One More For The Road

We've all been there. Sometimes when you're in a hurry, the collateral damage is worth it....

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

<title>One More For The Road: Saturday, March 9, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

One More For The Road: Saturday, March 9, 2024

 We've all been there. Sometimes when you're in a hurry, the collateral damage is worth it....

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

A rancher near Choteau, Montana, caught video of six grizzlies strolling across his calving lot behind his barn late Monday, and said there were as many as seven bears on his property that night.

The next morning, rancher Neal Collins said agents from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks hazed as many as 10 grizzlies out of patches of brush across the road from his place.

Collins said no people or livestock were attacked by the bears on his place, and FWP used non-lethal “cracker” shotgun shells to scare off the bears.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A ‘Herd’ Of Grizzlies"}]

Sparky Wallace, a friend of Collins who also lives near Choteau, somewhat humorously described the group of grizzlies as a “herd.”

He told Cowboy State Daily he and some of his neighbors have had encounters with multiple bears, as the number of grizzlies out on the prairie has steadily increased.  

Chad White, a bear management specialist with Montana FWP, said the bears on Collins’ property were probably a “couple of family groups that have been hanging out in the area.”

Meaning, they were likely two related adult females such as “a mother and daughter” and their cubs, White said.

The Choteau area has been busy with bear activity this spring and summer. The bears wander from the Rocky Mountain Front onto the prairie along the Teton River, which flows past Choteau. 

The bears might be feeding on green vegetation and other natural food sources, then taking shelter in brush patches.

“It may be that he (Collins) has the natural shelter for day bedding and they were traveling around the area,” White said. 

White said the FWP bear manager responding to Collins’ call told him as many as 10 grizzlies fled once the hazing stared.

FWP personnel fired cracker shells into the brush where the bears were holed up. Cracker shells fire a small explosive charge with a delayed fuse, designed to explode in the air and ward off predators such as bears and wolves.

“The six or seven bears in the family groups ran off in one direction, and two or three more ran off in another direction,” he said.

It’s not known where the other two or three bears might have come from, White added.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Alarm Barks"}]

Collins said he was first alerted to the bears’ presence Monday when one of his dogs started frantically barking at about 9:30 p.m.

“We’ve got this one dog that’s supposed to be a cow dog, but she’s really not,” he said. “She was just barking, barking, barking. She barks on occasion, but not like that.” 

He said he stepped outside to investigate and saw a “flash of a bear.”

So, he immediately went back into his house, shooing the dog inside with him.

A camera he has mounted on the backside of his barn caught video and photos of the bears.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘You Get Immune To It’"}]

Collins’ ranch is about 35 miles out on the prairie from the Rocky Mountain front.

Grizzlies are usually associated with mountain habitat. However, they were originally a Great Plains species, and were driven into the mountains as the West was settled.

Grizzlies have been growing in number and expanding their range in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho in recent decades. In Montana, they’ve been pushing ever-farther onto the prairies.

Collins said his father was in his 70s before he ever saw a grizzly anywhere near Choteau. But the bears have become a common sight of late.

When asked if having the bears around worried him, Collins said, “I suppose, but you get immune to it.”

Even so, he’s not happy about the growing number of prairie grizzlies.

“There here, even though I don’t want them here,” he said.

In Wyoming, grizzlies attacking cattle is frequently listed as the leading cause of human-bear conflict.

Collins said he hasn’t lost any livestock to bears yet.

"Even so, they sure don’t help them (the cattle) even if they don’t kill them,” he said. "They move through the cattle herd and stir them up.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bird Hunting Gets Wild"}]

North-central Montana is a bird hunter’s paradise. And in decades past, grizzlies would have been the furthest things from bird hunters’ minds.

That’s not the case any longer. In 2023, 

 between bird and whitetail deer hunters in separate incidents.

Those occurred in the vicinity of the Freezeout Lake Wildlife Management Area. It’s between Choteau and Fairfield, Montana, about 40 miles west of Great Falls.

Collins said that several years ago, a bird hunter had to shoot and kill a charging grizzly across the road from his place.

“He ended up with a scratch on his arm, because the last shot was right at the end of the gun barrel,” he said.

