Daily Darwin

[{"type":"text","text":"Nothing more refreshing than a pleasant dip in the pool..."}]

Darwin 8 15 23

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

<title>Daily Darwin: Tuesday, August 15, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Nothing more refreshing than a pleasant dip in the pool...

Daily Darwin: Tuesday, August 15, 2023

 Nothing more refreshing than a pleasant dip in the pool...

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

A woman suffered “non-life-threatening” injuries Monday when she was attacked by a black bear while hiking with her dogs on a trail near Jackson, officials reported. 

The incident resulted from “a surprise encounter with a presumed black bear with at least one cub" on the History Trail on Teton Pass, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. 

“She was well-prepared and successfully deployed bear spray during the incident. Following the encounter, she was able to walk back to the trailhead and was subsequently treated at a local hospital for her injuries,” according to Game and Fish.

The Forest Service subsequently closed the trail. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Defensive Encounter "}]

“The encounter occurred in an area characterized by dense vegetation and low visibility. Investigators did not locate any bears upon returning to the site, and no further management actions are currently planned,” according to Game and Fish.

“Our thoughts are with the individual who was injured, and we wish her a full and speedy recovery,” said Jackson Regional Wildlife Supervisor Brad Hovinga in a statement from Game and Fish. “We are grateful she was well-prepared and carried bear spray, which can make all the difference in these unpredictable situations.”  

Though they are generally considered to be more docile than grizzlies, black bears can also be dangerous. 

Game and Fish personnel on July 23 killed a black bear that showed no fear of humans at camp on Forest Road 15 in the Bighorn Mountains. 

Lab tests later confirmed that it was the same bear that tried to enter two tents occupied by Shonna Kaye Dehl of Lovell and Maggie Bassett of Powell on July 5 at another camp off Forest System Road 178 near Fool Creek.

The distance between the two camp sites is approximately 4.5 air miles.

Canada has also seen increased bear activity this summer. A black bear reportedly mauled a toddler Sunday in the town of Maple Ridge, British Columbia. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Dogs and Bears Don’t Mix"}]

Dogs can sometimes make bear encounters worse, bear biologist Tom Smith of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, previously told Cowboy State Daily. 

Smith and a team of researchers analyzed 326 

 across North America. The incidents happened from 1901 to 2023 and involved black bears, brown bears (including grizzlies), and polar bears. 

In some cases, dogs irritated bears and then ran back toward their owners, with the bears on their heels, he said. 

In other cases, the dogs simply sat and watched, Smith said. 

Dehl and Bassett told Cowboy State Daily that during their encounter on July 5, their four dogs retreated as they tried to drive the bear out of their camp by shining lights at it, yelling, and shooting at the bear. 

Bear tetons 8 11 26

<title>Black Bear Attacks Woman Hiking With Dogs Near Jackson, Hiking Trail Closed | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A woman was hospitalized Monday after a presumed black bear attacked her while hiking with her dogs near Teton Pass. Game and Fish officials, who closed the trail, described the incident as a "defensive encounter."

Black Bear Attacks Woman Hiking With Dogs Near Jackson, Hiking Trail Closed

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

Clair McFarland

Politics

One of the nine Republicans running for the GOP nomination to U.S. House voiced strong criticism Tuesday of the state-level Wyoming Freedom Caucus.  

Reid Rasner also said he supports a slate of non-Freedom Caucus state legislative candidates.

“The Freedom Caucus has brought division, dysfunction, and political games to our state,” said Rasner in a Tuesday statement. “Wyoming deserves strong conservatives who will fight for our energy industry, protect our freedoms, keep taxes low, and actually get things done.”

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus is a controversial group of Republicans in the state House of Representatives who are linked with a national network of similar groups.

Proponents praise the caucus for proposing bold reductions to the state budget and efforts to pass socially conservative policies into law.

Opponents accuse it of over-relying on its national network and advancing sloppy or generic legislation.

The Freedom Caucus has endorsed Secretary of State Chuck Gray in the U.S. House of Representatives race.

At a July 23 candidate forum, Gray pivoted from a question about whether he’d join any caucuses in the House, saying, “at the end of the day, I’m going to be focused on representing the people of Wyoming. That’s who I align with.”

