Greg Johnson
Greg Johnson is managing editor for Cowboy State Daily at the headquarters in Cheyenne.
A veteran journalist of more than 31 years covering Western issues and politics, Greg spent stints in Wyoming as managing editor for the Gillette News Record and Laramie Boomerang. Greg's produced award-winning journalism, and has built a national reputation for his extensive coverage of Wyoming energy -- especially coal.
He previously spent seven years editing and reporting in Alaska, and was managing editor for Sarah Palin's hometown paper when she was tapped as John McCain's running mate in 2008. Greg studied music and English at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Outside the office, Greg likes photography, reading and all things sports.
Latest from Greg Johnson

That Soul-Penetrating Thunder From F/A-18s Taking Off In Casper? Get Used To It
Aviation groupies who love to ooh and ahh at anything cool with wings, there’s nothing like the bone-shaking rumble of a fighter jet taking off. A pair of F/A-18 Hornets hot refueling and taking off Tuesday wasn’t just loud, it was “an experience.”
Greg JohnsonSeptember 11, 2025

No Chance Of Tax Hikes On Gaming Companies After Meeting Adjourned Early
After voting against two bills that that would have Wyoming’s gaming companies, two others weren’t heard when a legislative committee adjourned early Tuesday. The committee’s chair, Sen. Tara Nethercott, was visibly frustrated with the lack of movement.
Greg JohnsonSeptember 11, 2025

Dollar Lake Fire Takes A Run At Squaretop, Historic GP Ranch
Those in western Wyoming worried about the Dollar Lake Fire making a run at the state’s famous landmark Squaretop Mountain don’t have to worry any longer — it happened. It’s also threatening the Historic GP Ranch.
Greg JohnsonSeptember 08, 2025

Western Wyoming Wildfire Threatens Famous View Of Squaretop Mountain
Residents of Sublette County are worried that views of Squaretop Mountain might forever be altered with the encroachment of the Dollar Lake Fire. The setting is one of the state's most recognizable landscapes, even once appearing on Wyoming's license plate.
Greg JohnsonSeptember 05, 2025

Dollar Lake Fire Burning Along Green River Lakes, Within Sight Of Squaretop
Steep, rugged terrain is slowing down progress for the more than 500 personnel fighting the nearly 16,000-acre Dollar Lake Fire about 40 miles north of Pinedale. It’s burning along the Green River Lakes and is within sight of Squaretop Mountain.
Greg JohnsonSeptember 04, 2025

Two Months After Pine Bluffs Crop Duster Killed, Investigation Continues
More than two months after a Pine Bluffs crop duster was shot to death, the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office reported Friday that it’s still investigating. “Detectives are actively working on this complex case,” the agency says.
Greg JohnsonAugust 29, 2025

Should Diesel Mechanic Be Pardoned? Zeldin Says His Opinion Is For The President
If EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin thinks President Trump should pardon a Cheyenne mechanic for removing emissions controls from diesel engines, he’s not saying so publicly. He said Thursday that his opinion on the issue is for Trump, not the media.
Greg JohnsonAugust 28, 2025

EPA Admin Zeldin Says Feds Should Let Wyoming Manage Its Own Coal Byproducts
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin was in Wyoming on Thursday to sign a letter supporting Wyoming — not the federal agency — to manage its own coal plant byproducts. “Nobody knows Wyoming like the people of Wyoming,” he said.
Greg JohnsonAugust 28, 2025

‘We Can See The Flames’: Sleepless Nights As Wildfires Burn Within Sight
Even with cooler temperatures, higher humidity and rain, a pair of western Wyoming wildfires continue to grow. That’s causing sleepless nights for those nearby who “can see the flames” from their front porch.
Greg JohnsonAugust 26, 2025

Week Of Cool, Wet Weather Expected To Park Over Uncontained Wyoming Wildfires
Firefighting crews working a pair of uncontained wildfires in western Wyoming can expect some help from Mother Nature this week. Unseasonably cool, humid and wet weather will park over the fires through Friday.
Greg JohnsonAugust 25, 2025

