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

<title>Bonus Video 2: Sunday, April 13, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

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Bonus Video 2: Sunday, April 13, 2025

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

Renée Jean

Energy

Wyoming’s first nickel sulfide discovery

 in the Granite Mountains north of Jeffrey City in 2024. This year, it’s moving into a decisive drilling phase as it tries to turn that find in the under-explored greenstone belt into Wyoming’s first and only nickel mine, producing a metal the federal government has designated as critical.

“We’ve identified some nickel targets, and we’re going to be drilling them this year,” Visionary Metals CEO Wes Adams told Cowboy State Daily. “We’ve used a lot of scientific methods to help reduce the amount of areas we have to explore.”

, scanning the earth’s crust from the air down to roughly 3,300 feet below the surface. It might sound like something out of a Star Trek movie, but it isn’t science fiction anymore. 

The technique uses subtle changes in Earth’s magnetic field to point the way to where valuable metals and minerals might be hiding. 

“That helped narrow down areas for exploration,” Adams said. “And then in areas where we do see targets, we follow up with ground surveys, which tell us exactly where these critical metal deposits might exist.”

After that, it’s drilling time — to test the areas with as little environmental impact as possible and further hone in on whether Wyoming has a nickel mine.

“It’s not like oil and gas drilling, where you have these giant pads and giant rigs,” Adams said. “We’re just drilling a 3-inch hole in the ground, to get a representative sample of what’s down there.”

That will ultimately determine how big the resource opportunity is, and whether it’s economically feasible to develop today in the future as technology matures.

Visionary’s core Wyoming focus is an Archean greenstone belt, a blend of ancient volcanic and sedimentary rock that often hosts gold and nickel, in the Granite Mountains. There’s a potential for multiple discoveries across a belt that’s 62 miles long and 25 miles wide. 

Any future mine would still go through permitting and environmental review. Leading up to that, the company has leveraged technology to keep its environmental footprint as small as possible. 

“The (aeromagnetic survey) was a great tool because it allowed us to cover a lot of ground without much impact,” Adams said. “We don’t need boots on the ground to conduct airborne surveys, so that gives us a lot of really good data we can use.”

Three-dimensional modeling was used to further refine what might be where, helping to reduce disturbance to the ground. 

“It also makes things more efficient from a cost perspective,” Adams said. “And it gives you a higher chance of having success … instead of if you were to drill, like when you were doing mineral exploration in the 1950s, '60s or even '70s.”

The approach in that timeframe involved spotting minerals on the surface as a primary indicator, then digging to see if there were more. 

“With modern technologies we can use all the data we can collect with a helicopter, with satellite surveys, with geologic mapping that’s been done over the years, with soil sampling, to figure out where the highest potential areas are,” Adams said. “And once we’ve narrowed those down, you can go out and use some geophysical ground surveys — magnetic surveys — that help you model the conductive metals in the ground before you even have to drill-test them.”

That way, once a company starts drilling tests, it’s more about determining the specific grade of metals rather than where the deposits are. 

“So now we’ve defined a few key target areas and we’re going to be testing the kind of mineralization that exists at our Tin Cup project and our King Solomon project,” Adams said. “So this is really an exciting year for us.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Deep Wyoming Roots"}]

Although Visionary is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and maintains its headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Adams grew up in the Rocky Mountain Region and frequented the Rawlins area when he was growing up. He now lives in Lander and maintains a working office there. 

“My family’s been in mining for three generations, so I’ve always been around it,” he said. “My dad actually grew up in Rawlins, and my grandfather was Rawlins-based as well. We’ve been involved in Wyoming since the 1930s, starting with dairy farming in Rawlins.”

The family eventually became involved in uranium exploration in the area and has remained connected to Wyoming ever since. 

“I live in Lander, and we love it up here,” Adams said. “It’s a great place to be exploring for things. Outside of Wyoming, I don’t think people realize that every kid has the opportunity to go to college here because of royalties that are generated by the mining industry and primarily, right now, that’s coal.”

One day, Adams hopes those royalties will include a contribution from the nickel he finds. 

“We’re at an early stage right now, but if there’s a possible development scenario that would benefit the Office of State Lands and Investments, that money goes directly into the Wyoming school system,” he said.

Adams would also love to see a resurgence of economic health in Jeffrey City. 