Gray did not respond by publication to a Tuesday-afternoon request for comment on Rasner’s remarks and the Freedom Caucus generally.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Plenty Of Noise’"}]

Rasner is not the only Republican U.S. House candidate with strong words for the caucus.

State Senate President Bo Biteman in a Tuesday text message responded to Cowboy State Daily’s inquiry with, “I’ve always believed the best way to deal with political noise is to turn it down and get the work done.”

“The Freedom Caucus brings plenty of noise,” Biteman continued. “I’ve ignored them when they’ve attacked me, I’ve ignored them when they’ve taken credit for work I helped lead, and I’m going to keep ignoring the distractions.”

Biteman has had a complicated relationship with the caucus over the years. He aligns often with its goals, but is outspoken about not being part of it.  

He said Tuesday that he’s focused on winning the election by discussing issues that matter to Wyoming families like lowering the cost of living, protecting public lands, strengthening the Socal Security program “and making government work for the people again.”  

“Wyoming voters are tired of political theater,” said Biteman. “They want results.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Caucus Responds"}]

State House Appropriations Chair John Bear, R-Gillette, responded to both Rasner and Biteman in a Tuesday text message on the Freedom Caucus’ behalf.

[{"type":"text","text":"Bear is a former chair and prominent member of the caucus."}]

“Reid Rasner is a failed career candidate who has brought division, dysfunction and political games to our state,” he said. “Wyoming deserves (a) strong conservative, like Chuck Gray.”

Bear said Gray would fight for Wyoming’s energy industry, “protect our freedoms, keep taxes low, and actually get things done.”

Bear also rephrased Biteman’s statement as the caucus’ own, and turned the barbs back onto the Biteman-led Senate.

 “The Wyoming Senate and Cheyenne establishment bring plenty of noise,” said Bear. “We’ve ignored them when they attacked us, we’ve ignored them when they’ve taken credit for work we helped lead, and we’re going to keep ignoring the distractions.”

Bear said the caucus is focused on real issues that matter to Wyomingites.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What They’re Saying Out There"}]

Steve Friess, a philanthropist and House candidate, told a Riverton-based coffee group on July 29 that the national-level, congressional Freedom Caucus contained “great people” and helped hold the Republican Party to a conservative line.

[{"type":"text","text":"The state entity is something different, he said."}]

“I don’t think too many of their policies have really been out of the mainstream of conservative thought, and all of them have been worthy of a dialogue,” said Friess. “But it just feels to me like brought in a different tone. They’ve brought in an argumentative tone; they’ve excluded people, calling everybody a RINO (Republican in name only).”

“I’m hoping this is kind of a thing that passes,” he added. “And folks that want to call people names and bully people will understand that’s not the way things should be done in Wyoming.”

Friess added in a post-publication comment that he wants to unite the GOP factions and “fight the real enemy, the radical left AOC/ Mandami Socialists.”

The candidate and combat veteran Kevin Christensen said his campaign tours have revealed a growing anti-Freedom Caucus movement. He said most people attribute that to the boisterous 2026 lawmaking session.

The caucus touted control of the state House of Representatives. It sought to eliminate the Wyoming Business Council, which budget hawks have long targeted, and to cut $40 million from the University of Wyoming.

Hampered in part by a check-passing controversy, the caucus achieved neither goal but did broker a temporary cut for WBC and an understanding that lawmakers will reform it starting this year.

“(The session) was largely ideologically driven,” said Christensen. “And a lot of really important legislation seemed to fall to the wayside in favor of mostly ideologically driven efforts.”

Former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, the only Wyoming native in this race who’s also held an elected statewide position, said she was more diplomatic about the caucus in the race’s early phases than now.

She agrees with their platform of limited government, pro-energy, pro-life, pro Second Amendment ideals, she said.

“It’s the tactics, and the exclusiveness of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, that I don’t ascribe to,” she said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Freedom Caucus 'Very Aggressive'"}]

Candidate David Giralt, who worked in Congress as an aide to multiple delegates, said he hasn’t seen Gray explicitly running on the caucus’ support, “but that might just be a consequence of him trying to attract more people.”

As for Giralt, he said he sees both the national Freedom Caucus and Wyoming’s version as using “very aggressive culture war tactics that, at the end of the day I think, just work against what the legislative process should be: holding true to your political ideological convictions and then working to get things done.”