Wallace, a horse trainer and saddle maker, said he’s run into multiple grizzlies while bird hunting.

“I hunt ducks a lot. And even on the little prairie potholes out here, you’ve got to walk in there loaded and ready for bears,” he said.

Herd of grizzlies 2 6 30 26

<title>Holy Cow! Montana Rancher Spots 'Herd' Of 7 Grizzlies On Property | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Montana rancher Neal Collins said a camera on his barn captured a "herd" of seven grizzlies on his property Monday night. The next morning, agents from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks hazed 10 grizzlies out of brush across the road from his place.

Holy Cow! Montana Rancher Spots 'Herd' Of 7 Grizzlies On Property

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

Clair McFarland

Crime & Courts

Courts

The Wyoming Republican Party is appealing a judge’s ruling that state laws governing major party leadership elections apply to it. 

Uinta County District Court Judge James Kaste 

 that the Hot Springs County Republican Party’s 2025 leadership election in which non-precinct committee people were allowed to vote was not legal. 

The Wyoming Republican Party’s Dispute Resolution Committee had insisted that the election was legal and upheld it. While the election didn’t square with state law, it squared with the party’s bylaws. 

[{"type":"text","text":"The judge ordered the state party to follow state law over its bylaws. "}]

The Wyoming Republican Party informed Kaste’s court Friday that it’s asking a higher tribunal, the Wyoming Supreme Court, to review his order. 

“Through undersigned counsel, notice is hereby given that Defendants Wyoming Republican Party, Wyoming Republican Party State Central Committee, and Wyoming Republican Party Dispute Resolution Committee appeal the Court’s 

” says the Friday motion by the party’s attorney, Thomas Szott of The Bernhoft Law Firm. 

Now the party is waging multiple legal challenges in which it argues that it may follow its bylaws over Wyoming law. 

Earlier this month, the Wyoming GOP challenged the Secretary of State’s Office in federal court in an 

 a law barring major parties from financially backing one of their affiliated candidates over another in the primary election cycle. 

Each party can bankroll the nominees its registrants choose at the primary election in the three months between the primary and general election — but not before. 

That law has been interpreted over the years to equate to a ban on the party endorsing specific candidates in the primary cycle, GOP Chair Bryan Miller told convention attendees in April. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Well That Depends"}]

Whether political parties’ associational and free-speech rights rise above the state laws that govern them is a recurring judicial topic nationwide. 

[{"type":"text","text":"The answer is sometimes, according to Kaste’s May 29 order. "}]

Kaste noted that Wyoming election law doesn’t dictate the state party’s membership directly. 

Freedom of association is a right, and it gives political parties some protection from state infringement, noted Kaste from a 1986 case called Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut. 

But courts also use a balancing test called the Anderson-Burdick test when parties assert this right, and they consider how burdensome the state’s laws are on that right. 

If the burden is severe, the court judges the state’s infringement under a rigorous constitutional standard that most laws do not survive, called strict scrutiny.

But if the state is only imposing a “lesser burden” on the party, then the state’s important regulatory interests are usually enough to justify “reasonable, nondiscriminatory restrictions,” Kaste noted from an earlier case. 

State party leaders who were sued in this case claimed Wyoming violated the party’s rights. 

“Defendants are incorrect,” wrote Kaste.

The state laws impose minimal burdens on the party’s associational rights, and the state’s important regulatory interests justify them “amply,” said the judge. 

He added that the party relied on oblique cases while ignoring cases “that are more squarely on point.”

Wyoming law lays some tasks and formational requirements on the party, but the party’s role in filling vacancies is a privilege in which the state has an important interest, he added. 

The Wyoming laws challenged in this case impose only a minimal burden on the party, says Kaste’s order. 

The state has a legitimate interest in how office vacancies are filled, he wrote. 

“It would be a real problem if a vacancy occurred in a public office and the State had no one to call,” Kaste said, adding that the biennial election also ensures orderly election tasks, like nominating presidential electors before general elections

But Kaste’s order doesn’t address the endorsement and financial backing issue the party has raised in federal, not state court. That case is ongoing. 