Star Valley On Edge As New Wildfire Burns Unchecked South Of Smoot
Another fast-growing wildfire has blown up in Wyoming, this time in Star Valley south of Smoot. The Willow Creek Fire has prompted evacuations and closed U.S. 89. Meanwhile, the huge 125,000-acre Red Canyon Fire is 75% contained.
Greg JohnsonAugust 24, 2025

Desperate And Worried: Locals Watch As More Evacuated Near Dollar Lake Fire
All homes and campsites within a 5-mile radius of the volatile Dollar Lake Fire in Sublette County have been evacuated as the blaze continues to spread out of control along the eastern side of the Green River.
Greg JohnsonAugust 23, 2025

Dollar Lake Fire Blows Up To 10,000-Plus Acres, Bible Camp Evacuated
The Dollar Lake Fire north of Pinedale on Friday blew up to more than 10,000 acres, pushing south and forcing more evacuations, including an area bible camp.
Greg JohnsonAugust 22, 2025

Huge 124,000-Acre Red Canyon Fire Remains Active, Nearly 50% Contained
Crews fighting the huge 124,000-acre Red Canyon Fire are reporting significant progress and nearly 50% containment. But it remains active and potentially dangerous, wildland firefighters report Friday.
Greg JohnsonAugust 22, 2025

Western Wyoming Lodge Owners Watch Campers Flee Out-Of-Control Wildfire
Owners of the Kendall Valley Lodge about 40 miles north of Pinedale watched as campers and residents evacuated the area in the path of the Dollar Lake Fire. Reported Thursday, they also watched it explode overnight from 20-30 acres to nearly 1,400.
Greg JohnsonAugust 22, 2025

‘These Fires Are Such SOBs’: Weather Drives 127,000-Acre Red Canyon Fire
Temperatures nearing triple digits, near-0% humidity and erratic winds are why Wyoming wildfires “are such SOBs,” meteorologist Don Day says. That means fighting the nearly 127,000-acre Red Canyon Fire this week is “not going to be fun.”
Greg JohnsonAugust 20, 2025

In Blockbuster $15.4 Billion Deal, Black Hills Energy To Merge With NorthWestern
Black Hills Energy announced a blockbuster $15.4 billion merger Tuesday with NorthWestern Energy in a deal the companies say will help them compete with larger utilities. Rates won’t go down, they say, but they won’t go up as much or as fast.
Greg JohnsonAugust 19, 2025

Wyoming's Red Canyon Fire Now 100,000+ Acres, Fire Emergency Declared
With the Red Canyon Fire burning about 11 miles east of Thermopolis exceeding 100,000 acres in size, Gov. Mark Gordon has declared a fire emergency, even as crews report it’s 28% contained.
Greg JohnsonAugust 18, 2025
Aggressive Red Canyon Fire Closes In On 100,000 Acres, Still 0% Containment
The Red Canyon Fire continues to surge in multiple directions about 11 miles east of Thermopolis as it closes in on 100,000 acres burned. It’s also moving into Washakie and Fremont counties, prompting evacuation alerts in Fremont.
Greg JohnsonAugust 18, 2025
Red Canyon Fire Grows To Nearly 85,000 Acres, More Evacuations Ordered
A large, out-of-control wildfire “exhibiting extreme fire behavior” continues to grow in multiple directions about 11 miles east of Thermopolis. The Red Canyon Fire also has prompted more evacuations in its potential path.
Greg Johnson & Jackie DorothyAugust 17, 2025

3 Wildfires Have Burned More Than 61,000 Acres In Bighorn Basin, 0% Containment
As of Saturday morning, a trio of fast-growing wildfires have burned more than 61,000 acres in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin, with 0% containment on any of them. The largest is the Red Canyon Fire at 40,000 acrea, which has exploded on cheatgrass.
Greg JohnsonAugust 16, 2025

