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[{"type":"text","text":"We've all done it....."}]

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

<title>Bonus Video #1: Tuesday, July 30, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

We've all done it.....

Bonus Video #1: Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, June 17th.  I’m Mac Watson

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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. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that’s forced the state to return $50 million in payments. 

“Why is this case involving one and a half million acres of Wyoming oil and gas leases being heard in Montana and the and the answer, according to the oil and gas industry here in Wyoming, that I talked to, is these environmentalists have discovered a friendly judge in Montana who has ruled against oil and gas now three times on this issue, and so they're venue shopping. So, this group waited like years before bringing this suit, and finally they bring this suit. Well, some of these oil and gas leases have already been developed and are producing oil. They waited that long that some of these are already producing oil. It's enormously destructive to the industry.” 

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

Gov. Mark Gordon on Tuesday sued his tax board for refusing to recognize a 4% limit on property tax increases. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the governor says the board exceeded its law-given authority, and the executive branch's job is just to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”

“The Wyoming Board of Equalization last week told they issued a public report that was also kind of notice to assessors, like, hey, this 4% cap on property tax increases from year to year looks unconstitutional. It's got these crazy results, and we're not going to certify your tax values if that's in the calculation. and so assessors were scrambling last week, like, how do we deal with this? Whom do we obey, state law or the board that has the duty to certify the taxes? And so Governor Gordon on Tuesday was like, let's just ask a court to settle this, so he filed a motion in court for the court to block the board's non-certification, and for the court to settle the issue. The constitutional dispute.”

Gov. Gordon also asked the court to block the actions of the State Board of Equalization.

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. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that the homeowner says “It's following its mother around and begging for food.”

“Heather Wiseman lives outside of Cheyenne. She says by day she's an X-ray technician, and at night she's become something of an amateur bird watcher, so she was really excited when she came home and she found a white robin, which has since been confirmed to be an albino bird. According to Zach Hutchinson, the community science director with Audubon of the Rockies, when albinism shows up in birds like robins, they will be all white or partially white, but the key is that you'll notice they have pink eyes, and in this Robins case, it does have those signs.”

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

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Wyoming's attorney general on Tuesday said he appointed two prosecutors to investigate whether Secretary of State Chuck Gray violated any laws by releasing sensitive voter data to the federal government. But Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that neither decided to charge Gray with a crime.

“George Powers filed a writ of mandamus, telling the court, hey, I don't think the AG is doing what he's supposed to be doing here. Can you make him, can you get a special prosecutor, High Court, and get this investigation going? Well, the AG fired back Tuesday, saying we already got two special prosecutors, and neither of them wants to charge Chuck Gray. So the high court now can decide whether George Power's writ of mandamus petition is moot, meaning irrelevant, and I suppose George Powers can look at his options.”

In April, George Powers, a semi-retired attorney based in Cheyenne, filed an official complaint with the AG’s office accusing Gray of violating a state election law that makes data like the kind Gray reportedly released – voters’ partial Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers – confidential.

I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

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Rail Tie, one of Wyoming’s most controversial wind projects, got a new five-year extension from Albany County on Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that the lone commissioner who voted against the extension says the company is “fishing to keep the project alive.” 

“The Albany County commissioners voted two to one today to extend a permit for work on the Rail Tie wind project south of Laramie. The project has been controversial, it's on 26,000 acres and would generate 504 megawatts of wind energy. However, it's another big wind project. There are opponents arguing that it would play into this wind wall that we've been hearing about, the Wyoming wind wall, where all these big wind projects are connecting to each other in southeastern Wyoming, and kind of creating this massive wind farm.”

The vote allows developers to continue work on the 504-megawatt facility proposed on roughly 26,000 acres about 15 miles south of Laramie. 

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

Hundreds of swallows are swarming and nesting in Angie Pitts' lean-to in Mountain View. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that she didn't mind until she saw the bird droppings covering her vehicles, which she describes as “gross.”

“In two weeks, it looks like all of her vehicles have been painted with white polka dots, and she's not particularly happy about it. Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do. One thing she has been told to do, but has refused to – which is wise – because it's illegal, is to pull out the .22 and deal with the swallows that way. And while that's a very Wyoming solution to the problem, it is illegal to shoot swallows or do anything to disturb them while they're nesting, both by state and federal law.”

When Pitts pulled out her GMC pickup, she was “disgusted” by the number of bird droppings. Her red truck was so thoroughly covered, from hood to tailgate, that it looked as if she had painted it with white polka dots, but was quickly cleaned up with soap, water, and a pressure washer.

After years of watching lawn chairs and coolers appear earlier and earlier along the WYO Rodeo parade route, the Sheridan City Council on Monday banned people claiming spots too early. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports the police chief says this has been a problem for years.

“Police Chief Travis Kultiska has been asking residents for years to please set up just one day before the parade, rather than, you know, three or four days before, and he said rather than people complying, the problem seemed to get worse, where people were showing up earlier to claim their spots, and more people were showing up, so he felt like he had no choice but to approach the city council and ask for a resolution.”

