It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Friday, August 23rd. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - brought to you by ServeWyoming - Wyoming's center for volunteerism and AmeriCorps service for the last 30 years! For volunteer opportunities, visit ServeWyoming dot org"
A wildfire burning out of control in northern Wyoming east of Buffalo has exploded.
and is pushing 200,000 acres.
The Johnson County House Draw Fire is the largest of several in Northern Wyoming as of Thursday evening. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that ranchers are scrambling to help fight that, and other wildfires in the area, to save their homes and animals.
“The biggest fire right now is in Johnson County, and that's over 164,000 acres. And when I spoke with a rancher on Thursday, he said he was out there with his water truck. He had seen an antelope walk by on fire. He said lots of ranchers were just bringing everything they had to fight the fires, to save their cattle, to gain ground in any way. And he said that other people were pulling together too. For instance, the buffalo Bighorn Co Op donated fuel to those water trucks.”
The two largest fires now raging in Campbell County are the Flat Rock Fire and the Constitution Fire farther north, off of Highway 95. Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher spoke to ranchers from the area who had to move fast - and ask for help from friends and neighbors - to save their livestock.
“I stuck with Shanna Firnekas, and she was actually in Douglas when she got the call from her children concerned because they saw the fire coming and they had 30 bulls that they needed to move off the property immediately. So her three children coordinated with their friends, and they were able to get those bulls off the property and sent into town where they're staying at the CamPlex… And she's just one of many who are impacted here.”
Personnel and volunteers in Sheridan, Campbell, Fremont, Weston and Converse counties are also fighting back blazes.
Read the full story HERE.
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After a year of protests, meetings and threats of lawsuits, the Bureau of Land Management released its controversial plan to manage 3.6 million acres of federal land in southwest Wyoming, and Cowboy State officials are already crying foul.
The hefty plan was released Thursday. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that the plan is billed by the BLM as a compromise merging of various alternatives.
“The BLM and some people have touted this plan as a way to better conserve this land and keep it for future generations. And other people have criticized it… they say it's going to hurt energy development, it's going to limit public access to the lands… Our governor and our senators blasted it this morning in statements that they made, said that it still really, it falls short of what white Wyoming needs in terms of protecting access and protecting energy interest.”
The Rock Springs BLM field office oversees roughly 3.6 million acres in Wyoming, much of it in Sweetwater County. The BLM’s final plan designates just less than one million acres of that as “areas of critical environmental concern”.
Read the full story HERE.
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Arch Resources Inc., which runs one of the largest surface coal mining operations in the world out of northeastern Wyoming, has telegraphed for years that it wants to reduce its thermal coal footprint in the energy-rich Powder River Basin and elsewhere.
The announcement of a merger between Arch and Consol Energy this week may accelerate those plans, according to energy reporter Pat Maio.
“It's looking at either selling assets out of the Powder River Basin… shrinking the assets, which usually means layoffs and making plans to basically pull out…the governor, as you know, issued a statement yesterday that he's concerned. Everybody's concerned. You know, it's the winding down of something that's been a staple of Wyoming for decades.”
Arch has been reducing its operational footprint in the basin for several years, as its Coal Creek and Black Thunder mines have reported falling production from its glory days over a decade ago. It’s also accelerated reclamation at both mines.
Read the full story HERE.
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Devils Tower National Monument reopened Wednesday afternoon after clearing the immense damage caused by a severe hailstorm that swept through northeast Wyoming.
During the Monday evening thunderstorm, Devils Tower got 1.5 inches of rain and 5 inches of golf-ball sized hail, although Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that some hailstones the size of baseballs hit the local KOA campground.
“Nearly every tree in the campground has either fallen over or has been completely defoliated. They were clearing piles eight feet high of leaves and branches. They had to drain their pool to clean that out. Hundreds of windows were shattered or utterly broken. And I think the biggest thing is they just replaced the roofs on all of their cabins in May… nearly every roof on every structure in the KOA campground is a complete loss.”
The impacts of the fast and furious storm are evident throughout the region. Some locals are already saying it'll never be the same, but it's still business as usual in the shadow of the nation’s first national monument.
Read the full story HERE.