“It’s one of the reasons why it’s important to diversify and find new things,” Adams said. “And that’s kind of what we’ve set out to do here, is find new things that we can mine that are going to be important for not only green-energy technologies but just for future generations. It’s exciting to be able to define new opportunities like this that could be important in the long-term for the state, especially in Fremont County, where we’ve seen kind of an uptick in unemployment … things have been a little stagnant.”

To help it with this new phase of exploration, Visionary Metals has inked a deal with Canada's Teck Resources, the fifth largest copper miner in the world.

“They have mines all over the world and they bring a lot of technical expertise, a lot of mine development and exploration expertise,” Adams said. “They have a great team of geologists and geophysicists.”

Teck Resources is both an equity investor and a technical partner, according to Visionary Metals’ website. It has invested around $3 million in the partnership for exploration work at Visionary’s King Solomon and Tin Cup projects, which will fund testing for multiple high-potential sites starting in 2026.

“Success in this year’s drilling would accelerate the projects toward resource definition and support our goal of establishing Wyoming as an emerging nickel and copper district in North America,” Adams said in a video about the partnership. 

The areas identified for testing have already shown high conductivity. While not a guarantee, it is an indicator of potentially economic levels of mineralization, and the geology is similar to other sites in the world where high concentrations of nickel are found.

Teck has taken a 9.9% equity stake in the company, buying 17.4 million common shares of Visionary at roughly 7 cents per share. It has also committed to non-dilutive funding for geophysics and drilling on top of the equity stake, extending partnership through 2028. 

Teck retains the right to lead Visionary’s next equity financing, potentially deepening its stake in the company to nearly 20%. Under the broader alliance, Teck also has an optional path to earn up to 70% ownership in designated properties through a joint venture. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Tomorrow’s Ore Today"}]

Adams is careful to temper expectations. At this stage, the company doesn’t know how big the nickel deposits are. Indications remain promising, but it could turn out that the deposit is not yet economically feasible to mine. 

As technology improves, those deposits could become economically viable, though. Knowing about them and how big they are is key, he said, to knowing when the trigger can be pulled for development of a location.

That’s a trend that’s already played out in Wyoming’s favor in other areas of the state, he added.

“That’s what we’ve kind of seen with the U.S. Gold Corp project that’s outside of Cheyenne,” Adams said. “That was originally discovered in like the 1900s. And then a lot of the (recent) development work that went into it was conducted by Strathmore, which was run by one of our directors, Mr. David Miller.”

The CK Gold Project 20 miles west of Cheyenne has all its permits 

 with a gold and copper reserve that’s larger than initially anticipated, right at a time when gold and copper prices are performing well. 

New technology helped make that project economically viable, in addition to the favorable price of gold — a trend that’s been seen in other areas of the state as well, such as the 

“Sometimes it takes time,” Adams said. “That’s just kind of the way that mineral exploration works, and it’s one of the reasons why it’s a good thing to do right. If you know where these deposits are, even if they don’t get developed right away, they can pay dividends down the road not just for companies but for the state of Wyoming and the people who are trying to find work here.”

If the drill bit confirms what models so far suggest — high-grade nickel sulfide and copper at economically feasible depths — Wyoming’s first nickel discovery in 2024 could go down as the beginning of a new U.S. critical minerals district. 

Nickel is used in a variety of energy-storage technologies and infrastructure, as well as high-grade stainless steel and super alloys useful for military hardware. The U.S. has been relying heavily on foreign imports from Indonesia and the Philippines, putting the nation’s domestic supply at risk to geopolitical unrest and export restrictions.

Success in this area will position Wyoming to help the nation advance in one more area of independence. 

But even if it doesn’t pan out today, the datasets being generated in the Granite Mountains will still enrich Wyoming’s geological map, keeping the door open to future explorers in an era when secure, domestic supplies of critical metals have become increasingly important.

Visionary Metals and Jeffrey City 8 6 26

<title>Wyoming’s First Nickel Discovery Heads Into High-Tech, High-Stakes Drilling Phase | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Armed with new technology and a major mining partner, Visionary Metals is ready to probe just how big — and how valuable — a nickel discovery at Jeffrey City is. If realized, it will be a first of its kind in the Western U.S. since the 1940s.

Wyoming’s First Nickel Discovery Heads Into High-Tech, High-Stakes Drilling Phase

Around Wyoming

The wave of legacy ranches for sale in Wyoming is continuing with yet another historic ranch hitting the market for the first time.

