows up there wants to work in corrections, and prisons must compete for workers against energy companies, transportation jobs, retailers and other employers.

"History has shown that pay alone isn't necessarily going to fill the gaps," Lampert said.

Retaining staff also requires quality training, strong supervision, opportunities for advancement and support for employees dealing with the stresses of the job, he said.

Allison Escobedo, a criminal justice professor joining the University of Wyoming this fall, said corrections work can also be uniquely isolating.

Not only are many facilities geographically remote, she said, the profession itself can be difficult for outsiders to understand.

"It's such a unique job," Escobedo said. "Others in what would be considered criminal justice positions — social workers, police officers, etc. — still can't even really relate to corrections work because it's so different."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"More Than Just Guards"}]

One of the biggest misconceptions about corrections is that the public often sees correctional officers as little more than guards, Lampert said.

[{"type":"text","text":"The reality is much more complicated."}]

"There's not too many people in prison that are there for singing too loud in church," Lampert said.

The work involves managing difficult populations, maintaining safety, and responding to crises.

Beyond security duties, corrections officers help reinforce positive behaviors, model productive habits and encourage inmates to address the problems that landed them in prison.

"It's a lot more than guarding," he said. "It's basically helping individuals in a way that's not visible to the public."

That mission, academics say, may be part of what attracts certain people to the profession despite its challenges.

Wodahl said correctional work offers an opportunity to contribute to public safety while also helping people improve their lives before returning to their communities.

"There is a strong community that develops among people who work in the profession together," he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Mississippi And Back Again"}]

The staffing crisis became impossible to ignore when Wyoming began sending inmates out of state.

At one point, the department housed 240 Wyoming inmates in a private Mississippi prison because staffing shortages limited its ability to safely operate facilities at home.

[{"type":"text","text":"That number has been reduced to 120."}]

Dack said staffing improvements at the Wyoming State Penitentiary have allowed the department to bring back 125 male inmates while also returning female inmates to the Wyoming Women's Center after temporary operational adjustments.

The remaining inmates, however, cannot return until staffing improves further.

[{"type":"text","text":"Lampert is familiar with that situation."}]

When he first arrived in Wyoming, inmates were also housed out of state. During his tenure, the department expanded facilities and eventually brought them all back.

While private prisons can sometimes provide short-term relief, Lampert said Wyoming's own facilities generally offer stronger training, continuity and services.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I was always very proud of the staff that we did have,\" he said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Looking To Veterans"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Now the WDOC is turning to military veterans."}]

Through SkillBridge, service members in the final months of military service can work with civilian employers while still receiving military pay and benefits.

Participants approved by their commanders can train with the WDOC, gaining experience in facility operations, security procedures, de-escalation techniques and correctional law before potentially moving into full-time employment.

[{"type":"text","text":"The appeal is obvious."}]

"Military service and correctional work align in several important ways, including discipline, physical readiness, mental resilience, adaptability and teamwork," Dack said.

Lampert agrees. During his years leading Wyoming corrections, veterans consistently performed well.

"All of the veterans that we recruited, without exception, in my opinion, were excellent correctional officers," he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Familiar Mission"}]

Sgt. 1st Class Clive Rieke, the Wyoming Army National Guard's AGR branch NCOIC, helps service members navigate the transition from military life to civilian careers.

[{"type":"text","text":"One of the biggest challenges is culture shock, he said."}]

Military members spend years immersed in a world with its own language, structure and expectations.

"In the military, your unit is kind of like your family and you have a clear-cut mission," Rieke said.

[{"type":"text","text":"That sense of purpose doesn't always exist in civilian workplaces."}]

Many veterans also struggle to translate military experience into terms civilian employers understand. Programs like SkillBridge are designed to close that gap by allowing service members to explore careers before fully leaving the military.

Research suggests veterans may bring skills that naturally fit correctional work.

Escobedo said a recent study found veterans entering corrections careers reported greater confidence in their leadership abilities, teamwork skills and interpersonal effectiveness than their non-veteran counterparts.

[{"type":"text","text":"Those are exactly the qualities corrections agencies are seeking."}]

Although no Wyoming service member has yet entered WDOC through SkillBridge, Rieke said the department is a relatively new participant in the program.

Nationally, however, interest in law enforcement and corrections careers has increased among transitioning service members.

Because SkillBridge operates through the Department of Defense, Wyoming's potential recruiting pool extends far beyond its borders.