Out-Of-Control Red Canyon Fire Near Thermopolis Now Nearly 35,000 Acres
The Red Canyon Fire is burning out of control about 11 miles east of Thermopolis, blowing up to nearly 35,000 acres on Friday. Oil field workers saw the lightning bolt that started the fire, then could only watch it spread.
Greg JohnsonAugust 15, 2025

Wildfire East Of Thermopolis Explodes To 20,000 Acres, Prompts Evacuation
What was a small wildfire reported about 14 miles east of Thermopolis on Wednesday evening has exploded to an estimated more than 20,000 acres Thursday. The Red Canyon Fire has also prompted some evacuations.
Greg JohnsonAugust 14, 2025

Sheriff’s Office Training On Flaming Gorge Reservoir Turns Into Real Water Rescue
A Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office training exercise on Flaming Gorge Reservoir on Wednesday turned into a real water rescue for five deputies and a K-9. When the boat took on water and flipped, deputies acted quickly to save one of their own and a K-9.
Greg JohnsonAugust 13, 2025

Barlow Says If GOP Primary For Wyoming Governor Gets Ugly, It Won’t Come From Him
Even the opening prayer at state Sen. Eric Barlow’s announcement for governor cautioned it could be an ugly campaign. But Barlow said if it gets ugly it's not going to come from him and he won’t get caught up in smear and misinformation campaigns.
Greg JohnsonAugust 12, 2025

Wyoming State Senator Eric Barlow Announces Run For Governor
Campbell County Republican Eric Barlow on Tuesday announced he’s running for governor in 2026. The state senator and former Wyoming House speaker says he was motivated to preserve the state’s independent spirit and to “keep Washington, D.C., out of Wyoming’s business.”
Greg JohnsonAugust 12, 2025

Family Still Holds Out Hope For Minnesota Hiker Missing Since July 29
The wife of missing Cloud Peak Wilderness hiker Grant Gardner on Monday told Cowboy State Daily that she's hopeful his skills and abilities that "he's been honing over the last decade-plus will help him come home to us."
Greg JohnsonAugust 11, 2025

Potential Buyers Emerge For Closed Wyoming Newspapers
In the wake of the shutdown of eight Wyoming newspapers, potential buyers are emerging for at least some of them. The former Pinedale Roundup editor says she’s already secured money to buy the paper, and there’s reportedly interest in at least two others.
Greg JohnsonAugust 08, 2025

Shutdown Of Wyoming Newspapers Triggered By Missed Deadline To Sell Company
The parent company of eight Wyoming hometown newspapers shut them down with no notice Wednesday after a deal to sell them fell through. Industry leaders say that’s no excuse for the “unconscionable” way employees were treated.
Greg JohnsonAugust 08, 2025

Man Found Dead In Montana River Wrongly Reported As Hiker Missing In Wyoming
Officials are trying to squash wrong reports that a body found in the Bighorn River in Montana was a Minnesota man who went missing July 29 in Big Horn County, Wyoming. It isn’t, but the reports have rubbed at already raw emotions.
Greg JohnsonAugust 07, 2025

Blindsided: 8 Wyoming Towns Lose Their Newspapers After Abrupt Shutdown
Eight rural communities across Wyoming are without their legacy hometown newspapers after parent company News Media Corp. abruptly closed them without notice Wednesday morning. Employees said they were blindsided and call the move “devastating.”
Greg JohnsonAugust 06, 2025

Family, Sheriff Hold Out Hope For Minnesota Man Missing A Week On Cloud Peak
If anyone could survive a week alone in the rugged Cloud Peak Wilderness of Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains, it’s Grant Gardner. His wife Lauren said she’s still “in shock” over his disappearance, but holds out hope that her husband is still alive.
Greg JohnsonAugust 05, 2025

Minnesota Man Got To Top Of Cloud Peak A Week Ago, Hasn’t Been Heard From Since
Multiple agencies haven’t given up searching for a Minnesota hiker missing for nearly a week in Wyoming’s rugged Cloud Peak Wilderness. Grant Gardner texted his wife when he got to the summit of Cloud Peak on July 29, and hasn’t been heard from since.
Greg JohnsonAugust 05, 2025

