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What happens when you walk on a crowded trail with a dog who has a gigantic stick......

Smile 8 13 24

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

<title>Daily Smile: Tuesday, August 13, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Smile: Tuesday, August 13, 2024

 What happens when you walk on a crowded trail with a dog who has a gigantic stick......

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Public Lands

The Bureau of Land Management is poised to round up about 1,800 mustangs from herds in central Wyoming, claiming the horses will starve if their numbers aren’t cut. 

“Without active management, herds continue to grow unchecked and can double in size every four to five years. Chronic overpopulation places both horses and rangeland resources at risk,” the BLM said Tuesday in announcing the plans for roundups in the Red Desert Complex.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The roundups are set to begin in the fall."}]

 “Saving wild horses from starvation, protecting America’s public lands,” the BLM describes the effort.

Wild-horse advocate Carol Walker told Cowboy State Daily she thinks the agency is using hyperbole to justify more roundups. 

“That’s baloney. I’m out there all the time,” Walker said. “I was out there about three weeks ago, and I didn’t see a single skinny horse.”

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

Mustang management goes beyond just the horses, mule deer conservationist Bill Ames told Cowboy State Daily. 

He said he didn’t know enough about the Red Desert Complex to say how many horses should be there, but he thinks they're “overpopulated” throughout the state. 

And that can lead to competition with mule deer, pronghorn, and other wildlife, Ames said. 

“I don’t know if they compete for food so much, but they really compete for water,” said Ames, who represents the Wyoming Mule Deer Alliance. 

The roundups are planned in several horse management areas (HMAs) in the Red Desert Complex, including the Antelope Hills, Crooks Mountain, Green Mountain, Lost Creek, and Stewart Creek. 

The appropriate management level for the complex is 480 to 720 horses, meaning about 1,800 horses must be removed to “return herd sizes to sustainable levels,” according to the BLM.

The BLM also plans to use fertility control to trim Red Desert herds. 

“During gather operations, staff plan to treat around 75 to 150 mares with fertility control and release them back to the range,” the announcement said.  

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

What's sustainable for the mustang population is a matter of debate. 

The BLM was given jurisdiction over mustangs under the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act. 

The agency contends that it’s managing mustang numbers according to the parameters established by the act, based on such factors as available forage for horses, conflicts with private landowners, and competition with wildlife. 

Wild-horse advocates argue that the BLM’s target numbers are a fraction of what the range can support and that the horses are scapegoats for overgrazing by sheep and cattle. 

They contend mustangs qualify as wildlife and should be respected and conserved as such. 

Others argue the horses are a feral, invasive species with no natural predators. They can damage the landscape and drive out native wildlife if their numbers go unchecked. 

After horses are rounded up, they’re sent to BLM holding facilities, such as those near Wheatland and Rock Springs. 

Many of the horses are put up for adoption, while others live out their lives in BLM facilities. 

Mustang advocates recently claimed to have evidence the BLM is also funneling some of the mustangs toward dealers who 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The BLM denies it. "}]

Nature already culled the central Wyoming mustang herds, Walker said. 

The brutal winter of 2022-2023 killed tens of thousands of pronghorn, deer, and elk in central and south-central Wyoming. 

An official tally of how many mustangs died wasn

t kept. Walker said she thinks the Red Desert Complex herds were cut by about half. 

So, it makes no sense to start a huge roundup of the herds, which are still recovering, she said. 

According to what she’s seen on the ground, the rangelands are healthy and there’s plenty of forage to go around for horses, livestock, and wildlife. 

“I see elk out there, I see pronghorn out there, and I see the little wildlife, like bunnies,” she said. 

The horses and other animals looked well-fed and healthy, she added. 

Ames said he’s concerned about mustangs leaving the HMAs. 

The BLM should round up horses that have strayed into prime mule deer and pronghorn habitat in the Pinedale area toward the south end of the Jonah Gas Field, he said.

“They’re actually in the antelope migration corridor,” he said. 

He worries that during the winter horses might drive deer and pronghorn off slopes that have been blown clear of snow and therefore vital for animals’ survival. 