Wyoming GOP Headquarters 5 6 30 26

<title>Wyoming Republican Party Appeals Judge's Order Telling It To Follow State Law | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Wyoming Republican Party is appealing a judge’s ruling that its rules don’t trump state law in electing its leaders. Now the party is waging multiple legal challenges in which it argues that it may follow its bylaws over Wyoming law. 

Wyoming Republican Party Appeals Judge's Order Telling It To Follow State Law

Jen kocher

Jen Kocher

Law Enforcement

The Campbell County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in locating a Gillette man missing for two weeks.

Derek Schaff, 43, was last seen June 12 at the Weston Hills recreational area, a popular four-wheeling and hunting area jointly owned by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service about 25 miles north of Gillette on Highway 59.

The sheriff’s office and partner agencies have deployed drones, K-9 teams, and search and rescue personnel across the rugged terrain, but Schaff has not been found, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about his whereabouts in the days and hours leading up to his disappearance to contact their office.

“Even information that may seem insignificant could prove valuable to investigators,” the statement said, adding that it’s an active and ongoing investigation. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Extremely Worried'"}]

Little information has been released about the circumstances under which Schaff disappeared or why he may have gone to the recreation area in remote Campbell County.

"We are extremely worried about him and any information could be helpful," said Melissa Schaff, Derek's sister-in-law, adding that the family is working alongside law enforcement and WyoFind.  

Stacy Koester, president and founder of the Gillette-based 

, also has been in frequent contact with the Schaffs and continues to work with them along with law enforcement.

"They are grateful for all the work the sheriff’s office has done and with their communication with them.,” Koester said.

Koester also met with the Sgt. Gary Sams, lead investigator on the case with the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office.

Sams was on-site investigating and said he was unable to answer additional questions in response to Cowboy State Daily’s request for information. He said only that his office has received help from Natrona, Sheridan and Weston county search and rescue teams.

Koester and a small group of WyoFind volunteers have also been granted permission from Sams to search the area on foot and with drones in conjunction with their efforts, she said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Intensified Search Efforts"}]

Koester also encouraged anyone with information to contact the sheriff’s office but said people can also 

report anonymous tips on the WyoFind website

, which will be directly passed on to investigators.

“WyoFind recognizes that some individuals may hesitate to contact law enforcement directly due to personal circumstances, lifestyles, or activities,” Koester said.

In the meantime, Koester is planning upcoming search efforts with the support of the sheriff’s office and Schaff’s family.

“This collaboration reflects a shared commitment between local authorities, community members, and WyoFind volunteers to locate Derek and provide continued support to his loved ones,” Koester said.

Anyone with information can contact the Campbell County Sheriff's Office at 307-682-7271 or 307-687-6176. 

 on the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s website.

Weston hills 6 30 26

<title>Gillette Man Missing For 2 Weeks In Rugged Weston Hills Recreation Area | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Campbell County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in locating a Gillette man missing for two weeks. The sheriff’s office have deployed drones, K-9 teams, and search and rescue personnel across the rugged terrain, but Schaff has not been found.

Gillette Man Missing For 2 Weeks In Rugged Weston Hills Recreation Area

Government & Politics

Politics

Some Democrats nationally are calling for a “schism,” 

 growing socialist movement in the party.

Wyoming Democrats told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that there’s no similar call within the Cowboy State’s blue party.

They gave different reasons as to why - ranging from their party's low numbers, to Wyoming's unique culture, to the need for pragmatism in the state and the West. 

“No (we’re not divorcing). There’s like three of us,” said former Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank, who served under Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal and is a moderate Democrat himself.

“It’s hard to fight when there’s only three of you. It’s such a non-factor,” he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"But First, The Divorce …"}]

Former President Bill Clinton’s campaign strategist James Carville last 

week lamented the intense media attention

 on the New York Democratic primary election where, as The Associated Press put it, “New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s slate of fiery progressives swept establishment-backed Democrats.”  

Carville in a video interview said, “The idea — the idea that we must neglect … all the huge, phenomenal success we’ve had and declare that the party is now under the control of a Democratic Socialist of New York City is insane.”

[{"type":"text","text":"The Mamdani wing of the party is too extreme for Carville, he indicated."}]

“Not only are they not Democrats, they wish Democrats poorly,” said Carville. “Let’s negotiate the terms of a schism here.”