Barrasso: Holding Up Trump Nominees Part Of Democrat Tantrum Over Losing Election
Wyoming U.S. Sen. John Barrasso said Friday that Senate Republicans aren’t losing patience with what he calls deliberate “obstructionist” tactics by Democrats. He said they’ve lost it entirely as 160 Trump nominees await confirmation.
Greg JohnsonAugust 01, 2025

With 2 Wildfires Burning Near Ten Sleep, Town Becomes Ground Zero For Responders
With a pair of wildfires less than 15 miles from the town, Ten Sleep has become ground zero for wildland firefighting crews. Residents can see the smoke, and “at night you can see the orange glow,” the mayor says.
Greg JohnsonJuly 30, 2025

What Do Locals Do At Cheyenne Frontier Days? Play CFD Bingo
Cheyenne's Harvey Deselms shares the Cheyenne Frontier Days Bingo card every year. He says the most entertaining part is seeing how many of the squares you can check off by looking in a mirror. "I had the coolest mullet," he said.
Greg JohnsonJuly 26, 2025

Gov. Gordon Says Wyoming Can Educate Kids Better Than Federal ‘Talking Heads’
Wyoming is eager to exercise more control over educating its own kids. Gov. Mark Gordon told Cowboy State Daily’s Jake Nichols on Thursday that Wyoming can educate its kids better than federal “talking heads” in Washington, D.C.
Greg JohnsonJuly 24, 2025

Cody Mayor Arrested On Suspicion Of DUI, Spends Weekend In Jail
The mayor of Cody, Wyoming, spent the weekend in the Park County Detention Center. Lee Ann Reiter was arrested early Saturday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and pleaded not guilty Monday.
Greg JohnsonJuly 21, 2025

A Teen Driver Hit His Car, So Cheyenne Man Bought Her A New One
Someone slides through an icy intersection and collides with your car, what do you do? If you’re Bryan Pedersen, a Cheyenne financial advisor, you buy the other driver — who was at fault — a new car.
Greg JohnsonJuly 13, 2025

10 Years After Cheyenne Coin Shop Double Murder, Trial To Begin
Trial begins with jury selection on Monday a decade after the brutal July 20, 2015, murder of two men at The Coin Shop in Cheyenne. The suspect, Douglas Smith, called 911 that day and wasn’t initially a suspect.
Greg JohnsonJuly 11, 2025

Laramie 100-Year-Old Bought His First Car At 16 — A Model T Ford For $6
Everett Spackman of Laramie, Wyoming, has seen a lot over his 100 years of life. He served in two wars, and remembers the Great Depression, the moon landing and paying $6 for a beat-up Model T Ford when he turned 16.
Greg JohnsonJuly 06, 2025

Cheyenne Murder A Web Of Conflicting Statements And Admitted Lies
Investigators are trying to piece together how an 18-year-old was murdered just after midnight Friday at a Cheyenne mobile home park. The suspect and witnesses have given a convoluted web of conflicting statements and admitted lies.
Greg JohnsonJune 19, 2025

Western Wyoming Wildfire Burns Close To Historic Lookout Post
The Horse Fire burning in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in western Wyoming on Tuesday has come within 2 miles of a historic fire lookout post on Prospect Peak. The outpost has been covered in an aluminum-based wrap as a precaution.
Greg JohnsonJune 17, 2025

19-Year-Old Cheyenne Man Allegedly Argued With 18-Year-Old Before Killing Him
A second-degree murder charge was announced Monday for a 19-year-old Cheyenne man. He’s accused of shooting an 18-year-old when they “had a disagreement” around midnight Friday.
Greg JohnsonJune 16, 2025

Thousands Of Lego Addicts Find Fix At Cheyenne Convention
Thousands of Lego addicts packed into the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center this weekend to get their fix. From $1 bargain bins to a $750 chrome Darth Vader, it was nirvana for serious collectors and those who just like to play with Legos.
Greg JohnsonJune 15, 2025

