One More For The Road

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<title>One More For The Road: Friday, August 16, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

One More For The Road: Friday, August 16, 2024

 Cowboy State Daily readers rushing home on Tuesday to watch our live election coverage.....

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

Wolf advocates are offering a $10,000 reward for the the identity of any hunter shooting a member of a famed Yellowstone National Park wolf pack that recently denned outside of the park in Wyoming. 

Social-media influencer Jonas Black of Austin, Texas, told Cowboy State Daily during a telephone interview Wednesday that posting the reward is necessary to protect the Mollie’s Pack, particularly 12-year-old Wolf 1090 F. 

Those wolves have spent most of their lives in Yellowstone and aren’t afraid of people, so there’s no way it could be a “fair-chase” hunt, Black said. 

Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Angi Bruce denounced the move in a text message Wednesday to Cowboy State Daily. 

Wyoming, Montana and Idaho have laws keeping wolf hunters’ identities confidential to shield them from doxing, harassment and stalking.

“Putting an animal before the welfare of a person is outrageous,” Bruce said. “This is the exact reason our legislators put this statute in place – to prevent harassment of our hunters.”

 that he and others are offering the reward if any of the Mollie’s wolves are shot during the season, set to begin Sept. 15. 

“Anybody harvests one of these wolves during Wyoming’s wolf season and somebody snitches? That snitch gets ten grand cash,” Black wrote.

During the interview, Black said the intent is specifically to protect the Mollie’s, not to undermine the states’ statutes protecting wolf hunters’ identities. 

The Mollie’s this summer denned and are raising pups on the Shoshone National Forest. 

During its 30-plus year history, the pack has spent nearly all of its time inside Yellowstone, where hunting is forbidden. 

So, the wolves are essentially like “zoo-type animals” insofar as having little fear of humans, Black said. 

Black said he isn’t anti-hunting and supports fair-chase hunting, when animals are actively trying to evade humans.

“I’m not going to interfere or try to interfere with state laws. But with this pack, it’s like shooting a dog. Man, it’s unreal,” Black said. 

‘I’m Going To Burn Your House Down’

Wyoming Statute § 23-1-304(d)(vi) protects the anonymity of wolf hunters. Under the statute, Game and Fish may not release any private or confidential information regarding legal wolf harvests, and that information is not a matter of public record. 

Montana and Idaho also have statutes that keep wolf hunters’ identities confidential. 

That wouldn’t stop private individuals from revealing that information to other private parties, though. 

Those statutes are there for good reason, said Randy Newberg, a prominent outdoorsman and hunting content creator from Bozeman, Montana.

Newberg featured a successful wolf hunt in an episode on his 

He told Cowboy State Daily the blowback was vicious. 

“People from all over the world were emailing me with crazy stuff. ‘I’m going to burn your house down. I’m going to kill your dogs.’ Wow,” he said. 

Newberg noted that as a prominent figure in the hunting world, “I live in a fishbowl,” and so he expected the pushback. 

But rank-and-file hunters should be spared that sort of harassment if they shoot any of the Mollie’s, Newberg said. 

“If their information got out there, I can assure you, that person is going to undergo a level of threat and intimidation that’s completely out of line,” he said. 

Black said the possibility of facing worldwide condemnation should deter anyone from even trying to hunt the Mollie’s. 

It could be similar to the global shame heaped upon the American hunter who went to Africa and killed the beloved “Cecil the Lion,” he said.  

And that’s the point of offering the reward he said. 

Black is a dog trainer who became an outspoken wolf advocate in the wake of the capture, torture and killing of a wolf by Daniel resident Cody Roberts in February 2024. 

Black has stated that his efforts, along with Wolf and Wildlife Advocates president Kim Bean and others, were instrumental in a felony animal cruelty charge being brought against Roberts, to which he pleaded guilty.  

In April, a judge sentenced Roberts to a possible 18- to 24-month prison term if he fails probation.