“They (horses) just aren’t very good at sharing,” he said. 

Red desert horses 2 8 13 26

<title>BLM Says Red Desert Wild-Horse Herd Must Be Cut By 1,800 To Prevent Starvation | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Bureau of Land Management plans to round up about 1,800 mustangs in the Red Desert Complex of central Wyoming this fall, claiming that overpopulated horses are at risk for starvation. “That’s baloney," says wild-horse advocate Carol Walker.

BLM Says Red Desert Wild-Horse Herd Must Be Cut By 1,800 To Prevent Starvation

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

A former office manager for two Goshen County businesses is facing eight felony forgery charges after state investigators allege he siphoned nearly $700,000 from the companies over a four-year period.

Logan Patrick Reifschneider, 31, was arrested by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Wednesday night. Reifschneider, already on probation for grand theft involving a Wyoming credit union, faces up to 10 years in prison for each felony count.

A probable-cause affidavit written by DCI Special Agent Jon Briggs says Reifschneider worked for Zell Heating & Cooling and Big Wood Tree Service from June 2020 until about October 2024.

Briggs wrote that money moved out of the businesses in a variety of ways — through payroll, customer payments, checks and transfers, with some payments disguised to look like ordinary business expenses.

By the time investigators finished tracing the money, Briggs put the businesses' losses at approximately $688,477.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Something Wasn't Adding Up"}]

As office manager, Reifschneider had access to the companies' finances, including payroll, accounting information and Automated Clearing House, or ACH, transactions.

Eventually, the business owner began noticing they were experiencing financial problems and hired an accountant.

The accountant's review uncovered a substantial amount of missing money, the affidavit says.

The owner and others confronted Reifschneider about the suspected thefts. Reifschneider stopped working for the businesses around October 2024.

The accountant also turned over checks believed to contain forged signatures.

By February 2025, the Goshen County Sheriff's Office had asked DCI to investigate.

[{"type":"text","text":"Briggs began following the money."}]

Investigators served numerous search warrants on financial institutions in Wyoming and Nebraska, as well as others around the country.

The financial records were eventually given to an FBI forensic accountant for another look.

What investigators say they found was money leaving the businesses in several different ways.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Ill-Gotten Gains' "}]

DCI identified $161,790 in payments allegedly made directly to Reifschneider but disguised to look as if they were to legitimate suppliers.

The affidavit says another $159,634 came from customer payments allegedly diverted through Square or Intuit rather than going to the businesses.

Payroll accounted for another $138,609, which investigators characterized as excess payments to Reifschneider, including some coded as though the money belonged to other employees.

Through ACH transactions, checks and other transfers, another $113,177 allegedly landed in accounts belonging to Reifschneider or businesses he controlled.

Then there were expenses allegedly paid on his behalf. Investigators identified $81,267 in unauthorized payments from Zell Heating & Cooling and Big Wood Tree Service, along with a separate $40,000 payment from one of the businesses to an account belonging to Reifschneider.

Investigators also looked at what Reifschneider should have legitimately earned.

Between June 2020 and October 2024, Briggs calculated his legitimate income at approximately $298,214.

Based on that income and the financial records, Briggs described the additional money paid to or on behalf of Reifschneider as "ill-gotten gains."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Eight Checks"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Then investigators turned their attention to the checks."}]

The accountant provided DCI with a number of checks suspected of containing forged signatures. Eight written between April and September 2024 are specifically identified in Briggs' affidavit.

[{"type":"text","text":"The smallest was for $292.95. The largest was for $8,318.30."}]

Some were written to suppliers. Others were made directly to Reifschneider.

An April 17 check made out to Reifschneider was for $815.12. Another, dated Aug. 23, was for $3,195.81. A Sept. 7 check was made out to him for $1,025, while another dated Sept. 19 was for $2,158.

Other checks were made out to Torrington Office Supply, Dennis Supply, Gustave A. Larson and Johnstone Supply.

[{"type":"text","text":"Investigators claim Reifschneider signed Patrick's name to the checks."}]

The official charging document filed in Goshen County contains eight felony counts of forgery.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Money Trail Continues"}]

Briggs wrote that Reifschneider returned some money, and Briggs said those repayments were taken into account when DCI calculated the businesses' losses.

