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

<title>You Still Here? Wednesday, February 14, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You Still Here? Wednesday, February 14, 2024

 If you've been looking for a new way to distribute cheese on your chili, consider this exciting new invention....

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Agriculture

an eastern Wyoming irrigation district warned

 that irrigation water for its ranchers and farmers could disappear by early August, that prediction is becoming reality.

The Pathfinder Irrigation District announced Thursday that its main Interstate Canal will shut down Aug. 7 because of historically low water supplies, ending an already abbreviated irrigation season for farmers and ranchers across eastern Wyoming and the Nebraska Panhandle.

The district operates an extensive canal system that diverts water from the North Platte River at Whalen Dam, delivering irrigation to more than 100,000 acres of farmland. That water originates in Pathfinder Reservoir southwest of Casper.

For district supervisor Rick Miller, the early shutdown came sooner than even he expected.

"I tend to be conservative when I give estimates," Miller told Cowboy State Daily. "Even being conservative, I didn't think we'd be shutting it off by Aug. 7.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Our loss has just been tremendous this year,\" he said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Season Unlike Any Other"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The district has been hit by a one-two punch this year."}]

An exceptionally dry winter produced the worst recorded peak snowpack in the upper North Platte Basin — the source of roughly 75% of the North Platte River's water — according to George Finnegan, North Platte water scheduler and civil engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation.

Then, on June 8, a severe storm damaged multiple sections of one of Pathfinder's canals, delaying water deliveries while repairs were completed.

Instead of beginning irrigation in April as it typically does, the district didn't start delivering water until June.

[{"type":"text","text":"Since then, every drop has counted."}]

"The evaporation and the seepage means we just couldn't gain anything," Miller said.

Seepage occurs when parched ground swallows the water before the water reaches intended farm or ranch land.

Compounding the problem, drought conditions have fueled vegetation growth inside canals, making it even harder to move limited water efficiently through the system.

The drought has brought weeds, Miller said, which further interferes with getting the water where it needs to go.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Drought Felt Differently Across Wyoming"}]

Water shortages vary widely across Wyoming depending on geography, said Gail Whitman, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Irrigation Districts.

Districts west of the Continental Divide operate under different hydrologic conditions than those drawing from the North Platte system in eastern Wyoming.

The North Platte feeds Pathfinder, Alcova and Seminoe reservoirs before supplying irrigation districts from Natrona County east to Goshen County. Each district receives a predetermined allocation from those storage reservoirs.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Water conservation is a huge concern,\" Whitman said."}]

The Wyoming Association of Irrigation Districts, formed in 2023, now represents districts in nine counties encompassing more than 482,000 irrigated acres and over 10,000 water users.

The Wheatland Irrigation District typically enjoys a 90- to 100-day water delivery season.

[{"type":"text","text":"This year, the season lasted two weeks, from mid-May to June 1."}]

“It was terrible,” district director Nathan Graves said.

[{"type":"text","text":"The district allotted a scant .15 feet of water per acre."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“We get more from the sky than we can give, almost,” Graves said."}]

The delivery season was by far the worst since 2002, he said. That year, the district had just 18 days of water delivery.

Graves said producers knew months ago this would be an extraordinarily difficult year.

Some still planted corn, knowing they likely wouldn't harvest a full grain crop.

[{"type":"text","text":"Instead, many will chop the drought-stressed corn for cattle feed."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Yields will be way down,\" Graves said."}]

With the irrigation water soon to dry up, many farmers and ranchers will lease water from other users who aren’t planting this year, Miller said. Most who have planted also rely on supplemental wells.

Graves added that ranchers will move their stock to where the water is. Herd numbers are way down, however, 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Relief Came, But Not Enough"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"On July 11, an annual silt run provided relief."}]

During the silt run, water is released through reservoirs at higher flows to stir up and carry sediment downstream. As the silt settles into canal bottoms and banks, it reduces seepage losses.

This year, the silt run increased the canal’s water supply from 14 feet to 240 feet, Miller said.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It helped tremendously this year,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Even so, the improvement wasn't enough to lengthen the irrigation season."}]

The Pathfinder district considered leasing additional water but decided against it.

"The amount we'd have had to lease wouldn't have been enough to finish growing a crop in Wyoming," Miller said, noting leased water also comes with a hefty price tag.

With irrigation water about to disappear, many producers are scrambling to finish the season.

Some farmers will lease water from neighbors who chose not to plant crops this year, Miller said. Others will rely on supplemental irrigation wells where available.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Reservoir Continues To Fall"}]

The Pathfinder Reservoir, just under 24% full three weeks ago, now sits at 18.8%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Despite the grim conditions, Miller praised the district's irrigators for stretching every available gallon.

"This is their livelihood," he said. "They've been so workable. They've got to be frustrated. They've done their very best."