This time, it is the 1,542-acre Quarter Circle Lazy B, owned for four generations by the Wallop family, which has ties to British nobility, as well as historic prominence in both Wyoming and American politics. 

The Quarter Circle Lazy B, listed for $24.5 million and on the market for the first time in 135 years, is tucked just under the Bighorn Mountains at the mouth of Little Goose Canyon. Its sale will mark the end of an era for one of Wyoming’s best-known legacy ranches.

Owner Paul Wallop told Cowboy State Daily he and his wife, Sandra, have decided this is the right time to start a search for the ranch’s next steward because none of the children have an interest in taking over the ranch. 

“We’re not ancient,” Paul Wallop said. “But we’re in our mid-60s, and we could easily do another 10-plus years. But in that 10 years, one health event and you’re not keeping up with it.”

Sandra Wallop told Cowboy State Daily she fears it will be more difficult to be “picky” about a successor if they wait. Now is the right time so they can be selective.

“It’s important,” she said. “We want them to have good Wyoming values, be good neighbors. I hate to say it in this fashion, but we want to kind of interview them before we sell to them.”

That doesn’t mean the couple will be “hovering” over their new neighbors, she added. 

“We’re not going to be that kind of neighbor,” Sandra said. “We deeply and passionately love this place … So we’re hoping the next family has the same attitude and perspective that we do.”

The Wallop family first began assembling its ranch in 1889, when English-born Oliver Henry Wallop bought the first piece of what would become the Quarter Circle Lazy B. 

Oliver was the third and youngest son of a titled line in Britain. He took a shine to the American West after graduating from an English university, and decided that would be how he would make his way in the world.

As the youngest son of Isaac Newton Wallop, the fifth Earl of Portsmouth in Great Britain’s Victorian era, Oliver never expected he would inherit land or title. Such young men were, at the time, known as “remittance” men, because they typically left home to make their way in the world and were given a remittance from their family. 

His father’s name, Isaac Newton, does have an indirect tie to the famous physicist of the same name. A relative of Newton’s married into the Wallop family, and many of its sons were subsequently given names to honor that heritage.

Oliver came to America soon after graduating from Oxford in 1883, first buying a ranch in Montana, where he introduced the region’s first thoroughbred horses. He then migrated south to Wyoming in 1889, establishing the Canyon Ranch, which included the Quarter Circle Lazy B.

Oliver was ultimately wrong about his chances for succession. He returned to England after his second brother died, becoming the Earl of Portsmouth in 1925. 

“He had to renounce his U.S. citizenship, and then he served in the House of Lords,” Paul Wallop said. “And I don’t know if there’s any other member of the House of Lords what has ever served in a foreign government — it’s a very unique thing.”

Polo has a long history in Sheridan County, and the Wallops are integral to that story, along with the Scottish brothers William and Malcom Moncrieffe. 

“Malcom Moncrieffe had what was called the Polo Ranch, and then William had the Quarter Circle A Ranch, which is the Brinton Museum now,” Paul Wallop said. “Quarter Circle Lazy B is the neighboring ranch to the Quarter Circle Lazy A.” 

Together, these ranches got a contract with the British cavalry for horses, shipping 20,000 to South Africa for the Boer War.

“They were selling to the U.S. cavalry as well,” Paul Wallop added. “Part of their training for all the horses was just to get them started playing polo.”

Historical records show Sheridan’s first big polo match was July 4, 1893, which played to a crowd of several thousand spectators after a warmup from a military band.

The teams featured five mostly British players on each side, listed as Beckton vs. Sheridan. 

“Polo has always been a big deal here, and it’s still a big deal,” Paul Wallop said. “And that’s partly because of my great-grandfather.”

By the end of World War I, militaries were trending toward mechanical vehicles, collapsing that industry. The remount program died away, and the ranch shifted toward cattle markets.

“My grandfather began in registered Herefords, and he did really well with that up until he passed in the spring of 1980,” Paul Wallop said. 

Some of Oliver Malcom Wallop’s herd were even shipped to Japan, Sandra added, thanks to their elite genetics. 

Japan was crossing its smaller draft cattle with western breeds until about 1910 to increase their size and make them better-suited to meat production. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Royal Guest List"}]

For all its remoteness, the Quarter Circle Lazy B has long attracted an international roster of guests, thanks in part to the family’s enduring ties to British nobility. 