A soldier preparing to leave military service in New York, Texas or North Carolina can see the same Wyoming opportunities as a service member stationed in Cheyenne.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Wyoming sells itself,\" Dack said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Progress, Not A Cure"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"For now, SkillBridge remains one piece of a much larger staffing puzzle."}]

The department's first-year goal is simply to establish the program and begin building a pipeline.

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming's numbers suggest the department is making progress."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Retention is up."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The number of inmates being housed in Mississippi is down."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"But more than 100 job vacancies remain."}]

Whether SkillBridge becomes a meaningful solution — or simply another tool in a long-running staffing battle — may ultimately depend on whether Wyoming can convince veterans that correctional work offers something many service members seek after leaving the military: another chance to serve.

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<title>Facing Huge Staffing Shortfalls, Wyoming Prisons Recruiting Military Veterans | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming’s prisons have 109 vacant positions, despite years of recruiting. Now they're turning to military veterans because of their training. "The veterans we recruited were excellent correctional officers," said former corrections chief Bob Lampert.

Facing Huge Staffing Shortfalls, Wyoming Prisons Recruiting Military Veterans

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's business and tourism reporter, Renée Jean

Renée Jean

Outdoors

Public Lands

Waterfalls shoot straight out of volcanic cliffsides, flinging themselves into canyons almost no one ever visits. 

Far from the boardwalks and pullouts, meanwhile, something that looks very much like a starfish seems to nap where no starfish should even be, sunning itself in a crystal-clear thermal pool in Yellowstone National Park. 

It’s all part of a hidden Yellowstone that most people never get to see — the Yellowstone that Bozeman filmmaker Stephen Quayle has spent five decades chasing with a camera and has finally stitched into a new film, 

“Only 5% of Yellowstone is visible by the roads or by the boardwalks around the geysers,” Quayle told Cowboy State Daily. 

Another thin, 10% slice belongs to the hardy few willing to trek for miles into grizzly bear and wolf territory. 

But from a helicopter, “the most gorgeous” waterfalls and the most intriguing geothermal pools can be seen in stunning aerial views. 

Photographing from the air takes a million-dollar camera lens, Quayle said, one that can take high-resolution images from at least 2,000 feet away. 

That’s the minimum height recommended by the FAA for flying over places like national parks. Any lower could violate federal laws if an aircraft disturbs wildlife or park visitors.

“That way we can present to people the Yellowstone that really is,” he said. “And it’s breathtakingly wonderful. It is not just a wonder of the world, it is 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Fateful Party Weekend"}]

Quayle’s relationship with Yellowstone began when he was a college student with time on his hands and weekends to burn in glorious summer road trips. 

Yellowstone was perfect for that when you’re a young man from Bozeman, Quayle said. 

“I went there because that’s where everybody used to go and party,” he admitted. “And from Bozeman, they drive down to the inner West Yellowstone, but I would take a diversion. That doesn’t mean I didn’t partake of some of the wild stuff in those days. 

"But the bottom line is that it was so close, and in those days you could go from one feature to the next and never see another car,” Quayle added.

The more he photographed Yellowstone, the more he wanted to go back. It felt like becoming lost in another world, one that seemed to rearrange itself every time he visited.

At first, Quayle stuck to closeups. Think bacterial mats, colorful mineral formations, tiny, iridescent insects — all reflecting his interest at the time in abstract art.

“Most photographers would take a leaf,” he said. “I would take the veins in the leaf.”

But over time, Quayle saw that Yellowstone was like this gigantic living creature, breathing, pulsing, moving around. 

That could never be captured with microshots of leaf veins and abstract rock patterns. 

For the real Yellowstone, Quayle realized he had to do something to widen his scope. 

On a map, Yellowstone National Park looks vast, but knowable. 

You can drive in and easily hit the biggest, most popular features — Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic, the Canyon — and drive back out with a phone full of photos and a comfortable sense that you’ve now seen Yellowstone.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"It’s a beautiful illusion. "}]

For one thing, Yellowstone is among the most dynamic landscapes on earth. Fire and water are shaping and reshaping its landscapes all the time. 

The park is also vast —  3,500 square miles — and the majority is too dangerous and too inaccessible for most people’s hiking abilities. 

“It’s a matter of practicality,” Quayle said. “Because some of these waterfalls come out of the side of a mountain and you’ve got wolves in the park and you’ve got grizzlies in the park … and the wolves are not, ‘oh they’re so cute,’ and it’s not Yogi Bear time.”

Some areas are even untouchable when it comes to horseback, Quayle added, and the park also has rules on where people can go by horseback, which helps protect fragile areas. 

