One More For The Road

[{"type":"text","text":"The joke never gets old...."}]

One more for 8 11 24

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

<title>One More For The Road: Sunday, August 11, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The joke never gets old....

One More For The Road: Sunday, August 11, 2024

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 1 6 16 26

<title>Mountain View Woman Mad As Heck After Swallows Cover Her Trucks In Bird Poop | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Hundreds of swallows are swarming and nesting in Angie Pitts' lean-to in Mountain View. She didn't mind until she saw the bird droppings covering her vehicles. “I don’t want to kill them, but I want them gone,” she said. "It's just gross."

Mountain View Woman Mad As Heck After Swallows Cover Her Trucks In Bird Poop

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

Renée Jean

Energy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wyoming oil and gas drilling 2 1 24

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

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

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

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

Clair McFarland

Crime & Courts

Courts

Wyoming’s governor is asking a court to undo the 

 under his purview, saying the board exceeded its law-given authority 

by not accepting a limit on how much property taxes can increase each year.

Gov. Mark Gordon filed a motion Tuesday for the Laramie County District Court to deem Wyoming’s 4% cap on yearly increases in residential property tax assessed values constitutional. 

 asked the court to block the actions of the State Board of Equalization.

The board had issued a report Thursday calling the 4% cap —‚ which has been 

in some form since 2024 — unconstitutional. The board warned county assessors that if the cap is included in their property tax calculations for this year, the board won’t certify those residential property tax values.

That decision came from the two board members who participated in the tax value examination last year: Chair E. Jayne Mockler and Vice-Chair Marty Hardscog.

The third board member, Karl Anderson, did not participate in that evaluation and so didn’t sign the Thursday report.

[{"type":"text","text":"Expects To Move"}]

The board hasn’t yet issued an order requiring Wyoming’s county assessors to rework their pending tax bills without the cap.

But it expects to do so in the coming weeks after working with counties, Mockler told Cowboy State Daily in a Thursday phone interview.

Also, the board has undertaken its work with counties, 

o certify residential property tax values for Campbell, Hot Springs, and Sublette counties on the basis that it believes the exemptions the counties calculated under state law are unconstitutional, says the governor's complaint.

Gordon’s Tuesday legal filing calls the board's actions “ultra vires,” or exceeding the board’s property authority. It asks the court to void the board’s actions.

The Wyoming Constitution requires the governor to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” the governor’s court filing says.

[{"type":"text","text":"The State Board of Equalization falls under the executive branch."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"This maneuver is unprecedented, the governor’s court challenge says."}]

“In the past twenty years, the Board has only delayed certification of values on one occasion,” says the filing. That was in 2006 when the board required one county to equalize its property valuations.

“In that time, it has never declined to certify values,” says the filing.

Besides urging the court to keep the tax board under its limited executive-branch authority, Gordon’s complaint also asserts that a clause of the Wyoming Constitution justifies the 4% tax cap.

Wyoming Constitution Article 15, Section 12, says the Legislature may by law provide for exemptions on “such other property” beyond churches, cemeteries and libraries.

The board’s Thursday report had addressed that section, but said it wasn’t enough to overcome another sections’ call for all taxation within property tax classes to be “equal and uniform.”

Wyoming Attorney General Senior Assistant James Peters signed Gordon’s Tuesday court filing.

The filing also lists as counsel Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz, and Deputy AG Mackenzie Williams.

[{"type":"text","text":"Counties Like This"}]

Because Gordon's filing is, in part, a request for the court to lend clarity to this issue, the Wyoming County Commissioners Association voiced approval of the action Tuesday. 

"It is important that counties, assessors and taxpayers have clear direction as they move through the annual assessment and certification process," said WCCA Executive Director Jerimiah Rieman in a statement. "The Legislature adopted the 4% cap, and counties have worked in good faith to implement that law. We support efforts to obtain timely clarification from the courts so local governments can continue administering Wyoming's property tax system with consistency and confidence."

Uncertainty in applying the cap could create significant administrative challenges for counties, including recalculating assessments, revising assessment schedules, processing appeals and updating tax notices, the statement says. It adds, "Counties also face potential increases in staffing, technology and mailing costs if significant changes occur after assessments have already been completed."

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<title>Gordon Sues His Tax Board For Blocking Property Tax Cap | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Gov. Mark Gordon on Tuesday sued his tax board for refusing to recognize a 4% limit on property tax increases. He said the board exceeded its law-given authority, and the executive branch's job is just to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed."

Gordon Sues His Tax Board For Blocking Property Tax Cap

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

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. 

Albine Robin 1000011575 6 16 26

<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

In response to a Cheyenne-based attorney’s claims that the Wyoming attorney general must appoint special prosecutors to decide whether Secretary of State Chuck Gray violated any laws, the AG countered Tuesday that he has already appointed two special prosecutors, and neither wanted to charge Gray with a crime.

Upon a request by President Donald Trump’s administration, Gray sent sensitive voter data to the federal U.S. Department of Justice last year, public records show.

George Powers, a semi-retired attorney based in Cheyenne, who won a past public records case, started filing requests to learn about Gray’s actions.

 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.

Wyoming also has an umbrella statute that allows prosecutors to charge election officials who violate election law with a felony, if merited.

But Gray told the public that the AG’s office approved the release of voter data to the federal government.

So Powers, in his complaint, urged Attorney General Keith Kautz to offload the investigation onto a special prosecutor, because the AG’s office reportedly counseled Gray in this controversy. Powers suggested having a judge appoint the special prosecutor.

Kautz answered in a May 4 letter that Powers’ complaint would be handled in accordance with the AG’s office rules and state professional conduct rules for attorneys.

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 neither decided to charge Gray with a crime.

One More For The Road: Sunday, August 11, 2024

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