Two more candidates, Richard Dodson and Keith Goodenough, did not respond by publication to Tuesday-afternoon voicemail requests for comment.

Confronted with the caucus’s comment, through Bear, calling him a “failed career candidate,” Rasner volleyed by calling Bear a “joke” and saying “Wyoming is done with these so-called Freedom Caucus losers.”

Rasner pointed to a 2023 bill to set Wyoming’s minimum marriage age at 16, which many Freedom Caucus members and Bear had opposed. Some pointed to Amish and Mennonite populations and other unique groups living in Wyoming, as well as teen pregnancy situations.

Rasner also derided Gray and asserted, “his political career is finished.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Little Analysis"}]

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus has been vocal on social issues like keeping males out of girls school sports, helping the state fight illegal immigration, and abortion.

Its strategies to fight abortion have been unsuccessful so far, however: every pro-life bill Wyoming has passed since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 overturn of Roe vs. Wade has been blocked in court.

, the chance this year to put the question of abortion to the voters and overcome the courts’ injunctions. The Legislature won’t have another chance until the 2028 election.

 for lapses and other controversies associated with the state’s new school-funding package. But that was a bipartisan bill that, despite extensive debate, won overwhelming support upon passage.

The caucus often takes credit for passing a 

 cut in 2025. The conjecture may be fair: the bill sprang from a caucus-led Revenue Committee and passed with the caucus unanimously in support.

Mix Collage 11 Aug 2026 05 01 PM 5587

<title>U.S. House Candidate Reid Rasner Calls For Defeat Of "Freedom Caucus Losers" | Cowboy State Daily</title>

U.S. House candidate Reid Rasner on Tuesday called for the defeat of "Freedom Caucus losers." Rep. John Bear, a prominent member of the group, said Rasner is a "failed career candidate who has brought division, dysfunction and political games to our state."

U.S. House Candidate Reid Rasner Calls For Defeat Of "Freedom Caucus Losers"

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Law Enforcement

A group of Glenrock residents showed up at Monday’s Town Council meeting with questions about the four Flock cameras that have been operating around the community for roughly two years.

They wanted to know more about who authorized the license-plate-reading cameras, where they are located, why the town needed them and who controls the information they collect.

[{"type":"text","text":"They didn’t get many answers Monday."}]

Police Chief Colter Felton, who has overseen the cameras, was absent because of a family emergency, said Mayor Bruce Roumell. The Town Council told residents it would hold a work session on the issue within the next couple of weeks.

“All I want to see is transparency,” Glenrock resident Eric Farrington told Cowboy State Daily after the meeting.

Flock cameras use automated license-plate recognition technology to record passing vehicles and can provide law enforcement with information that can help identify vehicles involved in investigations.

The cameras have become a growing subject of debate in Glenrock, with residents raising questions on social media about the technology, its location and who has access to the data.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Cameras’ Location Questioned"}]

According to public records, Felton obtained a permit from the Wyoming Department of Transportation to install the cameras on state highway rights-of-way near the edges of Glenrock.

 the department has cameras at every entrance to town.

The cameras were purchased and installed in 2024 after the police department included them in its budget and the council approved their purchase, installation and use, Roumell said in a phone interview with Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","text":"There was little public controversy at the time, according to Felton."}]

“We put out information about it and talked about it in council meetings,” he said. “We really didn’t get a ton of, I guess, people showing up to talk about it, or with any sort of issue.”

Felton said the primary purpose of the cameras is public safety, including helping investigate crimes such as bank robberies and kidnappings.

Agencies seeking to place equipment on state highway rights-of-way must obtain permission from WYDOT.

Some residents have questioned whether Glenrock’s Flock cameras are actually inside town limits because of their placement along highways.

Roumell said Monday that annexations have expanded Glenrock’s boundaries over the years, meaning the cameras are technically within the town limits despite the perception they are outside town.

[{"type":"text","text":"That distinction has not settled the questions for residents."}]

Farrington said he attended Monday’s meeting hoping the council would address concerns about the cameras, but the council deferred to the police chief.

“All of a sudden there are some people that are upset about it,” Roumell said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Why Was It Necessary?’"}]

Farrington, who has lived in Glenrock for more than two decades, said he understands the argument that cameras can help law enforcement solve crimes.

But he questioned whether the technology is necessary in a small community with relatively little crime.

