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[{"type":"text","text":"It seemed like a good idea at the time..."}]

You still here no play 10 8 23

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

<title>You Still Here? Sunday, October 8, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

You Still Here? Sunday, October 8, 2023

 It seemed like a good idea at the time...

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

Renée Jean

Energy

A federal judge in Montana has thrown out more than 1.5 million acres of Wyoming oil and gas leases sold under the Trump administration, a sweeping ruling that Wyoming attorneys said will force the state to return $50 million in payments and imperil $180 million in future revenue for schools and other public services. 

The ruling also affects an additional 185,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Montana and the Dakotas.

The decision, issued by Chief Judge Brian Morris out of the U.S. District Court of Montana on June 12, is sparking outrage in the oil and gas community. It’s the third time Morris, an Obama appointee, has ruled against the U.S. Department of the Interior over the protection of sage-grouse habitat.

“The environmental group found a sympathetic venue in Montana to file their case and ultimately hurt Wyoming,” oil and gas landman Steve Degenfelder told Cowboy State Daily. “I am hopeful the State of Wyoming will appeal this decision with everything they have. Other than a successful appeal, it’s my understanding we would need an act of Congress to overturn this injustice. I wonder how Montana would feel if a Wyoming judge hurt their state to this magnitude?”

Ryan McConnaughey, with the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, said it’s just the latest example of how activists are misusing the judicial system to attack industries they dislike.

“Anti-oil and natural gas activists have a sympathetic ear in Montana, which is why they continuously file cases there,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “The hard truth is that until Congress steps in to restore the original intent of laws like NEPA and the Endangered Species Act, every land management decision will be decided out of public view by the courts. It’s further proof that permitting reform is absolutely necessary if the United States wants to be a country that harvests energy and builds things again.”

Wyoming’s Bureau of Land Management office referred Cowboy State Daily for comment about the case to Montana’s office, which did not respond. 

It was not known Tuesday afternoon whether BLM will appeal the case, or what its next step will be for the leases.

The Wyoming Attorney General’s Office was also consulted, but had not responded at the time this story was posted.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Sage-Grouse Protection At Issue"}]

At the heart of the case brought by the Montana Wildlife Federation, The Wilderness Society, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation and Montana Audubon is how the BLM applied its 2015 sage-grouse conservation plans in Wyoming. 

The groups argued that leasing should have been steered first to areas outside of key habitat so the bird would stay off the federal endangered species list. 

The 2015 sage-grouse plan required the agency to “prioritize” oil and gas leasing and development outside of sensitive habitat, particularly in designated priority areas.

But, in 2018, the BLM issued a new instruction memorandum that effectively told staff to disregard those prioritization requirements when offering new “fluid mineral” leases in sage-grouse country.

Wyoming has a voluntary sage-grouse protection plan, one that guides development away from those areas without any prioritization on BLM’s part, Wyoming attorneys argued.

However, the judge ruled that the prioritization error “infected everything” that followed, making it infeasible for BLM to keep the current leases in place.

BLM offered about 1.25 million acres of oil and gas leases in Wyoming in 2019 alone, roughly 785,000 acres in its February 2019 sale and more than 493,000 acres combined in the September and December 2019 sales. 

Altogether the June 12 order affects about 1.5 million acres of Wyoming leases sold between December 2017 and December 2019. December 2020 sales were excluded because the judge found that no final agency action yet exists to vacate or remand those sales. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Wyoming Warns Of Deep Revenue Losses"}]

In court filings, Wyoming attorneys laid out what the revenue losses will mean to local and state governments providing public services. 

Federal defendants estimated that vacating Phase Three leases will require the return of more than $50 million in revenue that has already been allocated and spent. The state would also lose future severance, ad valorem, and conservation taxes on the leases, totaling at least $180 million over the life of the wells. 

Funding cuts due to losing these revenues will affect a range of public services in Wyoming, from employment, roads, IT, fire personnel, hospitals and other daily operations, Wyoming’s lawyers argued, and should prompt the court to remand without vacating the leases. 

In Campbell County, for example, oil and gas revenues help fund the senior center, homeless shelter and soup kitchen, domestic violence shelter, youth crisis and treatment home, and the Boys and Girls Club.

In Converse County, half the annual budget relies on oil and gas revenue, which helps fund senior services, the Humane Society, a youth crisis center, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Douglas and Glenrock, a domestic violence and sexual assault survivors crisis center and shelter, a mental health crisis and intervention center, and more.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"State Already Protects Sage-Grouse"}]

Wyoming attorneys also argued that the state is already protecting sage-grouse habitat — so well that it was praised by the Obama administration at the time.

