Daily Darwin

[{"type":"text","text":"You'll want to park your car close so you get a good view..."}]

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

<title>Daily Darwin: Friday, March 8, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You'll want to park your car close so you get a good view...

Daily Darwin: Friday, March 8, 2024

 You'll want to park your car close so you get a good view...

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.”

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<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

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<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

Outdoors

American robins are such a common sight in Wyoming that most people barely notice them.

They bounce across lawns, tug worms from flower beds and chatter from fence posts all summer long. They're so familiar that they practically become part of the landscape.

But when a rare 1-in-30,000 albino robin showed up in the yard of a Cheyenne-area couple, they noticed this bird was something special.

Heather and Eric Wiseman said that they’ve been keeping tabs on a snow-white fledgling robin with pink-red eyes since it first appeared in their yard June 6.

"Look what I found," Eric Wiseman told his wife, showing her a cellphone photo of the unusual visitor.

That also was the day of a memorial service for one of their friends, Gail.

"If I was to call the bird anything, I'd call it Gail,” Heather Wiseman said.

Coincidence or not, the robin quickly became something the couple looked forward to seeing each day.

"It got me a little down when I didn't see him for a day,” she said. "Then last night, he came back.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Backyard Haven"}]

By day, Heather Wiseman works as an X-ray technician. By evening, she's become something of an amateur birdwatcher.

"I just have a pair of mini binoculars," she said. "I'm not a real birder, but I might join the Audubon Society after this experience."

The couple's property has become something of a sanctuary for small wildlife. They keep fresh water available, maintain two bird baths, and have a bird feeder that attracts a steady stream of visitors.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Nothing special, but they love it,\" Wiseman said."}]

The albino robin seems particularly fond of several towering blue spruce trees she planted about 30 years ago.

The trees provide shade and shelter, and the young bird often disappears among the branches before reappearing on the lawn.

The unusual robin isn't the only surprise visitor the couple has hosted recently. A few weeks ago they spotted a Western tanager. Then came a red-headed woodpecker.

"Three birds in less than three months that we haven't seen before," Wiseman said. "We live in the county, and it's a haven for birds."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Following Mom"}]

The white robin's appearance caught the attention of Zach Hutchinson, community science coordinator for Audubon Rockies.

After reviewing photographs of the Wiseman’s bird, Hutchinson confirmed the bird is a fledgling American robin and that it appears to be a rare albino.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It's following its mother around and begging for food,\" he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Several of Wiseman's photographs capture exactly that."}]

In one image, the young bird stands with its mouth open while an adult robin delivers food. In another, the pair forage together in the grass.

Despite its unusual appearance, the fledgling appears to be behaving like any other young robin.

[{"type":"text","text":"To its mother, there doesn't seem to be anything unusual about it at all."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Rare, But Vulnerable"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"What makes the bird remarkable is its coloration."}]

The robin's white feathers and pink-red eyes are consistent with albinism, a genetic condition that prevents the body from producing melanin, the pigment responsible for color in feathers, skin and eyes.

The red eye visible in Wiseman's close-up photographs is one of the strongest indicators of true albinism, said Hutchinson.

While the condition creates a striking appearance, it can also create challenges.

"These animals are easily found by predators, and the albinism can have other effects on their physical health," Hutchinson added. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Birds rely on melanin for more than color."}]

"For instance, in birds, the lack of pigmentation of feathers leads to extreme feather wear and weakened feathers," he said.

That means albino birds often stand out in ways that can make survival more difficult.

Against the dark green branches of a blue spruce tree, the Wisemans' robin seems to glow. Perched on a fence post against a Wyoming-blue sky, it's almost impossible to miss.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Rooting For Gail"}]

Researchers have long noted that albino robins seem to appear disproportionately often among reports of albino birds, likely because robins live so closely alongside people.

Most unusual birds can disappear unnoticed into forests or grasslands. Robins, meanwhile, spend much of their lives in backyards, parks and neighborhoods where people are more likely to spot them.

For now, the Wisemans aren’t focused on scientific theories. Heather said she's​ simply enjoying the chance to watch an extraordinary bird grow up.

[{"type":"text","text":"The robin has become something of a celebrity among family and friends."}]

"I had some family over last night and I got to show them the bird," she said. "It was nice to share."

The photographs that sparked interest online weren't taken with expensive camera equipment or professional lenses.

"I just have a cellphone," Wiseman said. "I don't have a Canon or anything."

Yet those snapshots captured something many birdwatchers never see — a one in 30,000 albino robin. 

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<title>Rare 1-In-30,000 Albino Robin Hangs Out In Yard Of Cheyenne-Area Couple | Cowboy State Daily</title>

With its stark white feathers and red eyes, what Audubon Rockies says looks like a rare 1-in-30,000 albino robin has been hanging out in the yard of a Cheyenne-area couple. "It's following its mother around and begging for food,” said the homeowner.

Rare 1-In-30,000 Albino Robin Hangs Out In Yard Of Cheyenne-Area Couple

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

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

Hunting

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

Aron Snyder posted a video statement on social media over the weekend in which he says the coyote video was taken in Texas in 2019 or 2020.

He said that he finished off the wounded coyote with a knife because he didn’t have a firearm with him at the time. He also admits that the video is "a very bad optic."

Snyder also confirmed that because of the video, his employment has been terminated, and that he accepts that decision.

 to Cowboy State Daily last week, saying that Snyder is from Riverton. The video and accompanying information were also sent to wildlife agencies and animal welfare groups in Wyoming and several other states.

There was no response to messages to cellphone numbers registered to Snyder.

Cowboy State Daily reached out to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), asking if the department is investigating the incident depicted in the coyote-killing video, and if any reaction might result.

TPWD law enforcement spokeswoman Maggie Berger promptly responded with an email saying she would check into it, but was swamped early Monday.

“We are currently responding to service calls due to flooding and severe weather in multiple areas of the state as well as much time being dedicated to the new world screwworm response,” she stated.

There is concern in Texas that an emerging screwworm infestation in cattle will 

. There’s also worry that it could eventually hit big game herds in other states, including Wyoming.

Response to the coyote video has been overwhelmingly negative. Some hunters and animal welfare advocates have condemned the depicted actions as unethical and cruel.

However, some social media commenters have supported Snyder, saying the video shows him doing what he had to do to kill the coyote with the means he had at hand at the time.

In the video, Snyder is seen stabbing the coyote once in the shoulder area. Supporters have commented that indicates he was trying to puncture the coyote’s lungs and/or heart, which would have resulted in a quick death.

In his statement, Snyder said the video was taken during a coyote hunt “after an ice storm” in Texas.

“The coyotes were wreaking havoc on my buddy’s cattle, horses (and) dogs, as they do,” he said.

He said he drove an ATV to the location where the coyote in question was, but had left his gun behind in a pickup.

“When I got to it (the coyote), um, it wasn’t dead, it was still alive,” he said. "Pulled it out of a brush pile, um, kicked its legs out from under it, stabbed it, you know, it was growling at me, I kicked it again."

He also said he performed a “dead check” on the animal. That’s a term hunters use for checking to make sure an animal is dead.

Snyder said he recalled that he might have stabbed the coyote once more, although the video clip shows him stabbing it only once.

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.

Daily Darwin: Friday, March 8, 2024

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