[{"type":"text","text":"“We’re used to policing ourselves,” Farrington said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"That led to a basic question for him:"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“Why was it necessary to put them up?”"}]

Farrington said he is especially interested in understanding how the system works and what safeguards are in place for the information collected.

“I want transparency,” he said. “I want to have questions answered.”

He said residents deserve to understand how technology that can record their movements is being used by their local government.

“I want the council to be an open book to the community you serve, especially with the national attention on the Flock cameras now,” Farrington said.

Farrington said one of his concerns is that residents might not have realized the cameras were there when they were installed.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Again, nobody knew anything, why they were there,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Timely Privacy Debate"}]

The questions come as law enforcement’s use of technology to track people’s movements is receiving renewed national scrutiny.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court’s high-profile ruling on digital privacy sparked widespread legal debate over whether the constitutional logic used against mass cell-phone tracking could eventually apply to automated license plate readers like Flock.

Farrington said the national discussion about digital surveillance has made him more interested in understanding Glenrock’s own system.

He also draws a distinction between information people voluntarily put online and information collected by government-operated surveillance equipment.

An 85-year-old man approached Farrington after Monday’s meeting and questioned why Farrington was concerned about the cameras when people voluntarily share so much information on social media.

[{"type":"text","text":"Farrington said the difference is choice."}]

“I don’t have to post on Facebook,” he said. “The Flock cameras were not my choice.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Council To Hold Work Session"}]

The Flock cameras were not listed as an agenda item for Monday’s Town Council meeting, and no new or old business was listed.

[{"type":"text","text":"The meeting lasted less than 30 minutes."}]

The public-comment portion also experienced a technical problem: The microphone was not turned on, meaning comments could be heard by people in the room but were not audible to people participating online.

With Felton absent, the council did not attempt to resolve residents’ questions Monday.

No date for the work session has been publicly announced, though resident Alisha Hodge told Cowboy State Daily the group opposing the cameras has asked for another meeting to be scheduled before elections.

[{"type":"text","text":"“That remains to be seen,” she said."}]

According to the Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit public interest law firm, an estimated 120,000 cameras along American roads log data into a nationwide, searchable database accumulating billions of records every month.

Glenrock flock 8 11 26

<title>Glenrock Residents Want More Answers About Town’s Four 2-Year-Old Flock Cameras | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Glenrock residents are asking more questions about who authorized the town’s four Flock cameras, where exactly they’re located and how the information they collect is used. The cameras have been in place on the outskirts of town for roughly two years.

Glenrock Residents Want More Answers About Town’s Four 2-Year-Old Flock Cameras

Around Wyoming

This story was updated at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The Weiser Knoll wildfire southeast of Lander, sparked by an overheated trailer wheel bearing Sunday afternoon, exploded to roughly 16,300 acres by late Tuesday afternoon and was 0% contained. 

The fire, the largest of the summer so far in Wyoming, prompted an evacuation order for residents in the Twin Creek Drainage area, east of Wyoming Highway 28. More than 200 fire personnel were fighting it, according to the federal government's InciWeb wildfire tracking website.

Area rancher Rhett Abernathy told Cowboy State Daily that by about noon Tuesday he and others hoped the worst was over, as winds calmed and “slurry bombers” continued to drop water and fire retardant on the blaze.

Sunday night was awful, he said, as the fire was driven by strong winds.

“That first night, the wind picked up and the fire started running down the ridges. Everybody was just waiting for their places to go up,” Abernathy said.

According to state and federal fire agency reports, the fire was sparked at about 2:15 p.m. Sunday on Highway 28 about 13 miles southeast of Lander.

The overheated bearing caused three initial fires to spring up alongside the road at a spot known as Johnnie Lee’s Corner, according to reports. 

Rancher and outdoors business owner Ron Hansen, who lives about 7 miles northwest of Lander, told Cowboy State Daily late Tuesday that he was worried about another possible wildfire. 

That blaze appeared to be growing about 5 miles southwest of Fort Washakie, he said. 

“If this one blows up, it’s going to come straight for us,” Hansen said. 

With hot, dry conditions persisting, he said he’s worried about how bad the fires might get. 

