Outdoors Reporter

Mark Heinz

Mark Heinz covers the outdoors and wildlife for Cowboy State Daily.

He previously worked or freelanced for numerous newspapers and magazines across Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, covering all manner of news and feature stories. He has a strong background in topics related to wildlife, hunting, and wildlands conservation. He's written extensively since the 1990s about the controversies surrounding wolves, grizzly bears and mustangs.

He also enjoys people-centric stories with quirky edge of humor and has written several such pieces for Cowboy State Daily.

Mark lives in Laramie with his wife, Kendy, and the youngest of their five children.

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Latest from Mark Heinz

Cam Sholly, pictured here in front of Elk Peak in Yellowstone National Park, is ending his nearly 8-year run as the park’s superintendent.

Cam Sholly Leaving As Yellowstone National Park Superintendent After 8-Year Run

Cam Sholly is stepping down as Yellowstone National Park superintendent after eight years that included dealing with COVID-19, massive flooding and record crowds. He said his departure has nothing to do with a rumored conflict with the administration.

Mark HeinzSeptember 11, 2026

Lawmakers: Game And Fish Commission Meeting Not Place To Ask About Departed Director

Legislators and Wyoming Game and Fish Department top brass said Thursday that meetings to discuss the agency's funding weren't the place to bring up Angi Bruce's departure as director. Some cited "personnel matters" for not talking publicly about Bruce.

Mark HeinzSeptember 11, 2026

Page and Keith Mamot found this 2-year-old black bear in their second home near Driggs, Idaho. The bear was shot and killed soon after by sheriff’s deputies under a zero-tolerance policy related to occupied structures.

Casper Couple Saddened By Bear Killed For Entering Their Second Home In Idaho

A Casper couple said they’re saddened because a black bear that broke into their second home near Driggs, Idaho, was killed under a zero-tolerance policy for bears that enter occupied structures. “He wasn’t mean or aggressive,” Page Mamot said.

Mark HeinzSeptember 10, 2026

Wildlife Groups Applaud Trust Fund As Way To Save Game and Fish From Budget Crisis

With Wyoming Game and Fish facing what its interim director calls a “dire” looming budget shortfall, wildlife groups say a trust fund proposed by a legislative committee has a "juggernaut of support." "God, I hope we dream big," one advocate said.

Mark HeinzSeptember 10, 2026

Wyoming Game and Fish Game and Fish Interim Director Eric Wiltanger, Game and Fish CFO Meredith Wood, and Game and Fish Commissioner Rusty Bell speak with legislators Wednesday in Jackson.

Game And Fish Facing ‘Dire’ Financial Trouble, Interim Director Tells Lawmakers

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department budget could hit crisis level within the next few years due to inflation and a decline in deer tags, the agency’s interim director told lawmakers Wednesday. “We’re not dire right now, but we’re going to be,” he said.

Mark HeinzSeptember 10, 2026

A tranquilized female black bear, about 19 to 20 months old, is carried by Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers Stephanie Taylor and Ty Smith after being captured in Durango on Tuesday.

Colorado Has Killed Nearly 300 Black Bears This Year, Quadruple Last Year's Amount

Colorado wildlife officials have killed nearly 300 black bears this year, almost four times as many as a year ago. “I think what people aren’t realizing is that trash is the primary reason for bears being in towns,” said one official.

Mark HeinzSeptember 08, 2026

Nic Buxman of Afton had set up his blind for pronghorn hunting next to a water hole in Natrona County. When he returned from scouting, it was gone.

Wyoming Outdoorsman Baffled By Theft Of Blind While He Was Pronghorn Hunting

An Afton hunter was surprised to return to the spot where he set up a pronghorn blind only to find someone had stolen it. He said the incident shook him because it's such an egregious violation of the time-honored unwritten hunters’ code of conduct.

Mark HeinzSeptember 06, 2026

Ryan Hansen got this mule deer buck during a 2025 hunt in southwest Wyoming. Hunters might have to work hard for bucks this year, according to Game and Fish.

Hunting Wyoming: With Lower Mule Deer Populations, Monster Bucks Still Out There

Mule deer populations are “languishing” in parts of Wyoming, but with archery season underway, hunters say record trophy bucks are still out there. After an unusually mild 2025-2026 winter, many deer stayed fat and growing larger antler racks.

Mark HeinzSeptember 05, 2026

Bison graze on federal land near Grand Teton in northwest Wyoming.

Judge Halts BLM Directive To Removal Bison From Federal Grazing Allotments

A federal judge on Friday blocked a BLM directive to remove bison from Montana federal grazing allotments because they're being managed as wildlife, not livestock, in a move that a Wyoming bison rancher said is good news across the West.

Mark HeinzSeptember 04, 2026

This mule deer buck, reported to be somewhere in Bondurant, could set the new record for Wyoming’s biggest buck ever.

Monster Mule Deer Could Obliterate Record For Wyoming’s Biggest Buck Ever

Wyoming hunters are buzzing over photos and videos of a monster mule deer buck, thought to be near Bondurant. Outdoorsman say it could shatter the record for Wyoming’s biggest buck. “He’s knocking on the door of 300 inches,” one hunter said of its rack.

Mark HeinzSeptember 04, 2026

A white-collared adult grizzly has been spotted in the South Fork area near Cody recently.