Black said that with the Mollie’s his beef isn’t with Game and Fish.

“This has nothing to do with Game and Fish,” he said. "I think Game and Fish is doing a great job with the Mollie’s.”  

Wolf & Wildlife Advocates’ Bean said Game and Fish, along with a rancher in the pack’s denning area, have been trying to coax the pack back into the park.

Game and Fish has kept the Mollie’s location confidential. 

However, some people have discovered the pack’s location and posted it on social media, “putting a bull's-eye on the pack,” Bean said. 

Black said some of those who have revealed the pack’s alleged location are supposedly wolf advocates. 

Publicizing the pack’s location is f***ing stupid,” he said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Fair Game’"}]

Montana outdoorsman and retired game warden Jeff Darrah told Cowboy State Daily he supports the statutes shielding wolf hunters’ identities. 

“There is a concerted effort by some of these eco-terrorists to find those hunters,” said Darrah, executive director of Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife.

He acknowledged that emotions can run high when it comes to famous Yellowstone wolves such as the Mollie’s Pack. 

But when they pass outside the park’s boundaries “they become not a park wolf anymore but a Wyoming wolf. And they’re fair game,” he said. 

To mitigate the loss of Yellowstone wolves, Montana reduced the hunting quota to three wolves in each of the two hunt districts immediately north of the park, Darrah said.

“At one time, the quota there was up around 20 wolves,” he said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Asshats’"}]

Newberg said it’s “very disturbing to me” that advocates are trying to work their way around state laws meant to protect the anonymity of people engaged in a legal activity. 

“How do we pick and choose?” he said of which legal activities should be protected. 

Newberg added that trying to expose hunters who might happen to shoot Mollie’s wolves could undermine the advocates’ cause. 

Bean said she, Black and others have hardened their stance only because of the hardened anti-wolf stance against the Mollie’s. 

There have been “hundreds” of people bragging about deliberately trying to find and kill the pack, she said. 

“They’re threatening to kill the pack, and we’re threatening to expose them,”  Bean said. “This isn’t about anonymity, this is about a bunch of asshats out there” threatening the Mollie’s Pack. 

Geriatric old wolf 1090 3 1 10 26

<title>Advocates Offer $10,000 Bounty To Name Hunters Who Kill Famed Yellowstone Wolves | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A social media influencer and others are offering a $10,000 bounty for the identities of hunters who shoot members of Yellowstone National Park's famed Mollie’s wolf pack this fall. Game and Fish Director Angi Bruce calls the bounty “outrageous.”

Advocates Offer $10,000 Bounty To Name Hunters Who Kill Famed Yellowstone Wolves

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

The copy of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s diary released this week shows the former White House COVID advisor fixating over the press, mentioning Wyoming's low vaccinations rates and praising former Rep. U.S. Liz Cheney for what Fauci called her courage in opposing the president. 

U.S. Sen Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, released the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director’s diary over the weekend in anticipation of a Wednesday hearing.

Fauci alternated fluidly between documenting death tolls and the “hot and heavy” coverage with which the press swarmed him. He documented his media features, interviews and appearances almost daily for months.

“The Fauci cult continues,” wrote Fauci in reference to August media reports.

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming features in the diary twice."}]

An April 10, 2020, entry documents calls with governors seeking Fauci’s guidance and to air their concern about the devastating economic fallout: “17 million jobs lost within the past 4 weeks.”

Even the massive infusion of federal relief dollars couldn’t spare the states, and some red-state governors urged counsel on how to get their people back to work safely, the entry says.

“Call with Gov. Mark Gordon of Wyoming – same discussion,” wrote Fauci. “What advice and counsel of returning to normal.”

“All these Governors are calling me because of my credibility and reputation to run their plans by me and ask for my opinion and help … message back to (the task force and president,” the director added.

A July 4, 2021, entry says Wyoming and other states had COVID surges due to lower vaccination rates. 

Former U.S. House Rep. Liz Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, appear multiple times in the diary.