Since 2008, federal oil and gas leases in core sage-grouse habitat have declined 63%, Wyoming’s attorneys wrote, and reduced production in those areas by 48%. 

The state’s plan has also reshaped development, Wyoming contended. 

“From 2006 to 2012, vertically drilled well permits declined 65%, while directionally and horizontally drilled wells from outside core areas increased by 66% and 1,337%,” the attorneys wrote. “The trend continues with 95% of wells drilled in Wyoming from 2020 to 2024 being directional or horizontal, reducing sage-grouse disturbance.”

Horizontal wells disturb up to 3.5 acres, compared with 19 acres for vertical wells. 

“Thus, deferrals are not needed to guide development away from sage-grouse habitat,” the attorneys wrote. “In sum, the state’s strategy — adopted by BLM — has shifted development away from sage-grouse habitat and changed development patterns to meaningfully reduce impacts.”

Drilling in lower conflict areas is already preferred through the state’s sage-grouse mitigation plan, which protects habitat while allowing economic opportunities, they said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Economic Harm Vs. Legal Violations"}]

The judge in the case acknowledged disruptive economic impacts caused by vacating the lease sales, but concluded that BLM’s legal violations outweighed those considerations except in cases where a lease was already producing oil and gas.

Wyoming, Jonah Energy, and Continental Resources, which intervened in the case, argued that the judge should carve out an exception for leases for wells that have already been drilled and completed.

Jonah Energy told the court it had already spent $68 million developing its leases. Continental said it had spent more than $97.6 million for nine producing wells. 

“The considerations of equity require that the court not vacate the nine already producing leases stemming from the challenged Phase Three lease sales,” Morris agreed, likening the situation to a scrambled egg that can’t be put back into its shell. “Vacatur as to the producing leases could not restore the leases to the pre-leasing condition without further disruption.”

Wyoming oil and gas drilling 2 1 24

<title>Montana Judge Tosses 1.5M Acres Of Wyoming Oil And Gas Leases, Costs State $50M | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A federal judge in Montana has thrown out more than 1.5 million acres of Wyoming oil and gas leases sold under the Trump administration, forcing the state to return $50 million in payments. “The environmental group found a sympathetic venue in Montana,” said a Wyoming landman.

Montana Judge Tosses 1.5M Acres Of Wyoming Oil And Gas Leases, Costs State $50M

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Around Wyoming

The power went out across Cokeville on Tuesday, darkening the small Lincoln County community, forcing the Town Hall to close and disrupting business during an extended outage.

The outage affected about 432 homes and businesses in this town of about 500 people. By the time this story was published, the town was still in a blackout after a reported substation issue.

The town's senior center lost electricity along with everyone else, but for many of the town's seniors the day carried on much as planned.

Staff members said they spent the early part of the day checking on older residents to make sure nobody needed help.

They gathered sandwiches and fruit from a neighboring grocery store that still had power, and their weekly Bunco game was not interrupted. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Meals Still Delivered"}]

"The Cokeville Senior Center is very important to our older generation in our community," director Mel Luthi said.

As the outage stretched on, center employees quickly adapted with food already on hand.

"Our head cook was able to deliver today's meal to our patrons," Luthi said. "This was a great opportunity for us to check on all we serve and see if they had any needs."

[{"type":"text","text":"The welfare checks became an important part of the day's response."}]

Mayor Colby Peck said residents were especially mindful of neighbors who rely on oxygen machines and other medical equipment.

People began checking on elderly residents and locating generators for those who might need them.

"It's a tight enough community that they do a really good job of taking care of each other," Peck said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bunco Finds A Way"}]

One person helping lead that effort was Kayla Orozco, the senior center's head cook.

Before settling into the day's activities, Orozco spent time calling and texting seniors and their family members.

"Being a small town, I know almost everyone," she said. "I call or text them or their families to make sure no one needed generators."

She said she had been told Rocky Mountain Power would provide generators for seniors, if necessary, though she was unaware of anyone who ultimately needed one.

Orozco's job title might be head cook, but she also helps organize activities at the center — a role she carried over after moving from bookkeeping into the kitchen.

"I also enjoy doing games with the people and we always have fun, so I kept that part as well when I moved from the bookkeeper to cook," she said.

When it became clear the center wouldn't have power for its regularly scheduled Tuesday dice game, she improvised.

"We always have games on Tuesdays, so today we moved it over to the park, and we sat in the shade and played Bunco with a group of ladies," Orozco said. "Everyone wins prizes, so I just tried to make the best of the situation."