He said he’s “enthusiastic” about questioning the policies of Israeli leadership, but isn’t comfortable being in a party that denies the Israeli state’s right to exist.

Conservative USA Today columnist Nicole Russell 

 at how readily Democratic congressional leaders are welcoming the far-left candidates who still have a general election ahead of them.  

[{"type":"text","text":"What Kinda Tent Y'all In? "}]

The Wyoming Democratic Party is a big collaborative tent, the party’s communications Mandy Weaver said in a Tuesday phone interview.

New York is “far removed from the things that happen in our state, and as Wyoming Democrats, we’ve always been very different from a lot of the other states,” said Weaver. “Because we are so small

[{"type":"text","text":"Disagreements surface, said Weaver, and “we hammer them out.”"}]

She couldn’t imagine anyone calling for a divorce of the Wyoming Democratic Party, she added. She pointed to the 

, which she said comprises “Wyoming values” and nothing extreme.

Weaver called Wyoming’s Democratic elected officials “very solution oriented.”

State Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie, echoed those notions in his own Tuesday interview. He also said he and the Democrats he knows “respect the cowboy way and the code of the West.”

Chestek said he also believes the term “socialism” has been weaponized, and he voiced a desire for more nuanced discussions of public benefits.

Sen. Chris Rothfuss, also of Laramie, is one of two Democrats in the state Legislature’s 31-member upper chamber.

He said that because Democratic policy-makers prefer to focus on people and their specific needs, the party’s policy goals in Wyoming are bound to be distinct from elsewhere.

“Wyoming is not New York City, so what the people need in New York City is going to be very different from what the people need in the state of Wyoming,” he said, adding with a chuckle, “Our people want access to public lands. I don’t know that that’s necessarily a top issue in New York City, as an example.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Whether Purists Are Good For Everyone Else"}]

Foraying into some analysis, Rothfuss said the Democratic Party nationally is searching for identity and leadership.

 The lack of identity “leads to challenges for identifying that leadership,” said Rothfuss.

Each major party contains factions of purists, he said, “And they have a philosophy, and they think everyone should have that philosophy.”

On the one hand, said Rothfuss, purism pushes the party toward a “small tent” mindset. On the other hand, watching the purity faction in play helps the left pinpoint its aspirations and how well they might function in real life.

“And that’s also, unfortunately, where all the advocacy is. And I say unfortunately because I don’t think it’s health that we don’t have anyone advocating for moderation,” said Rothfuss. “There’s no passion for moderation.”

Crank voiced a darker view of the purist, or what he called the “extreme” faction in the Democratic Party, saying extremism divides and alienates people.

As an example, “The far left says fracking is bad, we should all ban fracking,” said Crank. “That’s (Sen.) Bernie Sanders’ position. That’s ridiculous.”

People can address potential environmental problems with the practice, he said, “but that’s very effective to produce oil and gas. We need to do that in Wyoming.”

Crank pointed to other extreme stances, such as some pro-choice groups’ support of partial-birth abortions, and some extreme left-versus-right clashes on whether people should have guns at all.

“Those rabid positions drive people apart, lead to conflict in our society and, I think, give us shitty candidates,” said Crank. 

While Wyoming Democrats aren’t filing for divorce, the Republicans are about to do so, said Crank.

He referenced a Monday story by Cowboy State Daily in which a new political action committee, Common Sense Republicans for Wyoming, has 

 on the populist-leaning Republican faction the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

The notion that extremism divides people, while collaboration and pragmatism unite people, manifests through Wyoming’s Republican divide, said Crank.

“There’s a divorce going on. They just haven’t filed the paperwork quite yet,” he added.

Mandami rothfuss chestek

<title>Wyoming Democrats Say They’re Not Divorcing Party Over Mamdani, Socialism Movement | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Prominent Wyoming Democrats say they are not calling for a split in their party due to the growing socialist movement nationally. “Wyoming is not New York City,” so the issues are different, said state Sen. Chris Rothfuss.

Wyoming Democrats Say They’re Not Divorcing Party Over Mamdani, Socialism Movement

Julie Mankin

Around Wyoming

Eighth-grader Chaney Akin of Cody didn’t just dominate the National Junior High Finals Rodeo last week on her diminutive – but nationally famous – horse in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

Akin won the pole bending aggregate by almost a full second and capped the week by taking home All Around Cowgirl honors to rake in nearly $6,000.