Republicans and conservative news commentators started “blasting” Fauci for his shutdown policies on about May 13, 2020. So did Paul, in a May 12 Senate hearing.

[{"type":"text","text":"Julia Roberts mooned over Fauci that same week, the diary says."}]

“Dick Cheney called me to thank me for what I was doing and to say that he fully supported me,” wrote Fauci. “I acknowledged and thanked him and his daughter Liz for sticking up for me after the Senate Hearing yesterday.”

The former vice president was “muted in his criticism of Trump,” Fauci continued. “But he did agree that Trump was living in an alternative universe.”

Fauci wrote three days later that he told Vice President Mike Pence of how Cheney had called him into the White House 19 years prior to discuss the anthrax attacks.

[{"type":"text","text":"On Aug. 4, 2021, Dick Cheney called again, the diary says."}]

Cheney had had a heart transplant years prior and was on an immunosuppressive regimen, wrote Fauci.

“It is likely that his immune response two (sic) the vaccine is suboptimal.”

Cheney’s cardiologist recommended the former vice president call Fauci, the diary says.

“I made it very clear to Cheney that I strongly recommended he get the third boost of the mRNA since he is highly susceptible to getting infected if he comes into contact with an infected person,” Fauci wrote.

He added that they discussed “the courage of his daughter Liz Cheney and sticking up against the far right Republicans who want to whitewash the January 6th insurrection.”

Fauci voiced his appreciation “that she has been sticking up for me,” says the entry.

[{"type":"text","text":"What Wyoming's Pendley Remembers"}]

The diary also stunned a former Trump department head, who contrasted Fauci’s apparent fixation with media attention with the “traumatic” efforts others undertook to address COVID19.

William Perry Pendley, a Wyomingite who then led Trump’s U.S. Bureau of Land Management, criticized Fauci in a Monday post to X and a Tuesday interview with Cowboy State Daily.

“What struck me, and struck a lot of people on X, was just the contrast,” Pendley told Cowboy State Daily, “That while he’s getting over his celebrity status, hundreds of people at the Department of Interior are taking this very, very seriously, and regarding it as something from the White House saying this is a life-and-death matter. This is a national crisis.”

Pendley said with preparation, duration and follow-up directives, the meetings consumed two to three hours of each day. Interior leadership worried about the health of the roughly 70,000 employees under their umbrella, he said.

“While Fauci basked in the media's attention, I ran Trump's BLM & was on daily Zoom calls with Interior's number two official with scores of others,” wrote Pendley on X. “Untold hours by hundreds of employees were needed to prepare for & follow up on those needlessly traumatic meetings. Shame on him.”

Fauci’s diary also features his numerous concerns about deaths and sickness.

But first, Fauci opined in a Feb. 8, 2020, phone call that the virus was “acting like a bad influenza” and showed a case fatality rate of 0.2%-0.3%, his diary says.

The messaging was, “You’ve got to devote all your energy and skills to addressing this,” added Pendley in his interview.

[{"type":"text","text":"The ‘Hot And Heavy’ Press"}]

Entanglements and preoccupations with “press” that permeate nearly every entry.

“Press still hot and heavy about me,” says an April 7, 2020 entry. “Multiple stories per day directly or indirectly involving me.”

He documented the Fauci cartoons, Fauci underwear and other merchandise, news and book interviews, and the false claims and conspiracy theories about him that surfaced starting in 2020.

From about May through July 2020, Fauci documented numerous instances of complaining to White House personnel that he wasn’t placed in enough interviews, the diary shows.

Fauci also claimed embarrassment at receiving hugs and kisses from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and at President Donald Trump touting Fauci’s intelligence to First Lady Melania.

And he lamented where, according to him, the press got the story wrong in its fervor to pit him as a “foil” against Trump.