Peck said he had been told the outage stemmed from a problem at a local substation and appeared to affect the entire town and surrounding area.

[{"type":"text","text":"The outage affected Town Hall, the senior center, and restaurants."}]

A gas station also temporarily lost cellular service, though water and sewer systems remained operational.

While outages affecting the entire community are not unheard of, Peck said they typically don't last so long

Cokeville 6 16 26

<title>Lengthy Power Outage Darkens Cokeville, Disrupts Businesses And Seniors | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The power went out across Cokeville on Tuesday, forcing the Town Hall to close and disrupting business during an extended outage. At the local senior center, "I just tried to make the best of the situation," said a staffer.

Lengthy Power Outage Darkens Cokeville, Disrupts Businesses And Seniors

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

Andrew Rossi

Wyoming Life

[{"type":"text","text":"Fire and water will be back in this year’s Cody Stampede Parade."}]

 in protest, the Cody Volunteer Fire Department and the Cody Stampede Parade Committee have reached an agreement that will ensure the fire district’s engines and volunteers will be back in the parades July 3 and 4.

That means, according to the Cody Volunteer Fire Department, there will be “a little splash of classic parade spirit” along Sheridan Avenue. Water will also be back in the parade for the United States’ semiquincentennial.

“It's going to be great,” said Joe Bower, president of the Cody Stampede Parade Committee. “People missed them last year. The parade committee missed them last year. It’s good to have them back, and I hope everybody has a lot of fun with them.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Insurance And Assurance"}]

The Cody Volunteer Fire Department has been one of the longest and loudest entries in the Cody Stampede Parade for decades. That changed in 2025, when the department announced it wouldn’t participate.

[{"type":"text","text":"The point of contention? Water balloons."}]

“In recent years, new rules and regulations have made our participation increasingly difficult,” Chief H.R. Coe 

. “We initially agreed to stop throwing candy from our trucks, provided we could continue the long-standing tradition of water balloons. 

"Unfortunately, we’ve now been informed that water balloons are no longer allowed either.”

Instead of having all their engines and sirens blaring, one of the highlights for locals, the only fire engine in last year’s parades was the historic "Truck 00." It didn't spray or throw a single drop of water.

Historically, the volunteers have had buckets of water balloons they’ve thrown from their trucks. Parade attendees have, historically, brought their own balloons to toss back.

Water balloon fights between the volunteers and the crowds have become a long-standing tradition. The inability to use water balloons last year was the reason Coe specifically cited as "a beloved part of the parade" that promoted their exodus. 

According to Bower, nobody wants to prohibit water balloons. The committee’s primary concern is safety.

“Our number one priority is to keep everybody safe on the parade route,” he said. “Hypothetically, if a water balloon were to hit a horse and send that horse off running, that could be a big deal. We just needed to sit down and discuss how to keep things moving.”

Water balloons might sound like harmless fun, but they are also a potentially enormous liability. Mack Frost, another member of the parade committee, said one of the most pressing concerns in recent years has been insurance.

“We are required to have liability insurance for the parade, and we can’t get the insurance premiums we used to get,” he said in May 2025. “We could lose our insurance if there were an incident caused by water balloons, and I’m sure there would be a very measured response if we couldn’t do the Cody Stampede Parade because of water balloons.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Letting Them Go"}]

In anticipation of the 2026 Cody Stampede Parade, the parade committee met with the fire department to discuss its participation. Bower said the two parties have “come to a good agreement” that ensured the department’s return to the parades.

“Everybody's in a good position now,” he said. “They're going to bring up the back of the parade and close it out for us.”

Water balloon safety was specifically addressed, and Bower said everyone reached a productive understanding of how to preserve the tradition while ensuring everyone’s safety.

“I'm sure they'll have water balloons,” he said. “They love throwing water balloons, and people love throwing them back, so we’re looking forward to that.”

Fire departments at other parades often use their hoses to spray crowds lining the parade route. Bower doesn’t know what the Cody Volunteer Fire Department has planned, but nothing’s been hosed down.

[{"type":"text","text":"Above all else, Bower said the key point was ensuring safety."}]

“We’ve had unsuspecting people hit with water balloons before, and we’re trying to avoid that,” he said. “That’s what it all comes down to. We're asking them to put their best foot forward, and they should be able to do that. We’re all adults.”

One of the previous compromises was having designated water zones where people know to anticipate water balloons.