Akin’s time of 19.60 seconds in the first round Tuesday morning – thought to be a Lazy E Arena record – came aboard her 19-year-old former trail-riding mare officially named Chick's Keen O Pocopoo but known affectionately by the family as “the little Paint donkey.”

“That was my fastest run ever in the poles,” said Akin, who had been awake all through the previous night thanks to tornado-related evacuations. “When I first looked at the scoreboard, I thought it said 19.9. But then I heard everyone screaming.”

The NJHFR drew more than 1,200 contestants from 40 states and six countries. Akin also finished 16th in barrel racing, on a gelding she trained, to secure the coveted All-Around Cowgirl award and lead the Wyoming girls to fourth in the team standings.

Two of the only other four sub-20.00 runs were posted by Casper’s Lanai Garnhart and Gillette’s Bella Moore. Garnhart finished second and 11-year-old Tinlee Thompson of Yoder third in the All Around Rookie Cowgirl standings behind a girl from Mexico.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Famous Horse"}]

It was Akin’s first NJHFR qualification, but her horse was already famous.

“Paint” became a rodeo Cinderella story in 2020 when Akin's mother, Brittney Sporer, took her all the way to the National Finals Rodeo in barrel racing despite the mare’s diminutive size and cowhorse breeding.

Many of the sport’s top fans didn’t realize at first that Akin was riding the same Paint. But the mare is distinctive.

She stands barely 14 hands tall and has such a narrow rear end that saddles must be custom-made. She got her wild red-and-white color from her sire, Mr. Dominator, and she’s out of a granddaughter of cowhorse legend Smart Chic Olena.

[{"type":"text","text":"She also has had cancer in one eye."}]

“She doesn't know she's 19,” Sporer wrote of Paint on Facebook after her daughter’s world titles. “She doesn't know how many miles she's traveled or how many memories she's made. She just knows she gets to load in the trailer and go somewhere with us to do the jobs she loves.”

Sporer grew up in Bakersfield, California, where she was sent Paint in 2016 for barrel-racing training when the mare was already 9. The duo made the California Circuit Finals Rodeo twice, and Sporer bought her along when she moved to Stephenville, Texas.

Since marrying Cody native Sid Sporer in 2022, she’s also made the Montana Circuit Finals twice on Paint. She said Paint has earned more than $300,000 running barrels.

“I did not like her at first,” Akin said of her mother’s rough-riding mare. “I hit a lot of barrels on her and don’t have much confidence on her in that event.”

But once the duo began winning at the poles, she’s decided she loves competing on Paint. Bending through all six poles six times at the NJHFR without a penalty for knocking one over is quite a feat.

“You just have to use your feet and not pull on her reins,” Akin said. “In the second round, I was a little handsy and had a 20.1. She lined out, after that.”

The NJHFR venue is smack in Tornado Alley. Last week, hundreds of families spent half of two nights evacuating horses from stalls and sheltering in the arena.

“The group of people who rodeo in Wyoming are amazing,” Sporer said. “One of the dads ran around to all of the trailers knocking to wake us up, and said, ‘We’ve got to go; there’s a tornado; we’ve got to get to the barn’. We hadn’t even gotten warnings on our phones. We loped our horses bareback up to the arena and sheltered for almost two hours.”

As of Monday, mother and daughter were eager to get home by July 2, when Sid Sporer is scheduled to compete in team roping at his big hometown rodeo in Cody.

Brittney Sporer admitted she and her daughter have started training all of his roping horses on the poles. He might not get them back, she joked. 

[{"type":"text","text":"However, Akin owes him."}]

 rodeo,” Brittney recalled. “At the time, I told my husband I was going to sell my horses. He said, ‘Absolutely not.’ Well, I texted him yesterday and said, ‘Thank you for not letting me sell my horse.’”

Chaney Akin of Cody didn’t just dominate the National Junior High Finals Rodeo last week on her diminutive – but nationally famous – horse in Oklahoma, she took home two world rodeo titles. Her famous horse has earned more than $300,000 running barrels.

One More For The Road: Saturday, March 9, 2024

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