Mainstream media and columnists elevated Fauci for his calm demeanor and his willingness to contradict Trump starting in spring of 2020. Fauci had pushed for longer business and school closures, while Trump urged the director, who was part of the White House’s COVID19 task force, to find a way to reopen the nation by Easter.

“Continued crazy stuff: Petition to name me ‘Sexiest Man Alive,’” says an April 1, 2020 entry. “Videos (sic) games named after me; Fauci Bobblehead; dishes in redstaurants (sic) named after me, and on and on.”

In that same entry Fauci documented a “good conversation” with Bill Gates regarding the advanced development and scaleup of vaccines.

That later contrasted with what Fauci called White House response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx’s unfavorable view toward mRNA vaccines. Fauci cast her discomfort as a prejudice.

[{"type":"text","text":"Celebrities, Vaccines, And The Red States Reopening"}]

An April 29, 2020, entry details a Zoom call between Fauci and a “whole list of celebrities,” organized by Kim Kardashian.

That list featured Kate Hudson, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Chris Rock, Scooter Braun, Josh Gad, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Kendall Jenner, Ariana Grande, Paula Abdul, Demi Lovato, and Michael Jordan – to name a few.

Fauci noted the USA COVID case tally at 3 million that day and the death toll at 203,000.

Fauci urged repeatedly against letting the states “reopen” but when several did in mid-May, the virologist noted an interesting development.

“What is evolving is that states that are opening thus far are not seeing an increase in cases,” says a May 17, 2020, entry. “In fact, some are seeing decreases. We need another couple of weeks to se (sic) what is happening. Interesting that they might be paying attention more to mask use and social distancing as they open.”

But acute outbreaks still hit nursing homes, prisons, meatpacking plants and industries where workers lived in dormitory-like quarters, he wrote.

[{"type":"text","text":"“This is easily recognizable and quickly contained,” he wrote."}]

A June 25, 2020 entry says, “Contact tracing does not work.” He called contact tracing an abject failure.

He cast the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as incompetent – repeatedly across multiple entries.

He described an at-times affectionate, at-times icy relationship with Trump, almost always worsened by the press’s fervor in making Fauci a calm and well-informed anti-Trump figure.

A Feb. 12, 2020, entry has Fauci writing that World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

“depends greatly on China and often bows to them.”

Officials were at that time developing a WHO working group that lacked representation from China, Fauci wrote.

He detailed his friendship with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and helpful messaging by the latter’s news-commentator brother Chris Cuomo.

By March 29, the “CRAZY PRESS” wave had turned political, the diary says.

“The fringe far-right crazies are cooking conspiracy theories that I am a Hilary Clinton mole trying to destroy Trump,” says the entry. But at that time, “Trump continues to become more and more enamored of me.”

One media disaster culminated in Trump saying “his right wing base is causing a lot of trouble,” says an April 13, 2020, entry.

Regarding the vaccine development, a May 17, 2020, entry says “We are well into the process and I just do not want any person or organization or structure to get in my way.”

A June 15, 2020, entry questions why a Chinese study group had a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection as early as August 2019.

“Why would they be doing that last summer??? They could have been studying SARS, but they already had mouse models,” says the entry. “Possible they just wanted to use a better technique… OR they knew that SARS-CoV-2 already existed and the outbreak was already ongoing.”

Regarding the dramatic press saga of Fauci vs. Trump, the entry says, “Most people (sic) expressing outrage that the trump administration woud (sic) be so bumbling and incompetent to try to discredit the most credible scientist in the world.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Rand Paul’s Focus"}]

In a “Tony’s Diary” cover page set in pink cursive font – like a teen girl’s diary – along with other mocking insignia, Paul detailed places where Fauci’s diary contradicts his public messaging.

When other professionals swapped theories about the virus’ origins in January 2020, Paul noted from the diary, the doctors had a sincere debate about whether the virus had natural or lab-leak origins.

“Before most Americans knew there was an origins debate, the government’s top infectious disease official was already confronting the lab scenario,” wrote Paul.