Those zones were at the intersection of Sheridan and 15th Avenue, right next to the fire station, and in front of the Silver Dollar Bar. The “water war” between the fire department and the Dollar is the stuff of local legend.

Based on the new agreement that prioritizes spectator safety, Bower indicates there might be more opportunities for water-related fun.

“At this point, we’re letting them go, as long as it doesn’t cause any issues,” he said. “We want to keep everybody safe on the parade route.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Five Days Of Festivities"}]

The Cody Stampede kicks off with Cody PRCA Xtreme Bulls on June 30, followed by the Cody Stampede Rodeo from July 1 to 4. Tickets for the July 3 and 4 events are sold out.

Cody has three parades. The Kiddies Parade will be held on July 2 at 10 a.m. The Cody Stampede Parade will start at 9:30 a.m. July 3 and 4 with the theme “250 Years of Legends, Liberty, and the Lasting West."

This year’s grand marshals are renowned Wyoming authors Craig Johnson, Michael & Kathleen Gear, and Paul Hutton.

Cody fire dept 2 5 12 25

<title>Cody Fire Department Back In Stampede Parade, Allowed To Throw Water Balloons | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After missing last year’s Stampede Parade for not being able to throw water balloons, the Cody Volunteer Fire Department is back this year — and allowed balloons. “They love throwing water balloons, and people love throwing them back,” said an organizer.

Cody Fire Department Back In Stampede Parade, Allowed To Throw Water Balloons

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

A pair of young Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep rams that wandered into Cheyenne were killed by game wardens out of concern that they could catch pneumonia from domestic livestock and transmit it back into wild sheep herds.

The rams, thought to be between 1 and 2 years old, were killed last week, Game and Fish spokeswoman Amanda Fry stated in a Monday email to Cowboy State Daily.

Meat from the rams was donated to Wyoming first lady Jennie Gordon’s Food from the Field program through the Wyoming Hunger Initiative.

Bighorn sheep can pick up diseases from domestic stock and spread them back into their herds with devastating effects, according to Game and Fish.

Pneumonia is the disease of greatest concern, Fry said.

“We do not know which area/herd these two came from,” she said. "The closest two wild sheep herds to Cheyenne are west of Scottsbluff, Neb., and in the Iron Mountain area (in southeast Wyoming)."

Biologist and wildlife researcher Jack States lives near a bighorn sheep herd in Sinks Canyon in the Lander area.

He told Cowboy State Daily that he doesn’t agree with the Game and Fish policy of killing bighorns that might have come into contact with domestic sheep or other livestock.

“My opinions are contrary to the current management policy,” he said, although he’s willing to consider whether or not long-term data reveals “that management policy actually works.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Spotted The Day Before"}]

Cheyenne resident Valarie Grace told Cowboy State Daily that she spotted the rams late on June 7 in the yard of her parents’ house on the outskirts of Cheyenne.

“We have no idea where they came from. They took off after we spotted them and they were still going when we last saw them,” she said.

She said that at the time, she was worried that the rams might run out onto Pershing Boulevard and get struck by vehicles.

States said that young bighorn rams can have a propensity to wander, usually because they’re seeking to stake out new territory.

It’s unlikely that the rams were planning to stay in Cheyenne, Fry added.

“Suitable habitat for bighorn sheep tends to be steep, open, higher elevation, rocky slopes,” she said. "While there have been occurrences in the past of young sheep showing up in lower elevation municipalities in southeast Wyoming over the last couple of decades, it is not common.

“These sheep were likely traveling on a stream corridor seeking out suitable habitat and reached Cheyenne city limits."

While bighorn sheep are hardy enough to survive Wyoming’s worst weather in its roughest terrain, they are highly susceptible to disease.

Pneumonia outbreaks, sometimes transmitted from domestic sheep, can be bighorn conservationists’ worst nightmare. In some cases, entire herds are nearly wiped out.

The legendary Ramland Whiskey Mountain bighorn herd near Dubois is a fraction of what it once was, having 

 with pneumonia infections that just won’t go away.

Game and Fish and others have concluded that letting potentially infected wandering bighorns return to the wild isn’t worth the risk, Fry stated.

“If suspected commingling has occurred, Game and Fish will euthanize the wandering bighorn sheep to protect the rest of the wild herd from disease, as is outlined in the statewide Bighorn Sheep/Domestic Sheep Working Group Plan,” she stated.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Is There Another Way?"}]

States admires the Sinks Canyon bighorn herd and was a huge fan of 

, who gained a legendary reputation for his love of people, peanut butter and ramming visitors’ vehicles.