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Many people watching the Democratic National Convention roll call on Tuesday night were surprised to hear the song that blasted through the arena when Wyoming’s delegates pledged their support for Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee.
To many people’s surprise, “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas was played as the Cowboy State had its brief time in the national spotlight. Turns out, the delegation was just as surprised as everyone else, since that song was not on the list that the committee sent in for consideration, according to politics reporter Leo Wolfson.
“Nearly all the songs chosen for each state had kind of a connection to said state, like Alabama was Sweet Home, Alabama and the, you know, a lot of them had songs with artists that were from said state… but Wyoming seemed to be lacking any said connection they picked. I've got a feeling by the Black Eyed Peas for Wyoming song, which really there's no known connection of any kind between the cowboy state and black eyed peas or this song.”
Wyoming suffered the same fate as a few other states and territories. Maine and Guam also reportedly had their song choices snubbed.
Read the full story HERE.
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Lightning-caused fires are devouring huge swaths of northern Wyoming, but Converse County got a lucky break when a Wednesday-evening rainstorm helped stifle its large fire.
A 2,400-acre fire charred the Barber Ranch between Douglas and Glenrock on Wednesday afternoon. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that it was just another of numerous wildfires sparked by lightning and frenzied by high winds in the region this week.
“All across central and northern Wyoming was this perfect storm where you had lightning strikes and then you had high winds and drought. And in Converse County, I believe it was a 2400 acre fire was the biggest. There were multiple, though, and it was at Barber Ranch, the same place that there was a fire more than 10 years ago. So two fortunate things happened. One, Converse county had a burst of rain Wednesday evening, unlike Northeastern Wyoming, not enough anyway, but then the other thing was, because it was on the same ranch that was charred like 12 years ago, they had some of their fire lines were still somewhat in place.”
Sheridan County continues fighting a roughly 10,000-acre fire in the county’s northeastern corner, while pinching resources to accommodate fire departments in other nearby counties with even larger wildfires to battle.
“Both the Sheridan County Fire Warden and the emergency management coordinator were saying, It would sure be nice if we had air support here, but they said they understood that there were really severe fires, and the one in Sheridan isn't threatening as many homes.”
Voluntary evacuation notices were in place east of Cross Road north to Highway 14 from the Johnson County line as of Thursday.
Read the full stories HERE and HERE.
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When an incumbent loses an election to a challenger, it’s usually customary for the candidate to express disappointment, but offer a conciliatory statement and congratulate the winner to some degree.
But that’s not how state Rep. Tony Niemiec of Green River reacted to his loss to House District 60 Republican primary opponent Marlene Brady. Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that Niemiec unleashed on Brady on social media
“Tony Niemiec basically continued to bash his opponent, Marlene Brady after he lost his race on Tuesday, calling her a liar stupid and saying that she won't be able to effectively represent Green River, which he represents in his district…Spoke to Brady as well, and Brady pretty much just took the high road. She said that it's Republicans shouldn't be going after Republicans, but the only thing she's she's actually criticizing for is his voting record, and she stands by those criticisms as well.”
Brady beat Niemiec by 45 votes, or about 4%.
Read the full story HERE.
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It may not feel like it during 90- and 100-degree afternoons, but the late August weather patterns show that summer 2024 is on the decline. The scorchingly hot days are followed by afternoon and evening rain and thunderstorms, which are brief but intense until Wyoming cools off after sunset.
However, the weather on the way for the Cowboy State this weekend should be a reliable indicator that summer will soon be transitioning into fall. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that will be welcome news for those fighting a spate of wildfires across northern and central Wyoming.
“Speaking to meteorologists, Cowboy State daily meteorologist Don day and the National Weather Service, they told me that this is the first sign that summer's end is coming, that these systems are getting stronger. They're bringing these sustained drops in temperatures. And we might have reached the end of the multi day heat streak…we might have plenty of 80 and 90 degree days in late August and early September, but the streaks of days like that are probably over for the season, and we're beginning to settle into our fall pattern.”
Timing is difficult this far out, but meteorologists expect the cooler weather system to reach northwest Wyoming by Saturday. Most of the moisture will fall on Montana and the Dakotas.
Read the full story HERE.