Quayle himself didn’t even realize at first just how much he’d been missing. Until one day he got the idea to take a helicopter ride and look down on this creation. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Yellowstone became a whole new world. "}]

Geyser basins became vast, veined paintings. Rivers resolved into networks tying distant waterfalls together. Thermal scars appeared in forest clearings that had no signs, no names, no crowds.

“It’s like a whole different world,” he said. “You literally wouldn’t know you were on planet Earth.”

The view from 2,000 feet is ultimately the one that captured and held Quayle’s attention the best. 

Waterfalls spilling over volcanic rocks like crystal threads of light into dark and lonely slot canyons and broad amphitheaters that had been carved by wind and water and time. 

There were blue-and-white ribbons twisting over black volcanic rock, framed by forests and meadows that melted into the mists of morning. Scenes like this often felt less like sightseeing, and more like eavesdropping on a secret earth, as if he, himself, was an alien. 

One time he saw what looked like a perfect, starfish-like form sunning itself in a crystal clear thermal pool.

“Imagine a starfish, a perfect starfish, in water that’s too hot to have any life,” he said. “How do you get that kind of design in geothermal pools?”

Quayle said he’s shared the images with researchers, who are still evaluating them.

Quayle has combined the footage taken from the air with snapshots he’s taken at Yellowstone National Park over a 50-year period, creating a feature-length film he calls “Yellowstone: Above & Below.” 

His goal with the film is to help people access even the most inaccessible places in the park, as well as raise funds to help support the park. 

Ten percent of the film’s proceeds will be donated to the park’s official nonprofit, Yellowstone Forever, to help fund conservation, education and stewardship of the park.

“Yellowstone is alive,” the film’s narrator says over sweeping aerial shots. “Every breath of steam, every shifting terrace is part of an ancient story written in stone and fire.”

Creating the film has taken Quayle a lifetime, including about four or five years worth of helicopter rides.

“We were in a helicopter for sometimes six and eight hours a day,” he said, a ride that was paid for by the hour. “I mean, it’s a lot of time in the air, but there’s no other way to see it all, to reference it.”

To capture the views, Quayle rented a gyro-stabilized camera system with a long-range lens once used for military surveillance. He also hired Hollywood cameraman Nel Boshoff to operate it.

The camera is so precise, Quayle said, it can focus on an elk 2 miles ahead and then zoom in on its eyelashes. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Where Science Meets Spirit"}]

Ask Quayle why he keeps coming back to Yellowstone after 50 years, and his answer lies somewhere between science and spirit.

From above, the branching runoff channels remind him of blood vessels in a human body, and everywhere he sees beauty born from volcanic violence.

“It’s a place of wonder and warning,” he says in the film. “It is fragile, and yet holds the strength of worlds beneath its surface.”

For most visitors, Yellowstone will always mean the 5% everyone else sees — Old Faithful, the canyon, a glimpse of bison in the valley. 

The remaining 95% — Quayle’s waterfalls in hidden canyons, starfish patterns at the bottom of a boiling pool, and backcountry geysers with no signs or names — are like something from a dream, revealed by one man’s uncommon obsession. 

If the images leave viewers feeling like they’ve gotten as close to the edge of creation as they ever will from a living-room couch, that’s fine with Quayle. That feeling is everything about Yellowstone that he’s ever wanted to say.

Contact Renee Jean at renee@cowboystatedaily.com

Quayle yellowstone alternative 6 21 26

<title>The Yellowstone You’ll Never See: Filmmaker Spends 50 Years Capturing Its Secrets | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Most tourists see just 5% of Yellowstone from roads and boardwalks. Bozeman filmmaker Stephen Quayle has spent 50 years filming the places most never reach. “It’s like a whole different world,” he said. “You literally wouldn’t know you’re on planet Earth.”

The Yellowstone You’ll Never See: Filmmaker Spends 50 Years Capturing Its Secrets

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

Andrew Rossi

Wyoming Life

Entertainment

Fifty years ago, the highlight of the Cody Stampede Parade marking America’s bicentennial celebration was a 30-foot-long .30-30 Winchester rifle, dominating a float that also carried legendary Western actor John Wayne.

[{"type":"text","text":"That rifle has been sitting atop a storefront in downtown Cody since. "}]

Everyone loves the giant Winchester, so they might have noticed when it recently suddenly disappeared from the roof where it had been prominently displayed since its trip down Sheridan Avenue decades earlier.

Like John Wayne himself, Cody’s giant Winchester rifle is coming back, better than ever, for another 50 years dominating Cody’s historic downtown.