After Reifschneider stopped working for the businesses, he paid one business owner about $6,000 through personal checks.

[{"type":"text","text":"Other money had been returned while he was still employed."}]

Another check mentioned near the end of Briggs' affidavit tells a smaller story.

A man with 308 Plumbing told investigators he performed work at Reifschneider's home in Torrington on Oct. 24, 2025.

[{"type":"text","text":"The bill was $782.50."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Reifschneider paid with a personal check, but it bounced."}]

The man told investigators the check was returned for "insufficient funds" and that he still had not been paid when Briggs prepared the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Grand Theft Case"}]

The new charges come just over two months after Reifschneider was sentenced for a separate grand-theft conviction involving a Wyoming credit union.

That case began with another series of transactions that didn't have enough money behind them.

In February 2025, Reifschneider used the third-party payment platform ProPay to put thousands of dollars into accounts he held at WyHy Federal Credit Union, alleges a second affidavit written by Cheyenne police detective M. Webster.

[{"type":"text","text":"The money initially appeared in his accounts."}]

Reifschneider then transferred, withdrew or spent it, investigators alleged.

[{"type":"text","text":"But the underlying transactions didn't clear."}]

Four transactions totaling $8,902.47 were ultimately returned for insufficient funds, and WyHy calculated its loss at $8,725.59.

When Webster spoke with Reifschneider on May 16, 2025, he acknowledged that the credit union had contacted him about problems with the accounts, according to the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","text":"He said he would pay the money back by May 23."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He didn't, Webster wrote."}]

When the detective contacted him again June 17, Reifschneider again said he would get the money paid.

[{"type":"text","text":"By July 11, the credit union still hadn't been repaid."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"On June 4, Reifschneider was found guilty of grand theft."}]

He was sentenced to 3-5 years in prison, but the prison sentence was suspended, and he was instead placed on three years of supervised probation.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Already On Probation "}]

Reifschneider was on supervised probation for the grand theft conviction when DCI arrested him Wednesday, although the conduct alleged in the new Goshen County case predates that probation.

It wasn't Reifschneider's first conviction involving money, or his first suspended prison sentence.

On Nov. 27, 2017, he was found guilty of fraud for writing a bad check for $4,000.

He was sentenced to 3-5 years in prison. That sentence also was suspended, and Reifschneider was placed on five years of supervised probation.

Court records also show a separate grand theft charge against Reifschneider was dismissed in September 2023.

[{"type":"text","text":"Reifschneider now faces eight felony forgery charges in Goshen County."}]

Court records did not indicate as of Thursday that he had yet made an initial appearance on the charges.

Wheatland 700k man 8 13 26

<title>Goshen County Man Charged With 8 Felonies For Allegedly Stealing $700k From Businesses | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A former Goshen County office manager, already on probation for grand theft from a Wyoming credit union, is facing eight felony forgery charges after nearly $700,000 was lost from two local businesses. He faces up to 80 years in prison.

Goshen County Man Charged With 8 Felonies For Allegedly Stealing $700k From Businesses

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

Renée Jean

Business & Tourism

Kelly Maher-Wolfensperger has just a few rules for the annual Ham and Jam party that happens in Hulett each year, when 30,000 or so bikes roll into town for a free pork sandwich and the fixings from Captain Ron’s Rodeo Bar.

“We do not mince, muddle, or blend,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “And we have no carbless and we have no Twisted Tea — so don’t ask.”

Her no-nonsense rules mean the bar doesn’t make Old Fashioneds, mojitos, or mules during the weeks of the Sturgis rally. 

“I’ve got people coming in here asking me for Chardonnay,” Wolfensperger added with a laugh. “I’m like, ‘What about this says we have wine?’ I mean, yeah, we have some really bad Cab, but this is not a wine bar.”

What she can make, besides the best Bloody Mary on the Hulett side of Sturgis, is a scene. 