[{"type":"text","text":"The district echoed that sentiment in Thursday's announcement."}]

"Our water users have demonstrated exceptional cooperation, patience and responsible water management," the statement said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Hoping This Year Is An Exception"}]

Nearly all of Wyoming remains in drought after the state's fifth-driest winter since records began in 1895. About 46% of the state is currently classified in extreme drought.

“I don’t know that people could sustain another year like this,” Graves said.

The Pathfinder Irrigation District called the 2026 irrigation season one of the most difficult in its history because of the exceptionally limited water supply.

Still, district leaders are hoping the historic conditions prove temporary.

"We remain hopeful that this is a one-year event and look forward to more favorable water conditions in the future," the district said.

Sugar Beet harvest 7 31 26

<title>Historic Drought Ends Irrigation Season Early For Eastern Wyoming Farmers | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Pathfinder Irrigation District will shut off its main canal next week after record-low snowpack and historic drought have left too little water to finish the growing season in eastern Wyoming. Around Wheatland, users had just 14 days of water.

Historic Drought Ends Irrigation Season Early For Eastern Wyoming Farmers

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

[{"type":"text","text":"In Wyoming elections, Trump giveth and Trump taketh away."}]

He’ll endorse some candidates on Election Day and others more than a year before they can even file to run. 

A three-time general-election favorite of the reddest state in the nation himself, Trump’s picks almost always win the state’s Republican primary elections.

The president has not endorsed anyone in Wyoming’s most bitter struggle for statewide office, the nine-candidate field of Republicans vying for U.S. House.

[{"type":"text","text":"It’s unclear if he will. The election is Aug. 18."}]

One of the nine GOP candidates, conservative activist Steve Friess told Cowboy State Daily in a 

 that he’s heard he’s under consideration for an endorsement.

The White House did not respond to a request for confirmation by publication.  

Certified public accountant and political analyst Bill Cubin — son of former U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin — said in his own Friday interview that it wouldn’t surprise him if Friess has been getting “positive comments” from the Trump inner circle.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I’ll bet you privately, Chuck Gray is too,” added Cubin."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"‘"},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Trump World'"}]

Secretary of State Gray, Friess, and seven other Republicans are running for the GOP nomination to the seat after U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman announced she’s leaving it to run for Senate.

The other candidates are: state Senate President Bo Biteman, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, military veterans Kevin Christensen and David Giralt, former legislator Keith Goodenough, actor/singer Richard Dodson and Casper businessman Reid Rasner.

“It’ll be interesting to see what they do,” said Cubin of Trump’s top staffers, whom he calls “Trump world.”

“My personal opinion — if, you know, I’m connected to Trump world — my message to the president would be, there’s no reason to endorse anybody,” said Cubin. “Because whoever you get is going be your ally in the House.”

Wyoming hasn’t elected a Democrat to its lone U.S. House seat in 50 years.  

The first criterion in winning a Trump endorsement is past support for Trump, said Cubin.

[{"type":"text","text":"Plus, he said, the president likes to win."}]

“They’re going to pick someone that they think has a good chance of winning,” said Cubin. “Or they’ll pick an opponent of someone they hate.”

Projecting electoral victory also sends the message, “We run the Republican Party,” he added.

[{"type":"text","text":"On Election Day"}]

President Donald Trump endorsed Steve Friess’s late father, Foster Friess, for his gubernatorial run on primary election day in 2018.

The last-minute move wasn’t enough to get the Republican over the finish line, and he finished second place with about 26% of the vote after now-Gov. Mark Gordon, who won 33.4% and went on to win the general election.

Now-U.S. Rep. Hageman finished third in that race with about 21% of the vote, and three more Republicans trailed.

Trump later told the Daily Caller that he’d come to realize that by the time he endorsed Foster Friess, “almost 70% of the vote was already cast."

Foster Friess had shown a newsworthy support of Trump, opting to give the presidential hopeful financial backing in 2016 — a move 

 “a sign that more of the party’s moneyed elite are rallying behind Trump’s unconventional White House campaign.”

On the other end of the timing spectrum, Trump 

 for reelection 14 months before she could legally file to run again.

[{"type":"text","text":"And Lummis later chose not to run again."}]

Wyoming’s primary election, which tends to be more decisive than its general election, falls around the third week in August.

More timely were Trump’s past endorsements of U.S. Sen. John Barrasso (

), and state Senate candidate (now-U.S. Attorney for Wyoming) Darin Smith (

[{"type":"text","text":"The Switcharoo"}]

Trump endorsed Brian Schroeder in the 2022 race for Superintendent of Public Instruction, but Megan Degenfelder won.

It was the president’s second high-profile endorsee loss in a Wyoming race.

This cycle, Trump endorsed Degenfelder in her bid for governor on Jan. 9 — seven months before the election and three days before she publicly declared the run.