Aircraft Fighting Wyoming Wildfire Grounded By Someone Flying A Drone
Aerial efforts to fight a nearly 800-acre wildfire burning in a rugged area of western Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest were grounded Saturday because someone flew a drone over the fire.
Greg JohnsonJune 15, 2025

Two In Custody After Fatal Shooting South Of Cheyenne
The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office is piecing together what happened in the early morning hours Friday that left a person dead just south of Cheyenne. Sheriff Brian Kozak said two people have been detained and that “this is a homicide investigation.”
Greg JohnsonJune 13, 2025

Gillette Teen Posts Threat To ‘Bomb The Pentagon’ — Pentagon Notices
A Gillette 18-year-old learned that even joking about bombing the Pentagon is a bad idea. He got a visit from local deputies Tuesday night after a Pentagon agent asked them to investigate the teen’s X post that said, “It’s time to bomb the … Pentagon.”
Greg JohnsonJune 11, 2025

Welcome To Pete’s Service: More Than A 100-Year-Old Pine Bluffs Gas Pump Graveyard
Pete’s Service along U.S. Highway 30 in Pine Buffs, Wyoming, has become a local landmark for the dozens of rusted out old gas pumps that fill up its yard. But the 101-year-old Mobil station is much more than a gas pump graveyard.
Greg JohnsonJune 08, 2025

Drivers In Cheyenne Navigate Traffic, Crashes And The ‘Crazy White Honda Lady’
A woman driving a white Honda sedan has become infamous on Cheyenne’s roads. Known simply as the “Crazy White Honda Lady,” the unknown driver frequently stops in the middle of traffic to yell curses out her window and prolifically flip people off.
Greg JohnsonJune 07, 2025

Wyoming Entrepreneur In Final Push Of $47.45B Bid To Buy TikTok Before Deadline
Wyoming entrepreneur Reid Rasner says he’s optimistic his $47.45 billion bid to buy TikTok will be successful. The countdown is on, with two weeks left before a deadline for the Chinese-owned platform sell to a U.S. buyer or go dark.
Greg JohnsonJune 05, 2025

Scammers Using Bitcoin ATMs To Steal Thousands From Wyomingites
A Jackson man scammed out of $7,500 wasn’t as lucky as a 78-year-old Gillette woman who narrowly avoided being taken for $22,000 at a bitcoin ATM on Saturday. Bitcoin is as easy to steal as cash, an expert says.
Greg JohnsonJune 04, 2025

Biden Immigration Policy Enabled Boulder Terror Attack, Wyoming Delegation Says
U.S. Sens. John Barrasso, Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Harriet Hageman on Monday expressed outrage over an illegal Egyptian national who attacked people in Boulder with a flamethrower and Molotov cocktails. They say Biden’s immigration policy is to blame.
Greg JohnsonJune 02, 2025

‘Fearless’ Laramie Girl, 10, Dies A Week After Hit By Truck
Sawyer Costa loved animals and playing hockey with boys twice her size. The 10-year-old Laramie girl died Saturday, a week after she was hit by a truck. Those who knew her say that most of all, Sawyer was “fearless.”
Greg JohnsonJune 02, 2025

‘At Least This Time They Showed Up’: 200 Turn Out For Cheyenne Memorial Day Ceremony
About 200 people turned out at the Cheyenne National Cemetery on Monday to remember America’s fallen heroes. “At least this time they showed up,” said one veteran, referencing last year's ceremony where the VA didn't show up.
Greg JohnsonMay 26, 2025

At Lusk Town Meeting, Locals Say Wind Projects Have Ended Friendships
At a town hall meeting in Lusk hosted by Secretary of State Chuck Gray on Wednesday, locals said wind projects on 180,000 acres of land in eastern Wyoming has stirred up anger and resentment.
Greg JohnsonMay 22, 2025

Cheyenne Man Caught On Call From Jail Trying To Arrange To Move His Meth Stash
A Cheyenne man learned the hard way last week that jailhouse calls are monitored when he was caught trying to arrange to have his meth stash moved. It’s an example of “meth around and find out,” said Sheriff Brian Kozak.
Greg JohnsonMay 20, 2025