While Oliver Henry Wallop returned to England to serve in the House of Lords, he maintained close ties to his family in Wyoming and his ranch was a quiet magnet for many high-profile visitors, ranging from Buffalo Bill Cody and President Theodore Roosevelt — who designated the Bighorn National Forest after his visit — to Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and, in more recent times, Princess Anne. 

Sports legend John Elway, former French President Valery Giscard D’Estaing, and American political leaders such as Vice President Dan Quayle are also among the high-profile guests.

“I mean, we’ve served tea to Princess Diana’s sister,” Sandra Wallop said. “This ranch has been host to a huge long list of princes and princesses and queens and vice presidents and senators and on and on and on.”

 a popular PBS British historical drama set at Highclere Castle, through an aunt who married the queen’s manager for thoroughbred racing, Lord Porchester.

“He became the Earl of Carnarvon and Paul’s aunt became the Countess of Carnarvon,” Sandra said. “And they owned Highclere, which Paul’s cousin now has, and is where Downton Abbey was filmed.”

The buildings on the ranch reflect its layered history. There’s the historic stone barn, constructed in the 1930s, which once served as a show barn for registered Hereford sales and which today serves as a horse barn and tack space. 

There’s the foreman’s or manager’s house, dating to around the turn of the 20th century. It has three bedrooms and two baths, and is likely the oldest building on the property. 

There’s the Orvis-endorsed fly-fishing lodge, featured in Great American Fishing Lodges, built in 1993. It’s a two-bedroom, four-bath home with a panoramic view of Little Goose Canyon and Moncrieffe Ridge.

And there’s Johnnie’s mountain cabin, a remote two-bedroom, one-bath mountain home. 

Other structures include a heated mechanics shop, a newer Morton building for horses and storing equipment, a farm shed for storage with dog kennels at the south end, a Scale House complete with a 10-ton 1965 Fairbanks Morse Scale and a 100-by-200-foot outdoor riding arena complete with lighting, advanced drainage, tack areas and wash bays.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"More Than Land, Buildings"}]

All this set in an area that boasts trophy wildlife of all kinds — moose, elk, deer, mountain lion, bear, and upland game birds. The ranch still has one of Wyoming’s original private game-bird farm licenses, and it’s also one of the first conservation easements written in the state.

Little Goose Creek offers 600 feet of trout stream to go with the property’s four mountain ponds. 

What’s for sale, the Wallops say, is more than just a collection of historic buildings and some scenic acres. To them, it’s a way of life their family has spent four generations protecting.

That’s why they’re less focused on how fast the ranch sells than on who ultimately buys it. They hope for someone who will treasure both its history and its future, helping with the next three or four generations of stewardship. 

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<title>Wallop Family’s Quarter Circle Lazy B Ranch For Sale After 135 Years For $24.5M | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Wallop family's legacy Quarter Circle Lazy B Ranch in Sheridan County is for sale for the first time in 135 years, listing for $24.5 million. It hosted Queen Elizabeth II, supplied cavalry horses to Britain and helped build Wyoming's polo scene.

Wallop Family’s Quarter Circle Lazy B Ranch For Sale After 135 Years For $24.5M

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

Agriculture

The push will continue to get wolves delisted from Endangered Species Act protections across the Lower 48 state despite a delisting bill being blocked in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. 

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, sought unanimous consent to pass his bill, 

 but Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, objected and blocked it. 

Even so, Wyoming Republican U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, who are co-sponsors of the bill, told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that they'll continue to back the bill.

A companion bill passed in the U.S. House and was supported by Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman, who blasted the blocking of the legislation.

“Before coming to Congress, I successfully sued to secure Wyoming’s right to manage its own gray wolf population and will continue to support legislative efforts to allow others to do the same," Hageman said in a statement to Cowboy State Daily. 

"Elitist East Coast politicians' continued objections to common-sense proposals to return wildlife management to the states are another case of those unburdened by predators attempting to dictate what other states are forced to survive," she added.

[{"type":"text","text":"Lummis said wolves have recovered and it's damaging to not delist them."}]

"America's wolf population has fully recovered, and it's long past time to take them off the endangered species list," Lummis wrote. "Wolves are tearing through cattle herds and hurting ranchers' livelihoods across the West, but some Democrats will fight delisting no matter the recovery numbers because they'd rather keep these populations under federal control.

"That flies in the face of what the Endangered Species Act was meant to do, and it hands more power to Washington bureaucrats who don't know these states or their wildlife. I'm very hopeful Senator Johnson's bill gets a vote before the year is out.” 

