Daily Darwin

[{"type":"text","text":"Don't worry, this trail is completely secure..."}]

Darwin 6 2 23

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

<title>Daily Darwin: Friday, June 2, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Don't worry, this trail is completely secure...

Daily Darwin: Friday, June 2, 2023

 Don't worry, this trail is completely secure...

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

The Powder River at Arvada in Sheridan County has essentially stopped flowing for nearly a month, encapsulating severe drought conditions persisting across the West.

The river’s flow levels there have been sitting at zero to near-zero cubic feet per second (cfs) since mid-July, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) communications specialist Cheryl Miller told Cowboy State Daily.

When the river hits 0 cfs, “there could be a little pool there, but it is not moving," Miller said. "There is no water going downstream from there.” 

The Powder River's main steam flows for 375 miles from the Bighorn Mountains into the Yellowstone River near Terry, Montana. It is susceptible to wild fluctuations because it is one of the last free-flowing prairie river systems in the country.

During a typical year, the Powder at Arvada is flowing at 135 cfs, Miller said. 

[{"type":"text","text":"On June 16, it was at 17.5 cfs."}]

When the river reaches zero cubic feet per second, native fish such as sauger, channel catfish and sturgeon chub have evolved to survive in deeper pools.

“This is not unheard of for that site," Miller said of zero cfs, "but it is uncommon.” 

Records dating to 1930 indicate the Powder River has hit a standstill at Arvada about a dozen times, though there are no records for length of time at zero flow. The Powder also reached 100,000 cubic feet per second in 1923.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Why So Low?"}]

Unusually light snowpack coupled with a relative lack of rain during the spring and summer have contributed to the scarcity of water this summer, Miller said. Irrigation has also taken water from its tributaries, 

fishing guide Gene Pruett told Cowboy State Daily.

Dry ground along the upper stretches can absorb some of the river’s runoff.

The main Powder River’s tributaries include the North, Middle and South forks, which are still flowing.

The Middle Fork is typically fishable until late June or early July, when the water becomes too warm for responsible angling, said Pruett, owner of the Thermopolis-based Wyoming Trout Angler fishing guide service.

He guides anglers on the North Fork in Outlaw Canyon above Kaycee.

Wyoming State Engineer Brandon Gebhart recently told the Legislature’s Select Water Committee that this is one of the 

“Over 83% of the state is in severe or extreme drought,” he said. "Luckily, no parts of the state are under exceptional drought, as of right now.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Time To Stop Fishing"}]

Flows along the upstream forks of the Powder River is “generally low,” said Mike Cassidy, fishing guide with Rock Creek Anglers, based out of Saddlestring in Johnson County.

It is probably weakest on the South Fork, he told Cowboy State Daily.

“We shut down our fishing on the Middle Fork because of high water temperatures,” he said.

Stretches of the North Fork on private property remain “fishable” because cold water from tributary springs has kept water temperatures lower, he said.

As a general rule, it’s best to stop even catch-and-release trout fishing once the water temperature hits 68 to 70 degrees because of stress to the fish, Pruett said.

In addition to shutting down his operations on the Middle Fork, Pruett said he’s limited trips to early mornings only on other rivers because of rising water temperatures.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department hasn’t mandated catch-and-release fishing shutdowns but is asking anglers and guides to suspend their fishing on numerous waters.

On the Bighorn, the Green, the Salt, the Snake, and the New Fork rivers, there are voluntary closure signs everywhere,” Pruett said.

“I think it’s the guides’ and the anglers’ responsibility to preserve the resource” and refrain from catch-and-release fishing when the water is too hot, he said.

As for the Powder, it was still near zero cubic feet per second at Locate, Montana, but picked up some water by the time it reaches Moorhead, where the flow was 10-12 cubic feet per second Thursday. 