States recalled an instance of bighorns from the Sinks Canyon herd being euthanized after suspected exposure to domestic sheep.

"I did complain about that, because their (Game and Fish’s) policy was to euthanize first and test later,” States said. “I really wanted them to test first and then euthanize, if those diseases were present in those wild sheep."  

In some instances, wandering bighorns could be quarantined, States said.

He thinks that “capturing them until agents could determine their origin and health status” might be better than killing bighorns.

Katie Cheesbrough, executive director of the Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation, told Cowboy State Daily that the policy of euthanizing sheep that might have had close contact with livestock was “based on the best available science” when it was implemented.

Newer technology, such as GPS wildlife tracking collars, might not make that necessary in every instance, she said.  

However, Game and Fish made the right call with the Cheyenne rams, Cheesbrough said.

“Game and Fish can’t know the travel path they took along the way and they can’t know where they were headed,” she said.

So, euthanizing the rams “was the prudent thing to do,” she added.

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<title>Wyoming Game And Fish Kills Bighorns That Wandered Into Cheyenne | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A pair of young bighorn sheep rams that wandered into Cheyenne were killed by Wyoming wildlife officials. However, one biologist and wildlife researcher says it's not necessary. He said they should be quarantined instead.

Wyoming Game And Fish Kills Bighorns That Wandered Into Cheyenne

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

Crime & Courts

Law Enforcement

CASPER — A north-side Casper man and roommate are without a home after a fire Friday evening that is being investigated as a “suspected arson.”

Casper Police spokesperson Rebekah Ladd said Monday there was “no additional public information available” on the fire in the 100 block of West J Street other than a Sunday statement reporting the investigation in conjunction with the Casper Fire Department.

Ladd said the department would likely do another statement when information becomes available.

Casper Police officers were at the property Monday and led a man from the garage area at the back of the property to one of their patrol vehicles.

The home showed smoke damage to the front door. An upper window appeared to have been broken as part of firefighters' efforts to stop the blaze.

Natrona County Assessor records list Daphne Andrade of Spring, Texas, as the property owner.

Andrade, who works as a hospital nurse in the Houston area, told Cowboy State Daily that it was her father who police assisted off the property.

“I have an insurance adjuster going to check on the property today,” she said. “He was there when the cops came to get my dad. … So he lived in the house and obviously he is displaced.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Asked To Leave"}]

Andrade said her father had a man in his 20s as a roommate who helped him around the property.

“There was a woman coming around and I don’t know how much residence she had taken up, but my dad had asked her to leave,” she said. “That may the reason that they are saying there is an arson involved because of that person.”

Andrade shared the name of a 55-year-old woman who also happens to be listed in the Natrona County jail log as having been arrested by Casper police at 7:42 p.m. Friday. The listing states the woman is in jail on two criminal warrants.

Andrade said she will wait to hear back from her adjuster about the fire damage before determining what will be done with the home.

“I need to talk to my dad to find out what is going to be the best next move,” she said. “I am still in the beginning phases of getting information.”

Casper Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Ross said the department was dispatched to a fire at 5:34 p.m. Friday and updates from the caller indicated someone might be inside.

“After a thorough search of the structure there was no one inside the house at the time of the fire,” Ross said. “Units arrived to find a fire on the back side of the residence spreading. … There was a good amount of smoke.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Response"}]

Ross said more than 20 firefighters and five trucks responded to the 1 1/2-story home and were able to knock down the fire without it spreading to adjacent property and homes.

Ross said the cause had not been determined as of Monday morning.

“The investigation is still underway,” he said. “But they have narrowed it down to the kitchen as where the fire started.”

Ross said his department was investigating the fire cause part of the investigation and the police were handling the collection of evidence and interviews related to the blaze.

He said the investigation into the cause likely will take a couple of weeks.

Casper fire Police Escort 6 15 26

<title>Two Left Homeless After ‘Suspected Arson’ Of North-Side Casper Home | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Casper's police and fire department report they are investigating a "suspected arson" at a north-side home on Friday evening that left two people homeless. “My dad had asked her to leave,” then the fire started, said a woman about someone staying at the house.

Two Left Homeless After ‘Suspected Arson’ Of North-Side Casper Home

Hunting

A Wyoming man is apologizing for tossing, kicking and stabbing a coyote in a controversial video that went viral last week.

A Wyoming man named Aron Snyder confirms he’s the person seen tossing, kicking and stabbing a coyote in a video. The video is “a very bad optic,” he says while apologizing in a weekend social media post.

You Still Here? Sunday, October 8, 2023

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