[{"type":"text","text":"Cubin noted that Hageman, a Trump ally, has also endorsed Degenfelder."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"That may be the right race for calling out preferences, said Cubin."}]

“Because there are only 50 governors in the country, you know,” he said.

Conversely, the House and Senate are more crowded arenas, with 437 representatives and 100 senators respectively.

Also in 2022, Trump endorsed Gray for secretary of state, and state Treasurer Curt Meier for reelection.

Trump pointed favor toward Gray again in 2023, 

 that covered in part a Laramie attorney’s challenge against Gray’s office, against Trump’s eligibility to appear on the Wyoming ballot.

for the Senate president’s efforts in passing school-choice legislation.

No Wyomingite is referenced more on Trump’s TruthSocial page than former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, his sworn enemy.

The Republican delegate helped to investigate Trump as part of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol.

[{"type":"text","text":"It’s often called the J6 Committee."}]

Trump speculated in May 2022 about Cheney dropping out of the race rather than filing for reelection. He held a 

 in Casper that month to raise money for Hageman’s challenge against Cheney.  

” one month before her 2022 primary election.

 after Hageman beat Cheney overwhelmingly. He derided Cheney again on 

 calling her a “Warmonger of low intelligence.”

Trump endorse 7 31 26

<title>Will President Trump Endorse Anyone In The Wyoming GOP House Race? | Cowboy State Daily</title>

President Trump has not endorsed anyone in the nine-candidate Republican race for U.S. House and it’s unclear if he will. The president has a good batting average in Wyoming, but his endorsement hasn't meant a win every time.

Will President Trump Endorse Anyone In The Wyoming GOP House Race?

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Public Lands

Horse advocates are alleging that the Bureau of Land Management rushed rounded-up mustangs through holding corrals near Lander and sent them to dealers who subsequently sold them for slaughter.

Oregon-based Skydog Sanctuary has filed a complaint with the BLM. The group alleges the horses passed through the Lander Public Off-Range Pasture, also known as the Wind River Ranch, before they were sent to dealers in other states and sold for slaughter. 

The BLM confirmed it sends horses to the Wind River 

"We do have a contract with that sanctuary, which is authorized to offer horses for adoption and direct sale,” BLM spokeswoman Courtney Whiteman said in an email to Cowboy State Dai

Groups of horses, totaling 24 animals, arrived at the pasture in May and July. The Wind River Ranch is supposed to be a “long-term care” facility for mustangs rounded up off the range in Wyoming and other states, according to Skydog

But the horses were quickly sent to a dealer in Colorado, with no public notice of sale, Skydog claims.

“The horses whose sales were recorded were sold the same day as they arrived at Lander, indicating that the buyers were aware in advance that they were arriving,” according to Skydog.

Among those horses was at least one from Wyoming’s Salt Wells Creek herd, according to Skydog. That herd includes rare curly-haired mustangs.

“Nothing is as magnificent as the curlies that come out of Wyoming and the Salt Wells Creek herd,” Skydog founder Clare Staples told Cowboy State Daily.

She’s adopted several Wyoming mustangs, which live on her 9,000-acre horse and burro sanctuary near Bend, Oregon.

Staples said the latest complaint is the eighth Skydog and other wild-horse advocates have filed against the BLM recently.

However, the latest allegations stand out because of the status of the Wind River Ranch.

“This was unusual, because that’s supposed to be a semi-sanctuary facility,” she said. “Having the horses allegedly moved through so quickly and snatched up by one buyer really isn’t normal, like anything we’ve ever seen.” 

She also noted that some of the horses allegedly later sold for slaughter were young and healthy.

“Horses that absolutely could find some wonderful homes, but they’re not being offered a chance,” she said.

Wild-horse advocate Suzanne Roy told Cowboy State Daily the complaint claims the BLM broke its own rules by sending horses to a dealer known to sell horses for slaughter.

Advocates contend the BLM is not to knowingly send horses to slaughter or knowingly send or sell them to dealers who might do so, said Roy, founder of American Wild Horse Conservation based in Davis, California.

There are no longer any horse-slaughter plants in the United States, so horses are shipped to slaughterhouses in Mexico.

There is an overseas market for horse meat. Belgian chef Alfons Gulickx previously told Cowboy State Daily 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Continuous Check-Ins'"}]

Whiteman said the BLM prioritizes getting mustangs adopted

Adopted horses’ titles remain with the BLM for a year, during which time the agency conducts “continuous check-ins” to ensure the horses are well-cared for before the title is transferred to the new owner.

Even when horses can’t be adopted, the BLM looks out for their welfare, Whitman said. 