Arvada 8 13 26

<title>Under Severe Drought Conditions, Wyoming’s Powder River Has Completely Stopped Flowing | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Powder River in Sheridan County has completely stopped flowing for nearly a month due to severe drought conditions and irrigation. During a typical year, the Powder at Arvada is flowing at 135 cubic feet per second, now it's at zero cubic feet per second.

Under Severe Drought Conditions, Wyoming’s Powder River Has Completely Stopped Flowing

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

Clair McFarland

Politics

The national social media influencer Libs of TikTok blasted a Laramie High School counselor Thursday for saying he wishes Wyoming House Speaker Chip Neiman “had been aborted.”

Jason Uitterdyk’s Facebook page commented on a Wednesday post by the Wyoming Freedom Caucus that 

n, R-Hulett, advocating this session for the Human Heartbeat Act.

That’s the latest of four years’ worth of Wyoming abortion bans, all of which have been blocked in court.

“Ladies and gentlemen I will say this today,” said Neiman in the video. “I would have fought for you too … At what point did you become human? At what point would you have been glad to have somebody fight for you?”

Under the post, Cowboy State Daily has confirmed, Uitterdyk’s Facebook page wrote, “I wish this guy would have been aborted.”

Libs of TikTok blasted the screenshot of the comment and of Uitterdyk’s profile photo to their audience of 4.7 million. As of Thursday afternoon, nearly 100,000 people had viewed her 

The influencer also included a phone number for Uitterdyk’s employer, Laramie High School.

“Would you want this person in charge of your kids’ mental health?” she wrote.

Uitterdyk did not respond by publication to a Thursday-morning voicemail and text message.

Laramie High School administration did not return a voicemail. Albany County School District No. 1 declined via its communications coordinator Madison Green to comment.

Neiman told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday morning that he was not aware of the Libs of TikTok post or Uitterdyk’s comment.

Reacting to the outlet’s recitation of the comment, Neiman said, “I would never wish that on him. I’d fight for him and am fighting for him.”

Neiman said the comment is "horrific" and undermines the pro-choice argument, which Neiman called the “anti-life” position.

“I feel for the guy, I really do,” he said. “I feel awful for somebody that would have that attitude.”

Neiman said matters around Uitterdyk’s employment are “a local control issue” for the school district.

The school district's website and Uitterdyk's Facebook page say he is a counselor at Laramie High Shcool. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Abortion is a fraught topic in Wyoming."}]

Led by the Legislature, the voters passed a health-care autonomy clause into the Wyoming Constitution in 2012. Rhetoric around the amendment cast it as a way to combat the Affordable Care Act.

The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Jan. 6 that the clause also makes abortion access a right protected by the highest level of judicial scrutiny in constitutional law.

[{"type":"text","text":"The court struck down Wyoming’s abortion bans."}]

Neiman sponsored another ban, the Human Heartbeat Act, banning abortion from the point at which a fetal heartbeat can be heard.

Consistent with history, a pro-choice coalition challenged the law.  

A Natrona County District Court judge paused it while the litigation unfolded. It’s still ongoing.

This law has a trigger component, however, so that when it was blocked by a court a post-viability abortion ban sprang into law.

Gov. Mark Gordon urged the Legislature this year to advance a new amendment to the voters to allow abortion bans through the state Constitution. The Legislature did not do that.

Chip abortion remark 8 13 26

<title>Libs Of TikTok Blasts Laramie School Counselor For Wishing Chip Neiman Was Aborted | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The national social media influencer Libs of TikTok blasted a Laramie High School counselor on Thursday for saying he wishes Wyoming House Speaker Chip Neiman had been aborted. "Would you want this person in charge of your kids' mental health?" she wrote.

Libs Of TikTok Blasts Laramie School Counselor For Wishing Chip Neiman Was Aborted

Public Lands

The Bureau of Land Management is poised to round up about 1,800 mustangs from herds in central Wyoming, claiming the horses will starve if their numbers aren’t cut. 