The new rule prohibits anyone from placing personal property on public sidewalks, streets or alleyways along the parade route before 5 p.m. the day before the parade unless they receive authorization from the city.

A nonprofit in Mills, Wyoming, is training dogs to interrupt military veterans’ PTSD attacks. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that veteran Carol Salveson says after she lost her Green Beret son to suicide, she poured herself into a new mission. 

“She's a former Air Force, a veteran Air Force weather person, but when her son, a Green Beret, committed suicide, she decided she was going to train dogs. She just felt like I'm going to do this, and she started doing it on her own to help veterans. And then she found this organization, Project Kenny, which was started on the West Coast, and now it's centered in Casper, and she is their dog trainer, certified dog trainer.”

Salveson, who has always been a dog person, said her son also loved dogs and even when deployed to Afghanistan would find a feral dog to adopt. 

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And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on 

 - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our 

 channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

News image 6 17 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Wednesday, June 17, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wednesday's headlines include:
* Judge Tosses Wyoming Oil Leases
* Prosecutors Won’t Charge Chuck Gray
* Oh The Humanity! Bird Poop Everywhere!

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Coy Knobel

Don Day Weather

Sunny in most of Wyoming on Wednesday, windy, fire danger in some areas. Mix of cloudy and clear overnight and breezy. Highs mainly in the 70s to the low 80s. Lows mainly in the 40s.

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Sunny and breezy today with a high near 81 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 46 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph.

Sunny and breezy today with a high near 85 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 47 and wind gusts as high as 31 mph.

 Red flag fire warning until 10 p.m. tonight. Sunny and breezy today with a high near 79 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 45 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

 Sunny and breezy today with a high near 79 and wind gusts as high as 36 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 44 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph.

  Sunny and windy today with a high near 84 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 45 and wind gusts as high as 37 mph.

Sunny and windy today with a high near 77 and wind gusts as high as 44 mph. Mostly clear and windy overnight with a low near 43 and wind gusts as high as 41 mph.

Sunny and breezy today with a high near 75 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 38 and wind gusts as high as 31 mph.

 Sunny and breezy today with a high near 77 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 41 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

  Sunny and breezy today with a high near 78 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 40 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

 Sunny and windy today with a high near 73 and wind gusts as high as 38 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 40 and wind gusts as high as 37 mph.

  Sunny and breezy today with a high near 79 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 40 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park

:  Sunny today with a high near 70 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 34 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

Sunny and breezy today with a high near 80 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Increasing clouds and breezy overnight with a low near 49 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

:  Increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 75 and wind gusts as high as 34 mph. Mostly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 47 and wind gusts as high as 37 mph.

  Increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 78 and wind gusts as high as 36 mph. Mostly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 48 and wind gusts as high as 34 mph.

  Sunny and windy today with a high near 70 and wind gusts as high as 45 mph. Partly cloudy and windy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 7 p.m., a low near 49 and wind gusts as high as 39 mph.

  Sunny today with a high near 72 and wind gusts as high as 41 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 44 and wind from 11-16 mph.

:  Sunny today with a high near 70 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 44.

Sunny and windy today with a high near 71 and wind gusts as high as 41 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 46 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph.

  Sunny and windy today with a high near 71 and wind gusts as high as 41 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 49 and wind gusts as high as 37 mph.

:  Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 65 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 45 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph.

  Red flag fire warning until 10 p.m. tonight. Sunny and breezy today with a high near 84 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 51 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph.

  Red flag fire warning until 10 p.m. tonight. Sunny and breezy today with a high near 78 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 44 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph.

  Sunny and breezy today with a high near 71 and wind gusts as high as 38 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 46 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph.

  Red flag fire warning until 10 p.m. tonight. Sunny and breezy today with a high near 84 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 45 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

  Sunny and windy today with a high near 79 and wind gusts as high as 45 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 42 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph.

  Red flag fire warning until 10 p.m. tonight. Sunny and windy today with a high near 81 and wind gusts as high as 50 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 47 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph.

  Sunny and windy today with a high near 80 and wind gusts as high as 45 mph. Mostly clear and windy overnight with a low near 45 and wind gusts as high as 45 mph.

  Sunny and windy today with a high near 81 and wind gusts as high as 45 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 44 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph.

  Sunny and windy today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 34 mph. Mostly clear and windy overnight with a low near 42 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph.

Daycap 6 17 26

<title>Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Wednesday, June 17, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Wednesday, June 17, 2026

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

Andrew Rossi

Around Wyoming

Wildlife

[{"type":"text","text":"Angie Pitts of Mountain View has a problem. A big bird-spotting problem."}]

Pitts has a lean-to on her property in southwest Wyoming where she keeps her vehicles. For the last 19 years, she hasn’t had any problems sharing the space with the local wildlife.

This year, swarms of swallows have moved into the lean-to and made themselves right at home. One need look no further than their open-air bathroom.

“There’s bird poop everywhere,” Pitts said. “On my vehicles, on the concrete, everywhere.”

Pitts has spent the last two weeks trying to find a solution to her swallow problem.