[{"type":"text","text":"Paul has long said the virus originated in a lab leak."}]

Fauci dismissed that theory publicly in 2020 in 2021 with the claim his critics “are really criticizing science because I represent science.” The lab leak theory has since garnered credibility.

“The fact that the lab in question had received a 2014 grant (through an intermediary) from NIAID for ‘gain of function’ research may help explain Fauci’s reluctance to come clean about the need to investigate,” opined the editors of The Free Press in a 

Fauci cheney 7 28 26

<title>Dr. Anthony Fauci's Diary Covers Wyoming’s Low Vax Rates, Liz Cheney’s ‘Courage’ | Cowboy State Daily</title>

In the more than 1,100 pages of Dr. Anthony Fauci's diary released over the weekend, he mentioned Wyoming’s low COVID vaccination rates, his admiration of Liz Cheney and his conversations with Dick Cheney. He appeared fixated on the "hot and heavy" press.

Dr. Anthony Fauci's Diary Covers Wyoming’s Low Vax Rates, Liz Cheney’s ‘Courage’

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

Andrew Rossi

Around Wyoming

What’s worse than getting stuck behind a slow-moving vehicle on Wyoming’s highways? Getting stuck behind a slow-moving electric scooter on Wyoming’s highways.

Cody Campbell was driving on Wyoming Highway 210 to Laramie on Sunday. She passed the Happy Jack Campground at Curt Gowdy State Park when she saw two slow-moving objects ahead.

They were two people riding electric scooters, driving in the right lane of the narrow, twisting mountain road.

“They were right in the middle of the lane,” Campbell said. “The first one was going fairly quickly, but the second one was very slow, swerving in front of the camper in front of us.”

Campbell noted that neither person was wearing protective gear, such as helmets, as they cruised along. One was even wearing sandals.

The speed limit along that stretch of WY 210 is between 45 and 65 mph. The scooters weren’t going that fast.

“I’m guessing they were going 30 mph,” Campbell said. “We slowed down to about 25 mph so we didn't hit them.”

That was a prescient concern given that, once the camper passed the slower scooter, it continued to swerve across the lane in front of Campbell’s vehicle.

With no passing lanes for several miles, Campbell was stuck. She felt powerless to do anything else.

“I was going to yell at him, but my son said no because he didn't want to startle the guy and cause him to crash, and cause us to run him over,” she said. “That would have ruined everybody's day.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Technically Legal"}]

Riding an electric scooter on a highway might seem like a dangerous decision to many, but is it illegal? In Wyoming, technically not.

The Wyoming Legislature has several statutes about what can and can’t be on the state’s highways. Electric scooters fall under the same rules as bicycles, which means they can legally use the highway.

“There are no actual laws or regulations for electric scooters,” said Aaron Brown with the Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP). “They're placed under the regulations of bicycles, so they are legally allowed to be on the road.”

Cyclists are allowed to use Wyoming’s highways, just like any other road, so long as they follow “the rule of the road,” according to Brown. Many cyclists ride close to or on the shoulder, but they aren’t obligated to do so.

“It’s recommended for cyclists to stick to the side, but legally, they can use the road like any other vehicle,” he said.

Campbell noted that the electric scooters she saw on WY 210 weren’t registered. There’s also no law in Wyoming requiring registration.

“If you have a scooter that gets over 50 CCS, they have to get a registration and insurance at that point,” Brown said. “If it’s electric, it’s probably not going to be anywhere near that.”

[{"type":"text","text":"And the lack of helmets?"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“We have no laws mandating helmets in Wyoming,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Safety First"}]

Even if scooters are legally allowed on Wyoming’s highways, they could still present a safety issue, Brown said. But that’s just as true for any vehicle.

“The rules of the road are there for people's safety,” he said. “That is the WHP’s number one priority.”

A WHP trooper might see someone riding an electric scooter and decide to pull them over. Seeing anyone on a slow-moving vehicle on a fast-moving highway could present a safety risk to themselves and other drivers.