“Without active management, herds continue to grow unchecked and can double in size every four to five years. Chronic overpopulation places both horses and rangeland resources at risk,” the BLM said Tuesday in announcing the plans for roundups in the Red Desert Complex.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The roundups are set to begin in the fall."}]

 “Saving wild horses from starvation, protecting America’s public lands,” the BLM describes the effort.

Wild-horse advocate Carol Walker told Cowboy State Daily she thinks the agency is using hyperbole to justify more roundups. 

“That’s baloney. I’m out there all the time,” Walker said. “I was out there about three weeks ago, and I didn’t see a single skinny horse.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Target Numbers"}]

Mustang management goes beyond just the horses, mule deer conservationist Bill Ames told Cowboy State Daily. 

He said he didn’t know enough about the Red Desert Complex to say how many horses should be there, but he thinks they're “overpopulated” throughout the state. 

And that can lead to competition with mule deer, pronghorn, and other wildlife, Ames said. 

“I don’t know if they compete for food so much, but they really compete for water,” said Ames, who represents the Wyoming Mule Deer Alliance. 

The roundups are planned in several horse management areas (HMAs) in the Red Desert Complex, including the Antelope Hills, Crooks Mountain, Green Mountain, Lost Creek, and Stewart Creek. 

The appropriate management level for the complex is 480 to 720 horses, meaning about 1,800 horses must be removed to “return herd sizes to sustainable levels,” according to the BLM.

The BLM also plans to use fertility control to trim Red Desert herds. 

“During gather operations, staff plan to treat around 75 to 150 mares with fertility control and release them back to the range,” the announcement said.  

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Ongoing Debate"}]

What's sustainable for the mustang population is a matter of debate. 

The BLM was given jurisdiction over mustangs under the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act. 

The agency contends that it’s managing mustang numbers according to the parameters established by the act, based on such factors as available forage for horses, conflicts with private landowners, and competition with wildlife. 

Wild-horse advocates argue that the BLM’s target numbers are a fraction of what the range can support and that the horses are scapegoats for overgrazing by sheep and cattle. 

They contend mustangs qualify as wildlife and should be respected and conserved as such. 

Others argue the horses are a feral, invasive species with no natural predators. They can damage the landscape and drive out native wildlife if their numbers go unchecked. 

After horses are rounded up, they’re sent to BLM holding facilities, such as those near Wheatland and Rock Springs. 

Many of the horses are put up for adoption, while others live out their lives in BLM facilities. 

Mustang advocates recently claimed to have evidence the BLM is also funneling some of the mustangs toward dealers who 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The BLM denies it. "}]

Nature already culled the central Wyoming mustang herds, Walker said. 

The brutal winter of 2022-2023 killed tens of thousands of pronghorn, deer, and elk in central and south-central Wyoming. 

An official tally of how many mustangs died wasn

t kept. Walker said she thinks the Red Desert Complex herds were cut by about half. 

So, it makes no sense to start a huge roundup of the herds, which are still recovering, she said. 

According to what she’s seen on the ground, the rangelands are healthy and there’s plenty of forage to go around for horses, livestock, and wildlife. 

“I see elk out there, I see pronghorn out there, and I see the little wildlife, like bunnies,” she said. 

The horses and other animals looked well-fed and healthy, she added. 

Ames said he’s concerned about mustangs leaving the HMAs. 

The BLM should round up horses that have strayed into prime mule deer and pronghorn habitat in the Pinedale area toward the south end of the Jonah Gas Field, he said.

“They’re actually in the antelope migration corridor,” he said. 

He worries that during the winter horses might drive deer and pronghorn off slopes that have been blown clear of snow and therefore vital for animals’ survival. 

“They (horses) just aren’t very good at sharing,” he said. 

Red desert horses 2 8 13 26

<title>BLM Says Red Desert Wild-Horse Herd Must Be Cut By 1,800 To Prevent Starvation | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Bureau of Land Management plans to round up about 1,800 mustangs in the Red Desert Complex of central Wyoming this fall, claiming that overpopulated horses are at risk for starvation. “That’s baloney," says wild-horse advocate Carol Walker.