“I live for chaos,” she said, spreading her arms wide to take in a classic small-town dive bar scene that is about to host hundreds of guests. “I’m born and ready for it. I’m an Aries, so, hell yeah, I’m ready for it.”

Sleep, coffee, ibuprofen and DripDrop — not necessarily in that order — are what she relies on to get her through August and the Sturgis Rally week.  

“My daughter is a dietician for a Big Ten football team and that’s what they use to keep their football players hydrated,” she said. 

With that, and 10 cute outfits complete with colorful boots, she’s ready — and rarin' — to go.

Wolfensperger and the town spend months preparing for the Ham and Jam.

“I think you start planning next year like the day it’s going on,” Tom Coronato told Cowboy State Daily. He is a co-owner of the Ponderosa Cafe. “I’m already planning for how I do it differently next year, because it’s not a one-day event. I mean Ham and Jam is one day, but if you prepare for one day you get one day. So we prepare for 21 days, because that’s when business is up in the Black Hills.”

The community works together on the broader logistics of drawing thousands of bikers. That includes a row of porta potties, as well as road crew and traffic crews, who keep the bikers going in the right direction and ensure cars aren’t driving into the middle of the Ham and Jam. 

“The mayor and the town council will do the budgets in advance, in anticipation of how many porta potties they need,” Coronato said. “What kind of staff they need, how many extra security people they need, like for police presence and stuff like that. The rest is just a wing and a prayer that you have good weather and good attendance.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Things aren’t always smooth. "}]

“It’s a nightmare,” Brianna Gose told Cowboy State Daily with a chuckle and a sigh. “As usual. It’s just a lot of work, but I’ve got great employees.”

Gose said she will start cleaning out the beer garden at Captain Ron’s Rodeo Bar at least a month ahead of time.

“It’s just a lot of running to get ready and going places, picking up all the supplies,” she said. “We had to go to three stores to find beans this year. Sam’s Club didn’t have any big cans of beans this time.”

The bar, which started the Ham and Jam 37 or so years ago, will spend thousands on its signature, free pork sandwich with picnic sides.

Rain might fall, but nothing seems to keep people from coming back, year after year, to experience this scene in the Black Hills of Wyoming. 

Hugs were the order of the day up and down the street as Ham and Jam regulars bump into one another again during Wyoming Wednesday.

Their excitement, their reunions, feed into an already festive, party atmosphere. 

Royce Griebler, for example, has been coming to the Ham and Jam since the late '80s and remembers when it was a bit woolier. 

“It was pretty wild with the drag racing and a lot of other stuff,” he said. “I mean, it was fun. Probably more dangerous, but back then you were young and you didn’t care about the danger.”

In the beginning, Griebler rode with his brother.

“He doesn’t ride anymore, but my son and some other friends do,” he said. “I’m out here to go ride.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Topless Steer Riding "}]

Frank Lamb also remembers when things were a bit wilder.

“At the time it was called No Panties Wednesday,” he said with a chuckle. “That was in 2003. They were just changing over to Ham and Jam.”

In those days, a PRCA rodeo capped the day, but the grand finale wasn’t bull riding. 

“It was topless steer riding,” Lamb said with a chuckle. “They don’t do that any more. So some things have calmed down quite a bit.”

DCI agents used to come to the event to help provide security, Lamb added. 

“One of them was a friend of mine, and it was horseback security,” he said. “So they had some horseback guys.”

Lamb doesn’t care that the event is a little tamer, nor did he care that rain clouds were gathering.

“I wouldn’t miss this,” he said. “I haven’t been able to come the last 10 years because of (work). But I”m not managing the racetrack anymore, so I can just go where I want.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Detour No More"}]

Ham and Jam is supposed to be a one-day party. Ride in, have a Bloody Mary, eat a pork sandwich, and roar off into the distance toward the next town on the Devils Tower loop’s “hydration station.”

But in Hulett, Wednesday’s spillover from Sturgis is so good it changes the script for some. They end up circling not just the date on their calendar but real estate listings, too.

Mike Romano, for example, first experienced the area as a child, then came back as an adult for rally week. Before he knew it, he was buying a ranch and changing his address.