“I don’t want to kill them, but I want them gone,” she said. "It's just gross."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No. 2 Problem"}]

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

, there are seven species of swallow known to breed in Wyoming. Pitts isn’t sure which has taken up residence in her lean-to, but there are a lot of them.

“There are tons of birds,” she said. “When you drive up, or you're outside my house, they’re flying everywhere. I didn't have a problem with them until I went and looked at my vehicles.”

When Pitts pulled out her GMC pickup, she was “disgusted” by the number of bird droppings. Her red truck was so thoroughly covered, from hood to tailgate, that it looked as if she had painted it with white polka dots.

“Everything came off with soap, water and a pressure washer, but I don’t want to deal with any paint issues,” she said.

That’s just the start of it. Pitts still has two other trucks and three campers parked under the same lean-to. She hasn’t moved them yet, so they’re getting continually covered with swallow droppings.

[{"type":"text","text":"Furthermore, everything on Pitts’ truck accumulated in just two weeks."}]

“I have no idea what’s different this year,” she said. “We’ve been here 19 years, and it’s never been like this.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Stubborn Swallows"}]

Where there’s one swallow, there’s bound to be a lot of swallows, and they can be particularly annoying to deal with.

Cliff and barn swallows nest in colonies and tend to choose spots close to human habitations. That would explain why so many are spotting Pitts’s vehicles.

Pitts options are limited now that the swallows have built their nests and are either sitting on eggs or raising their young.

“The only thing we’ve done, so far, is put up owls,” she said. “That hasn’t worked.”

“Frightening” can be an effective way to deter birds from nesting or congregating in certain areas. According to 

, that isn’t effective when it comes to swallows.

In addition to being a “gross" eyesore, swallow droppings can cause mechanical issues with machinery, including vehicles, damage painted and metal surfaces, and can even carry pathogens that make people sick.

One way to deter swallows from nesting is to remove any overhanging eaves. That’s not a solution for Pitts. Furthermore, no repellents or toxicants are proven to work for swallows.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Don’t Grab The .22"}]

After sharing her anguish on social media, Pitts has received a lot of feedback on possible swallow solutions. Many people have suggested a classic Wyoming approach: that the best defense is a good offense.

“A lot of people told me to get my .22, but I don't want to kill them,” she said. “I also don’t want to be putting holes in the roof of my shop.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Pitts was wise to ignore that solution. It’s illegal."}]

While swallows aren’t an endangered species, all of Wyoming’s eight species are state and federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

, it is illegal for any person to take, possess, transport, sell, or purchase swallows or their feathers, nest or eggs without a permit.

The only exceptions are when swallows and their nesting colonies pose a significant threat to human health and property. Covered cars might not be compelling enough for Pitts to get approved for a permit to deal with the swallows.

[{"type":"text","text":"In short, Pitts has to swallow it. For now, at least."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not Swallowing It"}]

While there are long-term solutions to swarming swallows, Pitts is seeking effective short-term ones. Her current strategy involves the cutting-edge of 1990s technology.

“I saw one suggestion that I should put old CDs up there,” she said. “Apparently, when they turn, and the sun hits them, the birds don't like that. That’s my next course of action.

Even if they don’t like it, the swallows will probably stomach the CDs, and Pitt will have to keep swallowing her swallow situation.

While swallows are known to abandon their nests and hatchlings under certain conditions, there’s no indication that Pitts’ swallows are going anywhere.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I'm sure there are babies up in those nests,” she said."}]

Swallows typically produce two clutches of three to five eggs every year. Eggs incubate between 13 and 17 days, and the chicks fledge after 18 to 24 days, although they linger around their nests for several weeks.

Doing anything to disturb an active swallow nest would violate the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service allows inactive nests to be removed without a permit.

Since swallows reuse their nests year after year, destroying their nests between breeding seasons can send the swallows elsewhere. If the nests remain intact, they will most likely return.

That’s the best course of action for the future, but it doesn’t make Pitts' present any less crappy. For now, she'll have to tolerate the swallows and cover her vehicles with tarps.

“I hope there's hope on the horizon,” she said. “I want them gone.”

Bird poop 2 6 16 26

<title>Oh, The Humanity! Hundreds Of Swallows Pooping Everywhere In Mountain View, Wyoming | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Hundreds of swallows are pooping all over the place in Mountain View, Wyoming, including on Angie Pitts' property.  She didn't mind that much until she saw her vehicles caked in poop. “I don’t want to kill them, but I want them gone,” she said.

Oh, The Humanity! Hundreds Of Swallows Pooping Everywhere In Mountain View, Wyoming

His problems just got worse, as narrated by MMA announcer, Steve Inman.....

Inman 6 17 26

<title>Steve Inman: Wednesday, June 17, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Steve Inman: Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Daily Darwin

[{"type":"text","text":"…and a cartwheel to celebrate the removal…"}]

Darwin 6 17 26

<title>Daily Darwin: Wednesday, June 17, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

…and a cartwheel to celebrate the removal…

Daily Darwin: Wednesday, June 17, 2026

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.

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