BLM Says Red Desert Wild-Horse Herd Must Be Cut By 1,800 To Prevent Starvation

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

A former office manager for two Goshen County businesses is facing eight felony forgery charges after state investigators allege he siphoned nearly $700,000 from the companies over a four-year period.

Logan Patrick Reifschneider, 31, was arrested by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Wednesday night. Reifschneider, already on probation for grand theft involving a Wyoming credit union, faces up to 10 years in prison for each felony count.

A probable-cause affidavit written by DCI Special Agent Jon Briggs says Reifschneider worked for Zell Heating & Cooling and Big Wood Tree Service from June 2020 until about October 2024.

Briggs wrote that money moved out of the businesses in a variety of ways — through payroll, customer payments, checks and transfers, with some payments disguised to look like ordinary business expenses.

By the time investigators finished tracing the money, Briggs put the businesses' losses at approximately $688,477.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Something Wasn't Adding Up"}]

As office manager, Reifschneider had access to the companies' finances, including payroll, accounting information and Automated Clearing House, or ACH, transactions.

Eventually, the business owner began noticing they were experiencing financial problems and hired an accountant.

The accountant's review uncovered a substantial amount of missing money, the affidavit says.

The owner and others confronted Reifschneider about the suspected thefts. Reifschneider stopped working for the businesses around October 2024.

The accountant also turned over checks believed to contain forged signatures.

By February 2025, the Goshen County Sheriff's Office had asked DCI to investigate.

[{"type":"text","text":"Briggs began following the money."}]

Investigators served numerous search warrants on financial institutions in Wyoming and Nebraska, as well as others around the country.

The financial records were eventually given to an FBI forensic accountant for another look.

What investigators say they found was money leaving the businesses in several different ways.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Ill-Gotten Gains' "}]

DCI identified $161,790 in payments allegedly made directly to Reifschneider but disguised to look as if they were to legitimate suppliers.

The affidavit says another $159,634 came from customer payments allegedly diverted through Square or Intuit rather than going to the businesses.

Payroll accounted for another $138,609, which investigators characterized as excess payments to Reifschneider, including some coded as though the money belonged to other employees.

Through ACH transactions, checks and other transfers, another $113,177 allegedly landed in accounts belonging to Reifschneider or businesses he controlled.

Then there were expenses allegedly paid on his behalf. Investigators identified $81,267 in unauthorized payments from Zell Heating & Cooling and Big Wood Tree Service, along with a separate $40,000 payment from one of the businesses to an account belonging to Reifschneider.

Investigators also looked at what Reifschneider should have legitimately earned.

Between June 2020 and October 2024, Briggs calculated his legitimate income at approximately $298,214.

Based on that income and the financial records, Briggs described the additional money paid to or on behalf of Reifschneider as "ill-gotten gains."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Eight Checks"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Then investigators turned their attention to the checks."}]

The accountant provided DCI with a number of checks suspected of containing forged signatures. Eight written between April and September 2024 are specifically identified in Briggs' affidavit.

[{"type":"text","text":"The smallest was for $292.95. The largest was for $8,318.30."}]

Some were written to suppliers. Others were made directly to Reifschneider.

An April 17 check made out to Reifschneider was for $815.12. Another, dated Aug. 23, was for $3,195.81. A Sept. 7 check was made out to him for $1,025, while another dated Sept. 19 was for $2,158.

Other checks were made out to Torrington Office Supply, Dennis Supply, Gustave A. Larson and Johnstone Supply.

[{"type":"text","text":"Investigators claim Reifschneider signed Patrick's name to the checks."}]

The official charging document filed in Goshen County contains eight felony counts of forgery.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Money Trail Continues"}]

Briggs wrote that Reifschneider returned some money, and Briggs said those repayments were taken into account when DCI calculated the businesses' losses.