"A horse may only be offered for direct sale after it has been unsuccessfully offered for adoption three times. With a direct sale comes an agreement where the buyer agrees they intend to keep the horse humanely, then a transfer of title,” she wrote. "BLM ensures all adopted and sold wild horses have met these conditions, and we investigate any complaints that come to us. After a horse's transfer of title, it is no longer under our jurisdiction. However, we do look into complaints regarding buyers or adopters potentially breaching the terms of their contract.” 

Those who have concerns about the fate of mustangs should contact the BLM directly, Whiteman said. 

"Our law enforcement and wild horse and burro specialist staff investigate these complaints thoroughly and seriously,” she wrote. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Tip Of The Iceberg’"}]

As a method of population control, the BLM frequently rounds up mustangs in Wyoming and other states.

The agency’s mission should be to adopt those horses out to people who will give them good homes, Roy said.

However, she said she thinks the agency is moving away from that and toward funneling horses to slaughter dealers.

“They don’t call them ‘adoption events’ anymore. They call them ‘placement events,’” she said.

“We’ve tracked large groups of horses going straight from events to ‘kill pens,’ where they’re sold for slaughter,” she said.

Advocates claim about 320 horses have been sent to kill pens across the country, Roy said.

“That’s probably just the tip of the iceberg,” she added.

According to Skydog, Wyoming mustangs that have allegedly gone to kill pens include:

• A 7-year-old gelding from the White Mountain herd, sold at a kill pen in Oklahoma on June 22.

• A 5-year-old mare from the Steward Creek herd, sold May 30 in Colorado.

• A 4-year-old gelding from the Salt Wells Creek herd, sold May 8 in Texas.

• An 8-year-old mare from the Divide Basin herd, sold in Oklahoma on March 25.

Wild horses 7 31 26

<title>Mustang Advocates Claim BLM Funneled Wyoming Wild Horses To Dealer For Slaughter | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Mustang advocates are alleging that horses were funneled from a Bureau of Land Management holding facility near Lander to dealers in other states, who subsequently sold them for slaughter. A BLM spokesperson says the agency prioritizes adoption.

Mustang Advocates Claim BLM Funneled Wyoming Wild Horses To Dealer For Slaughter

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

Andrew Rossi

Public Safety

 numbers from northwest Wyoming are of increasing concern to the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

, the Beartooth Highway. It’s the seventh motorcycle accident on the Beartooth Highway and Wyoming Highway 296, or Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, this year.

“That doesn’t sound like a lot of paper, but it’s tied for the worst year on record for (U.S.) 212 and 296,” said Aaron Brown, Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) spokesman. “We have seven crashes (on the two highways) in 2004. We’re already at seven in 2026, and they've all happened in July." 

But that isn’t the total number of reported crashes between the two highways this year. Brown said WHP troopers have colloquially told him of 

 that other agencies in Wyoming and Montana responded to this summer.

“Anecdotally, my troopers are saying they're seeing as many as 18 crashes so far this year,” he said. “If that is true, that's more than the number of motorcycle crashes on 212 between 2021 and 2025 combined.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Navigating Reports"}]

There still isn’t much information on what happened to the motorcyclist who died on the Beartooth Highway Thursday.

The crash occurred near mile marker 21 on U.S. 212, between the Top of the World Store and the Island Lake Campground. Multiple agencies responded, including the WHP, First Flight of Wyoming, and Red Lodge Fire Rescue.

The official investigation is ongoing, but Brown said preliminary reports indicate there were only two likely causes: a medical emergency or operator inattention.

“The fatality we had yesterday wasn't even on a hairpin curve,” he said. “It was a very soft curve in a very beautiful area. The only things that make sense are either a medical situation or distraction, but we're still waiting for the official report.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Curves Ahead"}]

According to Brown, WHP troopers have interviewed several people who were injured in motorcycle accidents on 212 and 296. Many of them have shared similar narratives of what led to their crashes.

“When troopers have spoken to the riders, a lot of accidents occurred when they were coming around one of those tight hairpin turns,” he said. “A lot of times they were following that white line on the outside, called the fog line.”

As motorcyclists followed the fog line and came to a tight curve, they were going too fast for a safe turn, Brown said. As they attempted to navigate the turn, they overcorrected and, with little to no shoulder, drove off the road.

That scenario explains a majority of motorcycle crashes on 212 and 296, but it doesn’t account for what happened to the victim of Thursday’s accident.

For Brown, a contributing factor to these accidents isn’t the road, it’s the landscape.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A View To Not Die For"}]

The Beartooth and Chief Joseph Scenic highways are among the most spectacular mountain highways in the United States. They’re renowned for their vistas, which would turn anyone’s head.

The Wyoming Highway Patrol has responded to more motorcycle crashes on the Beartooth Highway this year than the last four combined, including Thursday's fatality. With the Sturgis Rally looming, they're fearful of more crashes on the scenic mountain road.

You Still Here? Wednesday, February 14, 2024

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