[{"type":"text","text":"However, that’s at the discretion of each trooper."}]

“If there’s a safety concern, we're going to end up doing something like pulling them over and talking to them about the safety concern,” Brown said. “It may not even result in a ticket. But even then, they can still legally use the road again.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"We The People"}]

If someone wants to cruise along a Wyoming highway on an electric scooter, without a helmet or any safety gear, they legally can. Campbell questions whether they legally should.

Electric scooters are still relatively new devices, so the Wyoming Legislature hasn’t addressed their legality. That’d be the only avenue for anything to change.

“Troopers are subject to enforcing the laws,” Brown said. “The laws are set by the Legislature, and the Legislature is voted in by the people of Wyoming. If laws about electric scooters should change or not, it's going to be up to our Legislature and everyday citizens.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Campbell said she thinks that should change."}]

“Scooters need to be off the highway,” she said. “I don't even like them in parking lots, but it's safer on the city streets, sidewalks, and parking lots than on a twisty, turny mountain road.”

Campbell’s concern was how gravel on or to the side of the road could cause an electric scooter to lose traction and topple over, just like a bicycle. Also, the fact that they were only traveling around 30 mph on a 65-mph highway was as frustrating as it was concerning.

As long as they’re following the rules of the road, an electric scooter is considered a road-legal vehicle under Wyoming law. Campbell fundamentally disagrees with that.

[{"type":"text","text":"“That's not a vehicle,” she said. “It's a toy. It's a toy.”"}]

Scooter happy jack 7 28 26

<title>Believe It Or Not, Electric Scooters Can Be Ridden On Wyoming's Highways | Cowboy State Daily</title>

While it seemed ludicrous to one Cheyenne driver who was stuck behind people riding their electric scooters on a two lane highway near Laramie, it's entirely legal. “Scooters need to be off the highway,” Cody Campbell said. "It's not a vehicle. It's a toy."

Believe It Or Not, Electric Scooters Can Be Ridden On Wyoming's Highways

Four candidates are running for the Republican nomination to a legislative House seat in north-central Wyoming – and they all say they won’t join the Freedom Caucus.

That seat’s incumbent and outgoing Rep. John Winter, R-Thermopolis, is a founding member of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

But the four men vying to replace him in House District 28 all told Cowboy State Daily on Monday they don’t intend to join the group.

Those are Meeteetse rancher Allen Hogg, Otto rancher Carlin Jones, Thermopolis attorney and former Navy SEAL Marshall Keller, and 

 hot springs pool operator Roland Luehne.

“I don’t believe I should be taking orders from a caucus,” said Keller. “I believe I should be listening to my constituents, for one.”

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus is a controversial group of state House Republicans. Its proponents say it’s the true voice of the Wyoming right; its detractors accuse it of sloppy legislating and groupthink.

[{"type":"text","text":"It’s part of a larger national network of Freedom Caucus groups."}]

, its members have coordinated floor maneuvers in a group text with the state group’s director, 

“A lot of the stances in the Freedom Caucus, in my opinion, are more based on trying to get newspaper articles and time in front of social media and TV,” said Keller. “To pound their chests and say, ‘Look what I’m doing, and the courts and everybody else is against us.’ Instead of, looking at the Constitution and the laws we have and adjusting them based on what we can do.”

Keller, 54, said he’s an orthodox Christian and respects both the U.S. Constitution and Wyoming Constitution. He said he’ll follow the Wyoming Republican Party platform insofar as it doesn’t conflict with his faith or either constitution.

Jones, 33, said the caucus “muddies the waters” and it’s time for Republicans to unite around the state platform and curb division.

All four GOP candidates running for the state House seat spanning north-central Wyoming say they won't join the Freedom Caucus, though the incumbent was an early founder of it. “I don’t believe I should be taking orders from a caucus," one candidate said.

One More For The Road: Friday, August 16, 2024

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