[{"type":"text","text":"Barrasso concurred."}]

“Wyoming is the model state for the successful delisting of wolves. Wyoming has proven that states, not Washington, are in the best position to manage the wolf,” he wrote. “We’ve fully recovered and protected our state’s wolf population for years. Senator Johnson’s legislation rightfully returns the management of wolves back to all 48 lower 48 states.” 

Hageman said wolf-delisting efforts mirror those to delist grizzly bears. 

“I have cosponsored and voted numerous times in favor of legislation to delist gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act, as these apex predators have far exceeded the law’s explicit recovery goals," she wrote. "Gray wolf populations — just like the grizzly bear — are best managed by the states they roam.

National livestock organizations also issued a joint appeal for delisting wolves. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Public Lands Council, and the Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association called upon the Senate to immediately pass the bill.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Back and Forth Five Times"}]

Wolves have been delisted for several years in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho and can be hunted in all three states. 

Colorado launched a reintroduction program in late 2023, and wolves remain protected there. Even if a nationwide federal delisting passes, state protections for wolves would still apply.

Wisconsin has one of the largest populations of wolves in the Lower 48, estimated at around 1,250. 

During his remarks on the Senate Floor, Johnson said Wisconsin wolves were supposed to be delisted once the population hit 250. 

Since 2007, wolves have been delisted then re-listed five times, he said. 

Many Wisconsin residents are calling for delisting, saying wolves threaten livestock, pets and public safety, Johnson said. 

In 2024, Wisconsin outdoorsman Chase Melton told Cowboy State Daily he 

 it aggressively approached him and other hunters in a duck blind. 

Booker countered by saying wolves have been viciously pursued and killed to the point where they occupy only about 10% of their historic range in the United States. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"For, Against the Bill"}]

Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, told Cowboy State Daily that he supports delisting wolves across the Lower 48. 

There could be value for Wyoming ranchers in having ESA protection for wolves removed across the country, he said.

“It perhaps, in the long term, would provide protection against efforts to relist wolves here in the Rocky Mountains,” Magagna said. 

Along the Wyoming-Colorado state line, it might not make much difference on the ground because Colorado still has “a state initiative” offering protection for wolves, he said. 

Colorado resident Samantha Miller, the senior carnivore campaigner with the Center of Biological Diversity, told Cowboy State Daily she opposes the delisting bill. 

“I could absolutely disrupt the reintroduction program in Colorado,” she said. “It could really put them (wolves) under threat any time they are seen as a threat.”  

A nationwide delisting could loosen the parameters under which wolves could be shot in Colorado, she said.

For example, wolves must be actively attacking cattle before they can be killed. Under nationwide delisting, that requirement might be reduced to wolves simply being in the same field with cattle, she said.

Miller added that wolves need safe “corridors” for genetic exchange between populations. 

Eliminating ESA protections in the Lower 48 could further hamper wolves’ ability to move safely between Colorado and other Rocky Mountain states, she said. 

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<title>Hageman Says Wolf Delisting Bill Stalled By ‘Elitist East Coast Politicians’ | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A bill to delist wolves across the Lower 48 co-sponsored by Wyoming U.S. Sens. Barrasso and Lummis was blocked by a New Jersey Democrat. Rep. Hageman on Wednesday blasted "elitist East Coast politicians' continued objections to common-sense proposals.”

Hageman Says Wolf Delisting Bill Stalled By ‘Elitist East Coast Politicians’

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily political columnist, Rod Miller.

Rod Miller

Opinion

CSD Columnists

Google defines the modern day internet term “ghosting” as “the sudden, unexplained ending of all communication by one person in a romantic relationship, friendship, or workplace, ignoring any attempts to reach out.”

A perfect example of this disturbing behavior happened when Cowboy State Daily reporter Kate Meadows 

 about Peabody Coal Company suddenly canceling medical benefits for their Wyoming retirees.

Meadows reached out to each member of the Wyoming congressional delegation for their reactions, and the response was…..crickets. She called again, offering our elected officials an opportunity to speak out on a development that deeply affects the lives of their constituents. Again, the response was dead silence.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Ghosted!"}]

It makes a cowboy or cowgirl wonder what would prompt our delegation in D.C. to ignore the folks back home when a coal company shafts its retirees. A simple, “Gosh, that sucks” or a “Thoughts and prayers” would suffice, since there’s not much Congress can do about Peabody’s parsimony.