“This place just speaks to me,” he said. “That might sound corny, but to some people that’s reality. I came here to unwind from two phones, two iPads, two laptops.”

Romano had been running a global company. But coming back to the rally as an adult showed him what his life was missing. 

“This helped me reconnect when I came back here,” he said. “So I gravitated to the Hulett side.”

Wolfensperger, as well, found herself drawn to Hulett. She first came in 2012, but had a motorcycle accident that year and had to go home early.

The next year, she and her husband were back. 

“We were staying out here with a friend and, well, we never left,” she said. “We saw the chaos that’s out there and so we just stayed here and people watched and fell in love with the town.”

The couple have five, six motorcycles. For them, the Sturgis Rally never really ends.  “When it’s not rally, we love riding the hills,” she said. “We ride the hills at least 300 to 400 miles every Sunday, which is not hard to do out here.”

Out-of-towners might think of Ham and Jam as a wild Wednesday detour for their Sturgis adventures. But for some, like Romano and Wolfensperger, the detour became the destination.

Hulett 1 8 13 26

<title>Sturgis 2026: Hulett's Ham & Jam — The Detour Party That's Become A Destination | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Hulett's Ham and Jam is supposed to be a one-day party. Ride in, have a Bloody Mary, eat a pork sandwich, and roar off into the distance toward Sturgis. But it's become such a popular event, the 30,000 bikers who visit every year have extended their stay.

Sturgis 2026: Hulett's Ham & Jam — The Detour Party That's Become A Destination

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

Andrew Rossi

Tourism

Nobody should disobey the rules in Yellowstone National Park, established to prevent people from putting their lives at risk.

If someone does choose to do anything reckless or life-endangering, they probably shouldn’t post about it on social media.

That’s exactly what Instagram user pickupsports4u did when visiting the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone recently.

 perched above the 109-foot-tall summit of the Upper Falls, admitting he climbed “off-trail” to do it.

He included the hashtags #UpperFalls #YellowstoneRisk, #CanyonThrills, #WaterfallExtreme, and #OffTrailAdventure.

“Perched at Upper Falls’ roaring 109-foot edge off-trail, my heart pounded with the river,” he wrote. “This risky view rewarded pure adrenaline —Yellowstone’s raw power unleashed. Don’t try this alone!”

“We did not receive a report of this incident, but off-trail travel, which includes climbing, is prohibited in the Canyon area,” Yellowstone National Park spokesperson Linda Veress told Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Stay On Trail"}]

Rock climbing isn’t strictly prohibited in Yellowstone, or any of the national parks, but going off-trail in sensitive areas is. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is one of those areas.

The exact language of the prohibition can be found in the 

Yellowstone Superintendent’s Compendium

, which is reviewed annually and updated as needed. Yellowstone superintendent Cam Sholly signed off on this year's compendium on Jan. 9.

“Foot travel within Yellowstone Canyon between Chittenden Bridge and Upper Falls is restricted to designated trails and boardwalks due to public safety,” it reads. “Foot travel within the Yellowstone Canyon between Inspiration Point and Silver Cord Cascade is restricted to designated trails and boardwalks.”

That accounts for the entirety of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Because climbing falls under foot travel in this instance, climbing anywhere around Upper Falls is prohibited.

That also means pickupsports4u could be charged and face significant fines or jail time. Park officials weren’t aware of what he did, but now they have indisputable evidence through his Instagram post.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Charged For Climbing For Clout?"}]

Greg Jackson, a former deputy chief for the U.S. Park Service’s Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, reviewed pickupsports4u’s video. After looking up the restrictions in the superintendent’s compendium, charging him seemed fairly straightforward.

“I’d want to know a little bit more about how that person got there, but if it’s designated as a closed area, it’s an obvious crime,” he said.

Jackson went on to say that there could be a case for charging the influencer under Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations regarding parks, forests, and public property.

A dimwitted tourist posted a video of himself illegally climbing above the Upper Falls of the Grand Canyon in Yellowstone earlier this week. He bragged about the "risky view" and how it gave him adrenaline. The Instagram post could result in charges.

Daily Smile: Tuesday, August 13, 2024

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