After Reifschneider stopped working for the businesses, he paid one business owner about $6,000 through personal checks.

[{"type":"text","text":"Other money had been returned while he was still employed."}]

Another check mentioned near the end of Briggs' affidavit tells a smaller story.

A man with 308 Plumbing told investigators he performed work at Reifschneider's home in Torrington on Oct. 24, 2025.

[{"type":"text","text":"The bill was $782.50."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Reifschneider paid with a personal check, but it bounced."}]

The man told investigators the check was returned for "insufficient funds" and that he still had not been paid when Briggs prepared the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Grand Theft Case"}]

The new charges come just over two months after Reifschneider was sentenced for a separate grand-theft conviction involving a Wyoming credit union.

That case began with another series of transactions that didn't have enough money behind them.

In February 2025, Reifschneider used the third-party payment platform ProPay to put thousands of dollars into accounts he held at WyHy Federal Credit Union, alleges a second affidavit written by Cheyenne police detective M. Webster.

[{"type":"text","text":"The money initially appeared in his accounts."}]

Reifschneider then transferred, withdrew or spent it, investigators alleged.

[{"type":"text","text":"But the underlying transactions didn't clear."}]

Four transactions totaling $8,902.47 were ultimately returned for insufficient funds, and WyHy calculated its loss at $8,725.59.

When Webster spoke with Reifschneider on May 16, 2025, he acknowledged that the credit union had contacted him about problems with the accounts, according to the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","text":"He said he would pay the money back by May 23."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He didn't, Webster wrote."}]

When the detective contacted him again June 17, Reifschneider again said he would get the money paid.

[{"type":"text","text":"By July 11, the credit union still hadn't been repaid."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"On June 4, Reifschneider was found guilty of grand theft."}]

He was sentenced to 3-5 years in prison, but the prison sentence was suspended, and he was instead placed on three years of supervised probation.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Already On Probation "}]

Reifschneider was on supervised probation for the grand theft conviction when DCI arrested him Wednesday, although the conduct alleged in the new Goshen County case predates that probation.

It wasn't Reifschneider's first conviction involving money, or his first suspended prison sentence.

On Nov. 27, 2017, he was found guilty of fraud for writing a bad check for $4,000.

He was sentenced to 3-5 years in prison. That sentence also was suspended, and Reifschneider was placed on five years of supervised probation.

Court records also show a separate grand theft charge against Reifschneider was dismissed in September 2023.

[{"type":"text","text":"Reifschneider now faces eight felony forgery charges in Goshen County."}]

Court records did not indicate as of Thursday that he had yet made an initial appearance on the charges.

Wheatland 700k man 8 13 26

<title>Goshen County Man Charged With 8 Felonies For Allegedly Stealing $700k From Businesses | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A former Goshen County office manager, already on probation for grand theft from a Wyoming credit union, is facing eight felony forgery charges after nearly $700,000 was lost from two local businesses. He faces up to 80 years in prison.

Goshen County Man Charged With 8 Felonies For Allegedly Stealing $700k From Businesses

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

Renée Jean

Business & Tourism

Kelly Maher-Wolfensperger has just a few rules for the annual Ham and Jam party that happens in Hulett each year, when 30,000 or so bikes roll into town for a free pork sandwich and the fixings from Captain Ron’s Rodeo Bar.

“We do not mince, muddle, or blend,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “And we have no carbless and we have no Twisted Tea — so don’t ask.”

Her no-nonsense rules mean the bar doesn’t make Old Fashioneds, mojitos, or mules during the weeks of the Sturgis rally. 

Hulett's Ham and Jam is supposed to be a one-day party. Ride in, have a Bloody Mary, eat a pork sandwich, and roar off into the distance toward Sturgis. But it's become such a popular event, the 30,000 bikers who visit every year have extended their stay.

Daily Darwin: Friday, June 2, 2023

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