But dead silence when asked about it? That just seems a cold and distant response from elected officials in a state as small and tight-knit as Wyoming.

Maybe Senators Barrasso and Lummis, and Representative Hageman don’t read Cowboy State Daily (the most widely-read news source in Wyoming) and simply didn’t know what Peabody had done.

Maybe they’re too busy keeping Wyoming safe from commies, cartels and cross-dressers to pay much attention to what’s happening in the coal patch.

Maybe Peabody had contributed to their campaigns, and they didn’t want to piss off a major donor.

Or maybe they just don’t give a rat’s ass about the people and the press in their home state.

Mute politicians are such an anomaly these days that I did some research.

I asked an old friend who did press work for the late Sen. Al Simpson (and we’ll tip our Stetsons at the mention of the name) when Simpson, Sen. Malcolm Wallop and Rep. Dick Cheney comprised our delegation. THAT was a delegation with real power in D.C. But I digress.

I asked my source if he recalled an instance where the entire delegation refused to respond to a question from the press, or to weigh in on an important Wyoming issue.

“Never!” was his emphatic reply. Not in a million years would a Wyoming delegation of that stature “ghost” their constituents. Hell would freeze over first.

My source prefers to remain anonymous, since he maintains a high profile in the Wyoming press ecosystem, and his name appearing in one of my columns might tarnish his reputation. But I’ll give you a hint...his name rhymes with “Charles Pelkey.”

Wyoming has traditionally, with the notable exception of Liz Cheney, treated our congressional delegation with kid gloves. We consider them our varsity lettermen, our fair-haired team; and they are the politicians most insulated from our criticism.

We tend to cut them a lot of slack. We don’t hold their feet to the fire as often as we should.

So when they unanimously choose to “ghost” us, to not answer our calls or questions from our press, the reason for that is no mystery.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"They do it because we let them."}]

Rod Miller can be reached at RodsMillerWyo@yahoo.com

<title>Rod Miller: Ghosted In The Big Empty – Or– The Silence Of The Delegation | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "A perfect example of 'ghosting' happened when Cowboy State Daily reporter Kate Meadows reached out to each member of the Wyoming congressional delegation about Peabody Coal Company suddenly canceling medical benefits for their Wyoming retirees. And the response was... crickets."

Rod Miller: Ghosted In The Big Empty – Or– The Silence Of The Delegation

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus claims the national group Americans for Prosperity is attacking “true conservatives” running for the state Legislature. 

Americans for Prosperity’s Wyoming-based director Tyler Lindholm disputes that, saying Freedom Caucus-aligned legislators aren’t always conservative.

Headquartered in Virginia, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a major player in Wyoming’s primary election cycle, influencing voters’ choices between different Republicans.

AFP spent $334,603 in election campaign efforts in Wyoming’s 2024 primary cycle.

 as another Virginia-based group, which differs from AFP and often backs Freedom Caucus-aligned candidates: Make Liberty Win.

[{"type":"text","text":"Make Liberty Win spent  $371,260 in Wyoming’s 2024 primary election."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"This year’s primary election is Aug. 18."}]

The primary tends to be more decisive in Wyoming because it a Republican-majority state. Republican in-fighting, not partisan divide, defines most political factions on the state legislative level.

[{"type":"text","text":"None of AFP’s picks is a known Freedom Caucus member. "}]

AFP’s favored Republican candidates in contested legislative races this year are:

[{"type":"text","text":"Nah, Says Allemand"}]

 Allemand, against whom AFP has launched mailers, told Cowboy State Daily the group has come out against “conservative” candidates and wants to end the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

“They want to destroy the movement of the Freedom Caucus, which is a very conservative, anti-tax, pro-family movement,” said Allemand. “In all their publications they say how conservative they are, but yet they’ve endorsed the least conservative people.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Lindholm countered."}]

“We don’t look at caucus alignment,” he said. “If this was an anthem against the Freedom Caucus we’d be in the (Freedom Caucus-aligned Rep.) Ocean Andrew race supporting Cam Wright. We’d be in the (Freedom Caucus Rep.) Steve Johnson race supporting Luke Reiner.”

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus claims national group Americans for Prosperity is attacking “true conservatives” running for the state Legislature. Nope, says Wyoming’s AFP director, “We don’t look at caucus alignment.”

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