“I hate to say this because I’m in the outdoors recreation business. But I’m almost to the point of begging people to not go outside, to not go out into the hills,” Hansen said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Five-Foot Flames’"}]

Lander resident Michelle Motherway told Cowboy State Daily  she was camping with family Sunday and drove back into town after the fire started. 

“There were five-foot flames right on the side of the highway,” she said. 

The smoke in town wasn’t terrible Tuesday, but late Sunda, it was miserable, Motherway said. 

“Two nights ago, it was really reminiscent of the (1988) Yellowstone fires, where you could see that the moon was orange and the sky was orange. It was just eerie,” she said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Rangeland Scorched"}]

Abernathy said that during its initial stages, the fire tore through ranchland on the Abernathy Ranches and Bureau of Land Management allotments leased by the ranch. 

It was touch-and-go for a while, he said, as they scrambled to move cattle out of the flames’ path. 

Luckily, Abernathy said, nobody was hurt and no cattle were killed. 

“We had a couple of old log cabins and old barns burn, but they were of no function,” he said. 

However, a significant amount of rangeland was rendered useless for grazing, he said.

“It will be the year after next before we can graze any of it again,” Abernathy said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Feeding the Firefighters"}]

Motherway owns Mr. D’s Food Center in Lander, which has been helping to feed firefighters. 

“When the fire broke out on Sunday, I got hold of the fire incident command, and we arranged to get food for them,” she said. “We fed 65 people Sunday evening.” 

But as local Wyoming State Forestry and BLM crews were called in, the number of firefighters needed three meals a day delivered to them ballooned.

“We’re feeding 200 people breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” she said. 

With only three full-time staff at the store, meeting demand requires “an army of volunteers,” Motherway added. 

Codi Jorgensen, a local teacher, volunteered to help prepare firefighters’ meals, along with her 11-year-old daughter. 

“We were there (at the store) for four or five hours, putting meals together,” Jorgensen said. 

Motherway stepping up to help is “just Michelle being Michelle,” Jorgensen said. So, she and her daughter were happy to pitch in.

She added that while the smoke hasn’t been so horrible in town, the fire still has an ominous presence.

“We can see it from our back deck at my house. You can see the flames,” Jorgensen said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Lookie-Loos’"}]

Motherway said there have been some “lookie-loos” showing up to try to get a look at the fire, which can impede firefighters and cause safety problems. 

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

“Twin Creek Rd. is closed to the public and only open to area landowners. Highways WY 28 and US 287 remain open, but please remain alert and yield to fire traffic and crews working in the area. For public and firefighter safety, the public is asked to remain out of and away from the fire perimeter,” the agency stated in a fire update Tuesday afternoon. “Red Flag conditions, characterized by strong gusty winds, low relative humidity, and elevated temperatures, contributed to heightened fire activity yesterday (Monday).” 

On Tuesday, ground crews were “constructing direct containment lines," as aircraft continued to drop water and fire retardant. 

“Coordination continues with local power companies to restore power to the area,” the BLM reported.

Fire smoke 8 11 26

<title>UPDATE: Fire Near Lander At 16,530 Acres And 0% Contained, Prompts Evacuations | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Weiser Knoll fire near Lander, started by an overheated wheel bearing on Highway 28 on Sunday, exploded to Wyoming's largest at 16,530 acres and was 0% contained late Tuesday. “Everybody was waiting for their places to go up,” a local rancher said.

UPDATE: Fire Near Lander At 16,530 Acres And 0% Contained, Prompts Evacuations

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

Andrew Rossi

The Shoshone National Forest has reopened Brooks Lake Road near Dubois after a massive mudslide covered the road with mud, trees, and large boulders July 22.

The Wind River Ranger District had been working with a Dubois contractor, Peak Excavation, to make the most of an unexpected problem.

“We got the biggest culvert we could get within a reasonable amount of time to get the road back open,” said Jeff von Kienast, district ranger for the Wind River Ranger District. “We still have a little work to do, but the road’s open.”

That’s good news for Brooks Lake Lodge. The road is the only way to get to the lodge, but the Wind River Ranger District stepped up to ensure it didn’t lose any business.

The road to Brooks Lake Lodge and campgrounds has reopened after an 18-day closure due to a massive slide that covered the road with 10 feet of mud, trees and boulders. The Wind River Ranger District shuttled guests to the lodge during the closure.

Daily Darwin: Tuesday, August 15, 2023

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