Rare Adult White-Collar Grizzly Bear Seen Roaming In The South Fork Near Cody

A large adult grizzly bear with a white collar "tuxedo" was spotted on a ranch in the South Fork area outside of Cody. Cubs commonly have white fur around the neck and upper chest, but the marking is exceedingly rare in adult grizzlies.

Mark HeinzSeptember 04, 2026

A thief stole a suitcase and coffee from the back of Cameron Hersberger’s pickup in the wee hours Tuesday in the parking lot of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial on Interstate 80 between Laramie and Cheyenne. Hershberger, left, and Kelcy Deeds came to Wyoming to hunt bears.

As Hunters Dozed On I-80, Thief Swiped Suitcase And Coffee — But Left Pricey Gear

While two hunters snoozed in the cab of their pickup in the wee hours Tuesday along I-80, a thief swiped a suitcase and hand-roasted coffee from Belize from the bed — but left expensive hunting gear, a chainsaw, and camera inside a backpack.

Mark HeinzSeptember 03, 2026

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Johnson County rancher Brett DeLaap says he's remorseful about trying to take an elk head from the four hunters who helicoptered into public lands adjacent to his.

Rancher Who Took Elk Head From Helicopter Hunters Says He Received Death Threats

A Johnson County rancher who tried to steal an elk head and antlers from hunters who helicoptered onto public land adjacent to his property last year says he was harassed and received death threats following the incident. He said he later apologized.

Mark HeinzSeptember 02, 2026

The Mollie’s Pack is Yellowstone's oldest wolf pack and includes the famous Wolf 1090F. The pack has strayed outside the park into a Wyoming wolf hunt area, and activists worry that 1090F will be shot this fall. They are requesting the pack be protected.

Big Piney Hunter Vows To Kill Matriarch Of Famed Mollie's Wolf Pack In Two Weeks

With two weeks to go before the wolf hunting season begins near Yellowstone, a Big Piney hunter is vowing to shoot 12-year-old Wolf 1090F from the famed Mollie's Wolf Pack if he sees her. In the meantime, wolf activists are trying their best to stop the hunt.

Mark HeinzSeptember 01, 2026

Jackson-area photographer Tom Mangelsen displays some of the sleeves he's made to cover President Trump's face on "America The Beautiful" passes.

Photographer Mangelsen Makes Wildlife Sleeves To Cover Trump's Face On Park Pass

Jackson wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen said he is sick of "Trump's narcissism" so he designed plastic sleeves with his wildlife images to cover the president's face on national park passes. The former BLM chief under Trump says it makes no sense.

Mark HeinzSeptember 01, 2026

Woman running Middle Fork Falls trail in Sinks Canyon. Lander, Wyoming. Inset: Prairie rattlesnake

Watch Where You Walk In Sinks Canyon, Which Is Loaded With Prairie Rattlesnakes

Though visitors might not realize it, Sinks Canyon State Park near Lander is prairie rattlesnake central. That's because it’s an ideal habitat with plenty of nooks and crannies for them to get below the frostline when they go dormant during the winter.

Mark HeinzAugust 30, 2026

Sarah Eloranta and Jessie Wilson traveled from Wisconsin for a women’s-only elk hunt in the Snowy Range mountains near Centennial, Wyoming. Right, Wilson dropped this cow elk in thick timber in the Snowy Range mountains.

Hunting Wyoming: 'Girls Only' Elk Hunt Ends With Filled Tags, Long Pack-Out In Dark

A pair of Wisconsin women had a successful "Girls Only" Wyoming elk hunt that included a miles-long pack-out of the meat through the forest in the dark. They said they hope their experience high in Wyoming's Snowy Range inspires other hunters.

Mark HeinzAugust 30, 2026

Cade Cole of Dubois traded his modern hunting clothing and gear for denim, flannel, and an iconic 1970s-style down vest for an elk hunt in honor of his grandfather, Clifford Cole, and other hunters of that generation.

Dubois Hunter Goes All-Out 70s With Macho Disco 'Stache In Grandfather’s Honor

Taught to hunt by his grandfather, Dubois hunter Cade Cole went after elk in a vintage “Wyoming uniform” — flannel, denim and down vest — to honor him. He also and grew a macho 1970s mustache and left modern tech behind.

Mark HeinzAugust 29, 2026

Yellowstone Black Bear Beats Grizzlies By Scaling Whitebark Pine For Nuts

Grizzlies usually have first dibs on food sources but every once in a while, a black bear has an advantage as they are much better climbers. On Thursday, a black bear scaled to the top of a whitebark pine tree and gorged on its cones. Grizzlies have to wait.

Mark HeinzAugust 28, 2026

Wombat Snatcher Gets Probation For Hunting In Wyoming Wilderness Without Guide

The former Pinedale-area woman who set off a firestorm in Australia for snatching a baby wombat from its mother has received probation for hunting in a Wyoming wilderness without a guide. Samantha Strable was sentenced Thursday in Sublette County Circuit Court

Mark HeinzAugust 28, 2026

A group of hunters chartered a helicopter to fly them into this patch of public land surrounded by private property in Johnson County. Andrew McKean ended up shooting an elk that was just inside private property.

Hunter In Helicopter Whose Elk Head Was Stolen By Rancher Busted For Trespassing

An elk hunter who helicoptered into a section of public land surrounded by private land in Johnson County, and later accused the rancher of trying to swipe an elk head from his party, was cited for trespassing after shooting a bull elk on private land.

Mark HeinzAugust 27, 2026