“We're putting it back to what it was in 1976, as best we can,” said Mike Darby, owner of the Irma Hotel and the giant Winchester. “I can’t confirm or deny what we’re going to do with it, but we’re hoping to have it done by July 3.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Fully Loaded"}]

It’s 1976, and the United States is starting down the barrel of its 200th anniversary. The Buffalo Bill Museum, now the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, decided to add its own ammunition to an already-loaded celebration.

July 4 was selected for the opening of the lavish Cody Firearms Museum. The addition of a massive Winchester collection, on loan from the Olin Corp., made it the world's largest firearms museum at the time.

Adding to the excitement, the museum would be dedicated by the grand marshal of that year’s Cody Stampede Parade: “The Duke” himself, John Wayne.

The Husky Oil Co., founded in Cody in 1938, decided to make its own big contribution to the festivities.

What better to celebrate the bicentennial, Wayne, and the Cody Firearms Museum than with a giant replica of one of the American West’s most iconic firearms?

Denny Shore was the head of Husky Oil’s activities committee at the time. His wife, Sue, remembers it well.

“The theme for the parade that year was ‘Celebrating Winchester: The Gun That Won the West,’” she said. “Denny decided to call the people who make parade floats and asked if they could do a giant Winchester. They said yes, so they did.”

Shore doesn’t remember what company built the humongous rifle, but she remembers when it arrived on a flatbed trailer and was parked in front of her house.

“I loved it,” she said. “I'm a gun nut, and I have a .30-30 Winchester that I always hunted with. I feel like it was my own, and we were sharing it.”

Cody resident and photographer Dewey Vanderhoff was hired by the Olin Corp. to get photos of the parade, Wayne, and the rifle.

“Katy Brown's ‘Buffalo Bill Dollies’ can-can girls danced in front of the big Winchester rifle at its public debut at the airport,” he said. “Everyone was there waiting for John Wayne's ceremonial arrival on a Boeing 727 jet with his entourage and family.”

As the Cody Stampede Parade cruised down Sheridan Avenue, the Winchester was the center of attention. If that wasn’t enough, Wayne was riding on the same float.

Most parade floats quickly disappear when they reach the end of the route, but there was a brighter future for the giant Winchester.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Everything Under The Gun'"}]

After its centerpiece moment in the parade, the giant Winchester was stored at the Husky Oil Refinery in Cody.

A few years later, Cody business owner Jack Skates opened Jack's Sports & OK Hardware at 1137 12th St. right next to the Irma. The store came with the giant Winchester on the roof, where it had ended up after leaving Husky Oil.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Their motto was ‘Everything Under The Gun,’” Shore said."}]

While the storefront changed hands multiple times in the next four decades, the rifle stayed right where it was. However, even the gun was under the gun.

Bob Carter owned one of the businesses, The Gunrunner, that occupied the space. He shared some details on the unique rooftop sculpture with 

“It was only constructed for temporary display,” he said. “Some parts were made from cardboard. It held up for many years, but eventually required renovation and replacement with more permanent materials.”

Carter added that the giant Winchester was a replica of a 1968 Winchester 94 Buffalo Bill .30-30 rifle, making all the more appropriate for Cody’s bicentennial celebration.

Any knowledgeable gun owner knows firearms need regular care and upkeep. Even with more permanent parts, 50 years of exposure on a Cody rooftop made the larger-than-life Winchester a little worse for wear.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Giant Gun Restoration"}]

In May, the giant Winchester disappeared from the rooftop of 1137 12th St. It’s now getting some much-needed refurbishment.

Darby said the rifle was acquired by the Irma Hotel when it bought the building it was sitting on in the 1990s.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It came at no extra charge,” he said."}]

Darby said the giant Winchester was in especially sorry shape going into this summer. If it was going to survive, it needed some help.

“The recent windstorms were hard on it, plus 50 years of weather damage,” he said. “It was about to fall off the building, so we got a crane to lift it up and put it on a trailer.”

The giant Winchester has since been dismantled and, essentially, rebuilt. Darby said everything that can be replaced is being replaced and reenforced.

“The barrel and the levels are made of wood, so we’re replacing what’s needed and putting better supports on the inside,” he said. “After dismantling it, we felt we could repair and improve it.”

On July 4, 1976, John Wayne paraded through Cody with a 30-foot-long Winchester rifle. 50 years later, that rifle was still sitting on a rooftop next to the Irma Hotel until it was temporarily taken down but it will make its glorious return by July 4.

Daily Cartoon: Monday, January 16, 2023

Michael P. Ramirez

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Daily Cartoon: Monday, January 16, 2023

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